The Kansas City Chiefs are going to call on Jeffrey Bassa a lot more in 2026. The good news is that Bassa is heavily invested in being ready for whatever they're asking of him.
In the wake of the loss of Leo Chenal in free agency (to the Washington Commanders on a three-year deal), the Chiefs linebacking corps needs one or more younger players to step up their readiness to absorb the reps. Bassa isn't the only one vying for a shot, but he's perhaps the most obvious candidate to do so after the Oregon linebacker was taken in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Bassa spoke to reporters on Tuesday after practice concluded at another day in training camp, and he spoke about the differences from his rookie year to the present.
"I take a lot of pride in my football IQ and being able to come into a system and learn the defense and learn the fundamentals and learn the basis," he said. "Just going from year one to year two, that's a lot from just a developmental standpoint. They're depending on you to really go into that full offseason and really sit down by yourself and get into the depths of the playbook and learn that by yourself, to be able to come back and know what you are doing confidently and be able to communicate out there."
The Chiefs' second-year linebacker spoke about the growth between year one and two.
Bassa appeared in all 17 games last year for the Chiefs but his impact was almost exclusively on special teams, with only 39 total defensive snaps. That means he's about as green as fellow second-year linebacker Cooper McDonald, but that year spent learning the ropes also allows the Chiefs to utilize him in a number of ways.
"Sometimes you're going to be asked to see what you can do with the 1s, see what you can do with the 2s. So you really just have to be a pro and attack everything with everything you've got," he said. "Even if you're out there on the scout team, you've still got to go out there and work on your footwork and your fundamentals."
While special teams play is important, the Chiefs didn't just draft him for depth. Bassa had serious fans in the evaluative process, including The Athletic's Dane Brugler, who wrote, "Bassa (who wore the green dot for the Ducks in 2024) needs to turn the “almost” plays into more steady production, but he does everything well on the football field and can become an NFL starter with improved consistency. His football arrow is pointing up."
The door to more playing time is wide open for someone to enter through, and more reps might appear if Drue Tranquill's back spasms become a regular-season problem as well. The Chiefs are going to trust the process and lean on Bassa and company to fill the void, and the 23-year-old sounds studied for the role.
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