With the 2026 NFL Draft and the first two waves of free agency in the rearview, the Kansas City Chiefs have made real headway in improving a roster that missed the mark in 2025. They’ve upgraded some spots, patched others, and added useful pieces on both sides of the ball. Still, the roster has thin position groups and roles that weren’t fully replaced. That’s to be expected when a talent-poor roster takes a step back after three straight trips to the Super Bowl. Rebuilds take time, and part of that process requires leaning on internal growth.
There’s still time for the front office to add a few more pieces, but the roster is largely set for the 2026 season. Kansas City needs some in-house talent to evolve and take on larger, more productive roles. Here are the five players who fit that bill heading into the new season.
Jaylon Moore, OT
Arguably, the most pivotal player on this list is sixth-year man and new right tackle Jaylon Moore. Last year, Moore was signed in free agency to come in and hold down the left tackle spot. Things quickly changed when the Chiefs selected Ohio State's Josh Simmons with the 32nd pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Moore still made six starts for the team between Weeks 6-14. Former starter Jawaan Taylor has since moved on, and Moore will be his successor on the right side.
In 2025, Moore surrendered 27 pressures and three sacks across 427 offensive snaps. He earned a 63.1 grade from Pro Football Focus (good for 56th among 89 qualified offensive tackles). That's perfectly sufficient for a rotational tackle, but Moore will need to play cleaner and more reliable football as the new starter at right tackle. If he can give Kansas City play comparable to Taylor, he could even be a slight upgrade, as he’s far less prone to penalties. Moore was not flagged at all in 2025.
Tyquan Thornton, WR
Tyquan Thornton’s situation comes with a caveat. The Chiefs need more from him in 2026, but only to the extent that they actually allow him to take on a larger role. He flashed real promise early last season, posting 272 receiving yards on just 13 receptions, but the coaching staff doused that fire the moment Rashee Rice returned from suspension. Still, Kansas City brought him back on a two-year, $11 million deal, which suggests they believe he deserves a real seat at the offensive table next season.
His role itself won’t change. The Chiefs still need him to be a consistent deep threat who can take the top off opposing defenses. He remains the fourth option in the passing game, but with Hollywood Brown gone, some portion of Brown’s 74 targets from 2025 should naturally shift his way. If Thornton continues to make plays down the field, he can command his share of those opportunities.
Nohl Williams, CB
Kansas City’s secondary took a massive hit with the departures of Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to the Los Angeles Rams. That shake-up on the back end will thrust 2025 draftee Nohl Williams into a far more prominent role in his second season. Fortunately for the Chiefs, Williams already logged meaningful work down the stretch last year, playing an average of 70% of the defensive snaps over the final five weeks. In that span, he recorded 23 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, and four passes defensed.
Williams has earned the right to an expanded role, but the Chiefs need him to be an effective starter for a full season to prevent slippage in coverage. That’s especially true with him sandwiched between a highly regarded but rookie corner in first-round pick Mansoor Delane and a veteran in Kristian Fulton, whose availability has consistently been in question.
Ashton Gillotte, DE
By all accounts, Ashton Gillotte acquitted himself well in his rookie season. Kansas City’s 33rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft played 46% of the defensive snaps and posted 38 tackles, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one pass defensed, and one interception, ultimately earning the Mack Lee Hill Award as the team’s top rookie. He’s not a foundational player on this defense, but the Chiefs need him to be a dependable rotational piece.
If Kansas City doesn’t add help on the edge, particularly a veteran presence like Cam Jordan, they’ll need more production from the depth chart to create a steadier pass rush. Gillotte can certainly contribute to that effort, but he’s going to have a tougher time seeing snaps in obvious passing situations with the additions of R. Mason Thomas and Peter Woods. He generated 24 pressures in 2025, yet he’ll need to show a higher ceiling as a pass rusher to command more snaps and help raise the defense’s pass-rushing floor.
Cooper McDonald, LB
One of the losses the Chiefs have yet to meaningfully address is the departure of linebacker Leo Chenal. His absence leaves a real question about who will play the 441 defensive snaps he logged last season. It’s probably unfair to ask an undrafted player to fill that void, but for now, that responsibility is expected to fall to Cooper McDonald.
To his credit, McDonald did play 47 defensive snaps in Weeks 16 and 17 to close out the year, and he earned an endorsement from Nick Bolton, who said, “Coops did a great job when Leo couldn’t play the last game of the season—or maybe the last two games of the season—coming in and playing and filling that void for us.” His primary contribution to this point has been on special teams, but Kansas City needs him to grow into a more consistent defensive presence if they’re going to solidify the second level.
Completing the rebuild of this roster is probably going to take another full offseason. For now, the Chiefs need to maximize the potential of the players already in the building. Future additions between now and the start of the season are unlikely to be force multipliers. That puts even more responsibility on in-house players to continue to evolve and grow, and this group of five has a real chance to do just that.
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