Over the years, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ defense has improved from laughing stock to one of the most reliable units in football. When the chips are down, there aren’t many groups to be trusted more than Steve Spagnuolo’s.
Defensive tackle Chris Jones has been at the forefront for all of Spagnuolo’s tenure. If not for Aaron Donald, he’d quite easily be the best interior defensive lineman of his time. Donald’s retirement put Jones in a class all by himself last season. Unfortunately, the NFL doesn’t seem to believe that’s the case anymore.
As he does every year, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler polled league executives, scouts and coaches for their top 10 players at each position. July 8 saw the defensive tackle results go public. In the reveal, Jones lost his top ranking to New York Giants star Dexter Lawrence. Jones occupies the No. 2 spot for 2025, which is both a testament to his dominance but also a question of how good he can remain into his 30s.
Concern of Jones’ Run Defense Led to No. 2 Ranking
One of the contributing factors in Jones’ year-over-year fall was run defense. Fowler reveals that the Chiefs’ star tackle was dubbed “increasingly one-dimensional” by an opposing coach.
“Best DTs in the league take over the run and pass, and there were moments where you didn’t notice [Jones] much,” the coach said, per Fowler. “The best at that position crash the game no matter what.”
Jones’ elite pass rush ability has always been a blessing and a curse. While it allows him to choose his matchups and impact the game in a greater way, it comes at a cost. On run downs, he can freelance too much or appear burnt out. After logging 17 and 13 tackles for loss in 2022 and 2023, that number fell to 9 last season. Advanced stats don’t love Jones’ run defense, either. According to Pro Football Focus, his 64.3 run defense grade ranked 38th among all interior linemen in the sport. His 22 “stops” slotted in at 36th.
Still, the 64.3 mark served as an improvement over Jones’ 59.5 grade in 2023. Those 22 stops made for one more than the year prior. Lawrence, to his credit, has posted a run defense grade of 81.9 or better dating back to 2022 while remaining a great pass rusher. His 9 sacks last season trumped Jones’ 5. Lawrence played three fewer games and logged 219 fewer snaps, too.
Is There a Path to Chiefs Getting Jones Back to Top Spot?
Getting back to No. 1 doesn’t seem anywhere near impossible for Jones, though. Heck, one analyst believes he’s a top-five non-quarterback in the sport. He isn’t far off from Lawrence, as Fowler noted. One NFC scout told Fowler that the All-Pro is “next to impossible to block one-on-one.” Even in his age-30 campaign, he was perhaps the best player on the Chiefs’ defense.
Therein may lie the problem. Players typically don’t improve in things like run defense as they age. Jones has a ton of regular-season snaps on his tires, in addition to deep playoff runs in Kansas City. Unless his pass-rushing load is lessened (Fowler mentioned usage as a “potential issue”), asking the run defense to get better is foolish.
A healthy defensive line might help. At the defensive end spot, Mike Danna battled injuries for most of last season and Charles Omenihu was working his way back from a torn ACL. Both of them should bounce back to some degree. Elsewhere, George Karlaftis is in a contract year. If he proves to be a promising building block, maybe Jones is more consistent.
At the end of the day, the football world is splitting hairs. Jones, who is set to be a decade into his NFL career, is still great. Will he be elite in 2025?
It’s possible, and it’d undoubtedly give him a better chance of taking the throne back in Fowler’s survey a year from now.
