Ranking the Kansas City Chiefs' weakest positions heading into 2024

Even defending champs twice over have weak spots on the roster. Here are the Chiefs' greatest areas of need.

Two things are true when discussing the Kansas City Chiefs roster. First, the Chiefs have some significant roster concerns—yes, despite winning two Super Bowls in a row. Second, that's true of every NFL team at this stage.

Simply put, it's impossible to feel secure at every position in today's NFL.

The good news is that the Chiefs have learned how to stay successful in the midst of injury concerns and player fatigue. Remember, the Chiefs have played a full season more than any other team over the last five seasons or so due to playing deep into every postseason, yet the team is already ready to take on the next opponent's best effort.

Coming into the doldrums of the early summer months before training camp, we thought we'd take a look at the roster's greatest areas of concern and why we're worried about them.

Defensive Tackle

There are two ways to view this position: 1.) it's the most talent-deficient position overall on the Chiefs roster or, 2.) the Chiefs don't seem to be too worried about defensive tackle so that should speak for itself.

Chris Jones is a potential Hall of Fame candidate in his prime who just signed a mammoth contract extension to stay with the Chiefs through the 2028 season. So, yes, it might sound weird to point to a position with such a productive player and call it the biggest weakness on the team. It's just that beyond Jones, it's a precipitous fall to the next player (and that's being kind).

The truth is that the Chiefs haven't invested much of anything at the position in quite some time and that seems to be okay with Veach. They drafted Keondre Coburn in the sixth round last year and then lost him to waiver claims. They swapped another low-level pick for Neil Farrell. Other than that, they continue to bring back replacement-level players on cheap single-season deals again and again.

Turk Wharton is a great story as a former undrafted free agent from Missouri S&T and offers some disruptive upside but is lacking as a run-stuffer. Derrick Nnadi is the lone holdover from Veach's first draft class as a GM and profiles as the opposite of Wharton. Role players include the oft-released Matt Dickerson or everyone's favorite fill-in Mike Pennel.

Here's the thing: there's zero developmental ceiling here with a floor that's not all that high either. If something happens to Jones—age or injury—things could get ugly real fast up front for the Chiefs. It works with Jones around because the Chiefs slide outside guys inside to help out, but it's looked thin for a couple of seasons now. (No, winning Super Bowls doesn't mean the roster is immune to critique. Sorry.)