Looking at the Chiefs’ Young & Talented Group of Defensive Backs

One of the familiar faces remaining in the Chiefs’ secondary, Thornhill is entering his fourth season with Kansas City in 2022. He appeared in all 17 games last year (12 starts) while recording the third-most defensive snaps of any player on the team (850). He tallied 64 tackles, three passes defensed, an interception and a forced fumble in that time.

Thornhill was tremendous as a rookie in 2019, earning a spot on the PFWA All-Rookie Team following the season. He ran into some bad luck when he tore his ACL in Week 17 of that year, but to his credit, the former second-round pick fought through his rehab and made it back for Week 1 of the 2020 campaign.

He’s now two full years removed from the injury, and at 26 years old, the best could very well be yet to come for Thornhill.

This group features a handful of players who enter camp as unquestioned starters, including Sneed, Reid and Thornhill. Many of the others, however, will be fighting for a spot on the team. Kansas City infused an abundance of talent and youth into its secondary this offseason, adding 10 players who weren’t with the organization last season. The reality is that some good players will likely find themselves on the outside looking in following roster cuts due to the sheer volume of competition, which is a good problem to have from a team-building perspective.

The Chiefs have kept 10 defensive backs on the active roster in each of the last three years, providing a solid indicator of how many the Chiefs may keep for the 2022 season. That leaves room for just over half of this current group to make the team, and with several intriguing players on the roster bubble, there should be ample competition for the final three to four spots.

In terms of specific camp storylines to watch, the progression of McDuffie and Cook will be particularly intriguing because of their status as high draft picks. Each of those players will likely be given an opportunity to earn a significant role on defense early on, but it…