The Kansas City Chiefs' cornerback room has been tested by injuries early in the 2024 NFL season, as starting corner Jaylen Watson was placed on the injured reserve list before next-corner-up Nazeeh Johnson left Sunday's win over the Las Vegas Raiders due to a concussion. While Trent McDuffie holds down the top corner spot as one of the NFL's best, his new No. 2 may be the man who already wears it as his jersey number.
It's been a tumultuous few months for Joshua Williams. The 2022 fourth-round pick appeared to be in line to earn KC's second starting outside cornerback job in training camp, but he failed to take hold of the role, leading to Watson, a '22 seventh-rounder, taking a chokehold of the job in Week 1. Williams was even jumped by Johnson, another '22 seventh-rounder, in the snap count splits. Johnson got more defensive work in Weeks 2-7. Williams didn't take a single defensive rep in Weeks 3-5. Now, Williams is all but guaranteed to have an increased role with Watson sidelined, and if Johnson isn't ready to go by Monday night, Williams appears to be in line to start for the Chiefs for the first time this season.
On Friday, Chiefs defensive backs coach Dave Merritt spoke to the media and discussed how Williams has developed this season and why he believes the defense is still in good hands with Williams on the field.
"The one thing that happened with Josh when Jaylen Watson was playing a lot, I told Josh to stay ready, 'Your time is gonna come,' and sure enough, it definitely came in a way we [didn't] expect it to come," Merritt said. "Josh is one of those young men who works better when you give him more reps in practice, probably like 90% of our locker room. Once you give them more reps and they get more comfortable, they can go out and execute what we're asking them to do. I think what's going to happen with Josh, because he's played a lot of football, you guys remember when he went into the game for [L'Jarius] Sneed, the Cincinnati game, after four [or] five plays, and the kid continued to play well the rest of the Super Bowl run. Two years of experience, postseason, the kid has been in there, so I'm not going to skip a beat. I trust him, and I believe that he's going to do well."
While Johnson was spotted at Friday's practice after missing Thursday's action, the concussion protocol and recovery timeline can be non-linear, leaving his status questionable for the time being. Regardless of which 2022 draft pick starts against Tampa Bay, Merritt acknowledged that both players, in addition to undrafted rookie Chris Rolland-Wallace, are experiencing the growing pains he's used to seeing from young players.
"Same way we raise our children, you have the highs and lows and sometimes they will disappoint you, and it's disappointing to see the penalties, but yet you're so happy for the young men when they have success and with the interceptions," Merritt said. "So, just trying to help them to just understand that you have to just play within the framework of the defense and what's called for you to do as far as the technique, but some of the plays that happened out on the field, they can be corrected, and so we have to correct them and make sure that they understand a better way to do it the next time."
