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When the Kansas City Chiefs selected cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, they couldn’t have imagined their investment would pay off as quickly as it has. The Louisiana Tech product has become one of the brightest defensive stars on the team, bolstering the Chiefs’ secondary as a chess piece for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to deploy in many different situations.
Sneed’s contributions have been integral in the Chiefs’ defensive turnaround, with his percent of defensive snaps played hovering in the high 90s in three of the team’s last four wins. He has 58 tackles in 11 games this season, which is good for second-most on the team and puts him on pace for almost 100 by the playoffs in January. Pro Football Focus has Sneed as the second-leading tackler among cornerbacks with 49 solo tackles and grades him favorably as a run defender.
His unique knack for getting after the quarterback hasn’t been as big a part of his game this season but remains his highest-graded defensive responsibility on PFF, clocking in at a 76.3 on 43 pass-rush snaps. A lone sack against the Eagles and two quarterback hits against the Titans and Raiders are his only statistical entries in the pass-rush, but both those numbers could be due to go up in the coming weeks.
Despite his solid tackling and upside as a blitzer, there remains work to be done in coverage for Sneed, who has been picked on at times this year. He has been targeted at the eleventh-highest rate in the NFL this season and has given up the second-most receptions of any other cornerback. There are signs of recent improvement, in the coverage department for Sneed. In three of the last four games for the Chiefs (all wins), Sneed has managed above-average coverage grades from PFF. His first interception of the 2021 campaign came against Green Bay, and he brought down another when he picked off Dak Prescott in Kansas City’s last win against Dallas.
What has become abundantly clear is that the defense plays well when Sneed is playing well. As the contenders start to separate themselves from the pretenders in the AFC, the Chiefs will rely on his steady play to stay squarely in the playoff picture with several tough matchups remaining on their schedule.
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