The secondary is officially up for grabs in Kansas City. D'Arco Perkins-McAllister hopes to stake his claim.
Perkins-McAllister is going to be an unknown name to even the most fervent Chiefs fans. Undrafted players are always flying under the radar, since teams add so many of them after the draft. It's hard for anyone to stand out, even among day three selections, and those trying to find a place to try out or latch on at a rookie minicamp are almost always overlooked until someone generates buzz in minicamp or the preseason.
Even among those undrafted peers, however, Perkins-Allister is a long shot for the Chiefs.
D'Arco Perkins-McAllister signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of ULM.
For those unfamiliar, Perkins-McAllister is a defensive back who has played for four schools over the last five seasons. A former four-star recruit from Tennessee, Perkins-McAllister began his career at TCU in 2021-22 before transferring to New Mexico, where he sat as a redshirt. From there, he moved on to UT-Chattanooga in '24 and came up with 4 interceptions in 6 games.
Last season, Perkins-McAllister came alive in his lone season at Louisiana-Monroe. He had 33 tackles, 4 TFL, 4 sacks, 7 pass deflections, and a blocked field goal against Arkansas State early in the season.
D'Arco Perkins McAllister is a CB prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 6.59 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1048 out of 3069 CB from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/BE8eqlmW5Y pic.twitter.com/BQh67e6XWj
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 7, 2026
It'd be interesting to hear from the Chiefs' perspective what they find most intriguing about Perkins-McAllister. He's thicker than other defensive backs at 5-11, 200 lbs., but that comes at a cost in speed and agility, with subpar testing metrics in the 10-yard split, for instance. There are also competitive concerns—how much can an NFL team read into a dominant defensive performance against St. Francis, for example?
That said, Perkins-McAllister has already landed a deal with the Chiefs, which means he stuck out compared to dozens of others who tried out for the team at rookie minicamp. He's got special teams experience, and there's something to be said for having to learn one defense after another (after another) over the last five seasons.
It's likely that Perkins-McAllister's wingspan and special teams acumen are getting a closer look from Dave Toub and company as they suss out just how high his ceiling will be. Even among UDFAs, he's fallen behind a bit of the early excitement about the likes of DeShon Singleton or Xavier Nwankpa, but a shot is a shot, and Perkins-McAllister has that working in his favor. The hardest part is getting here, and deserves credit for that much already.
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