The Kansas City Chiefs are retooling their roster after a down year in 2025. While there will be new faces at multiple positions on both sides of the ball this year, no position is getting a bigger overhaul than cornerback. While the headlines may have been dominated by the players K.C. let leave, its first-round draft pick, and, more recently, a former Chief brought in for a visit, second-year cornerback Nohl Williams deserves to be a major part of the story as well.
Most fans went into the offseason knowing that the Chiefs wouldn't be able to afford to keep both All-Pro Trent McDuffie and pending free agent Jaylen Watson. However, I don't think most people were expecting K.C. to lose both of its starting corners. While there was some buzz about K.C. potentially trading McDuffie, many thought that would clear up the space to re-sign Watson. Instead, the Chiefs traded McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams, and Watson ended up signing a lucrative free-agent deal with the Rams as well.
The Chiefs then decided to help fill the void left by McDuffie and Watson's departures by using the highest first-round pick they've had since drafting Eric Fisher first overall in 2013 on cornerback Mansoor Delane. Delane is an elite talent, and it would be a shock if he weren't one of the starting outside cornerbacks on Day 1 of his rookie season. The Chiefs also have a battle at nickel corner between free-agent signing Kader Kohou and fourth-round draft pick Jadon Canady. That just leaves the other starting outside corner job opposite Delane to sort out.
The Chiefs have created a crowded cornerback competition
The Chiefs already have a potential battle for the other starting spot between veteran Kristian Fulton and second-year man Nohl Williams. Fulton is a bit of a mystery, but he has been an above-average starting NFL cornerback when healthy; he has just struggled to stay healthy. The Chiefs then made this discussion more complicated when they recently brought in L'Jarius Sneed for a visit. Sneed was one of K.C.'s key pieces when the Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023. While seeing him reunite with the Chiefs would be fun for sentimental reasons, it would make the Chiefs' cornerback competition even more crowded.
Bringing in Sneed seems unnecessary because the Chiefs have a young and talented option who played great last season in Nohl Williams. Williams was active for every game last season but only saw more than 25 defensive snaps in six games. However, he played excellently in the opportunities that he did get.
First and foremost, Williams passed the eye test. He was consistently in tight coverage and showed no fear as a rookie when it came to getting physical with NFL wide receivers. Even when he did give up receptions (he only allowed 19 on 273 coverage snaps), it usually wasn't an easy completion. Anyone who watched Williams last season saw the potential there.
The Pro Football Focus grades back up what K.C. fans saw with their own eyes. Williams ended the year as PFF's 17th-highest-graded cornerback. For comparison, Trent McDuffie was 13th and Jaylen Watson was 18th. Granted, he didn't play as many snaps as those other two, but with how PFF grading works, that means his ratio of positively graded plays to negatively graded plays was very similar to that of McDuffie and Watson.
Nohl Williams should be the favorite for the Chiefs' starting job
Kristian Fulton is a proven NFL starting-caliber corner when healthy, but he's only under contract for one more season. L'Jarius Sneed is a Chiefs legend to whom K.C. fans will always be grateful, but neither of them should stand in the way of Nohl Williams getting starting reps this season. Williams is still just 23 years old and has three years left on his rookie deal. He'll only be 26 at the end of that deal and would still be young enough to re-sign if the Chiefs wanted.
The Chiefs may have lost a talented pair of starting corners this offseason, but it isn't fan wish-casting to think they may already have their replacements in Mansoor Delane and Nohl Williams. While Delane is the more hyped player because of his profile and high draft capital, Williams is the one with quality NFL reps already on his résumé.
While players like Kristian Fulton or even L'Jarius Sneed are proven NFL veterans, neither of them has the long-term (or short-term) ceiling that Williams has. So let's hope the Chiefs allow Williams to claim the starting job he deserves.
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