The front office of the Kansas City Chiefs, led by general manager Brett Veach, has constantly been forward-thinking about adding younger talent to the team’s roster. Kansas City hasn’t dwelled much on retaining established veterans and tends to build their squad through the draft, choosing to develop players in-house instead of turning to free agency to fill crucial roles.
A solid example of this formula was the selection of Cincinnati safety Bryan Cook in 2022. He initially played in a reserve role behind Juan Thornhill. Now, after Thornhill’s departure in the offseason, Cook will get his chance to take over a starting spot this season. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo met with the media after Tuesday’s practice and praised Cook’s work ethic and development in training camp.
“Bryan [Cook] is really going to become the quarterback of the defense,” Spagnuolo explained. “Him and Nick [Bolton], and [he is] especially the quarterback on the back end. One other thing about Bryan [Cook] is he’s always looking for feedback.
“He came the other day and he wanted to do some more drills. That’s one thing he’s got, we saw that when we were looking at him out of [The University of] Cincinnati, his work, he loves football, passionate about football and we’re banking on him in that regard.”
Spagnulolo had utilized Cook in many big spots, including in Super Bowl LVII. He has shown his confidence in the young safety, and fans will have to stay tuned to see how Spagnuolo will plan to maximize Cook’s talent in 2023.
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