The Kansas City Chiefs did a tremendous job in the 2020 NFL draft. There’s no better example than rookie CB L’Jarius Sneed, who has been named to the annual PFF All-Rookie Team after a tremendous season.
Injuries and suspensions thrust Sneed into early action on the outside for Kansas City. By the second week of the season, he led the NFL in interceptions and appeared to be the steal of the draft class. Unfortunately, an injury would see him sidelined for six weeks, but that’s perhaps the most impressive part about his story.
According to PFF’s Ben Linsey, Sneed wasn’t just the best statistical rookie at the corner position this year, he was among the best of all cornerbacks in the league. Check it out:
“From a statistical standpoint, no rookie cornerback came close to matching the season that Sneed had for the Chiefs. He allowed just 214 passing yards into his coverage on 45 targets, and those targets yielded a passer rating of just 53.4 — third-lowest of any cornerback to be targeted at least 30 times this season behind only Bryce Callahan (46.9) and Xavien Howard (53.0).
Sneed also showed the ability to play both outside (164 snaps) and inside in the slot (171 snaps) with different roles before and after an injury that held him out from Week 4 through Week 10. All of that led to a wins above replacement mark that was nearly double the next closest rookie cornerback. The Chiefs couldn’t have hoped for much more from the fourth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech.”
When Sneed returned from his injury, he was playing nickel corner, an entirely different position than where he’d started the season. There was a bit of an adjustment period, but he’s been just as dominant on the inside as he was on the outside.
Sneed finished the regular season starting six games and appearing in nine. During that span, he recorded 41 total tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, seven passes defended and three interceptions. According to PFF, he’s allowed just 28 receptions in 252 coverage snaps this season. He’s only allowed a single touchdown on the year, in what was a perfect throw from a future Hall of Fame QB in Drew Brees. He’ll look to build on this performance during the divisional round of the playoffs, to end his season on the best possible note.
This marks the second consecutive season that the Chiefs have seen a rookie in the secondary make the PFF All-Rookie Team. Last year, Juan Thornhill made it in despite his late-season injury.
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