Four unexpected Chiefs contributors who rose to the occasion in Week 1

With Week 1 in the books, the Kansas City Chiefs are 1-0 and in position to lay early claim to the catbird seat in the AFC. The 0-1 Cincinnati Bengals are coming to town on Sunday. Fresh off of 10 days rest, Kansas City has a chance to snare a second tiebreaker over a top conference rival with a win.

At this stage, the Chiefs' key contributors are known to all. Now that the three-peat campaign is officially underway, it'll be interesting to see which new faces emerge to become part of the Chiefs' core of reliable players. If last Thursday was any indication, we may have a glimpse into a new ensemble of championship characters.

Roster turnover is a perennial problem for every team in the NFL. It's especially challenging for teams like the two-time world champion Chiefs who've been suffused with talent over the past few years. Cornerback L'Jarius Sneed and linebacker Willie Gay defected—for Nashville and New Orleans respectively—leaving questions in their wake. How would the league's No. 2-ranked defense from a year ago fare without one of its premier defensive starters and a pivotal roleplayer? What about some of the offensive turnover as well?

It's too early to make long-term calls, but Thursday night's matchup with the Ravens provided some early answers. Here are four contributors who stepped up in unexpected ways that will help the Chiefs replenish the cupboards.

Leo Chenal

Entering his third NFL season, Leo Chenal, the former Wisconsin Badger, was slated to command a bigger role with Gay departed for the Big Easy. There were good reasons to think the defender affectionately known as "Death Row" deserved the look given his postseason play. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the highest-graded defensive player in the 2024 Playoffs. He punctuated that run with a 92.0 grade in Super Bowl LVIII.

It was clear the tools were there and Thursday night was an active demonstration that Kansas City was right to trust him with a heavier workload. On the night, Chenal posted seven tackles, one tackle for loss, and two passes deflected. Couple that with three quarterback pressures and an impressive showing against 315-pound Ronnie Stanley (on multiple physically dominant plays), and he was arguably one of the top defensive players on the field that night.

Jaylen Watson

The faint of heart are unfit to fill the shoes of an All-Pro caliber cornerback. Fortunately for the Chiefs, they came into the season with a pair of gifted young corners prepared to face that challenge.

Coming into the spring, fate appeared to favor small-school product Joshua Williams. Watson would have corrective surgery in March to repair a torn labrum sustained in 2023 and went on to miss a chunk of training camp in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

As luck would have it, Watson was healthy enough to play 96% of the defensive snaps versus the Ravens. Watson acquitted himself well on the night allowing just four catches on six targets for a pedestrian 35 receiving yards. The highlight of Watson's night came on a 3rd-and-12 play midway through the third quarter. Watson broke up a deep pass intended for Zay Flowers on the right boundary.

Jaylen Watson is more than competent, but it's unfair to expect him to be a 1:1 replacement for Sneed. The encouraging part is seeing Watson healthy enough to turn in this kind of performance, early in the season, after a long offseason road to recovery.

Tershawn Wharton

Would it surprise you to know that of all Chiefs defensive linemen, only defensive end George Karlaftis played more snaps than defensive tackle Tershawn "Turk" Wharton on Thursday? The five-year veteran made good on that game action by amassing four pressures on the slippery Lamar Jackson. On two such occasions, he forced Jackson to get the ball out of his hands sooner than he wanted (resulting in errant throws).

Two years ago, Wharton suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a nationally-televised contest with the Las Vegas Raiders. For the past few seasons, it looked as though that injury had stolen a bit of his ability to explode off the ball. On Banner Night, he displayed some of the burst we saw from him in the early part of his tenure with Kansas City.

Having a healthy Turk with some juice is excellent news for a pass-rush rotation that's short-handed while edge Charles Omenihu works his way back from injury.

Noah Gray

Until the Chiefs get Marquise "Hollywood" Brown back from the sternoclavicular injury that cost him a Week 1 start, they'll have to find pass-catching production elsewhere. Luckily against the Ravens, the Chiefs found it in second-year man Rashee Rice and rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Travis Kelce had a relatively quiet night as he posted just 34 receiving yards on three receptions.

Kansas City's third-leading receiver was actually fellow tight end Noah Gray. He had just three more receiving yards than Kelce, but caught a 13-yard pass on an early-fourth quarter drive to move the Chiefs into Ravens territory. The Chiefs would end that offensive series with a touchdown, pushing their lead to two scores (27-17).

On September 5th, Gray signed a three-year, $18 million extension to keep him in Kansas City through 2027. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Gray's role would expand in 2024. We'll see just how much bigger the role will be this season, but the early returns are positive.

Consistency is key in the NFL. Time will tell if these four players can continue to contribute at this level on a week-in, week-out basis. For now, there are signs of roster development that you always hope to see with such a young team. The Kansas City Chiefs now have the eighth-youngest team in the league. Winning a third-straight Super Bowl is going to require younger players to step into and command bigger roles on this football team. Sunday's a new opportunity for this group to take another step forward.