- Patrick Mahomes’ return drives optimism: Mahomes is expected back for the start of 2026 after a knee injury ended his 2025 season, when his 76.0 PFF grade marked the lowest of his career.
- Kenneth Walker upgrades the backfield: Walker forced 77 missed tackles across the 2025 regular season and playoffs while earning a 91.4 PFF grade.
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A disappointing 2025 season saw the Kansas City Chiefs finish 6-11 and miss the playoffs, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ season ending late in the year due to a knee injury. The landscape of the AFC West has also changed, with the emergence of the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers meaning the Chiefs face a tougher path back to the postseason.
Here’s our 2026 preview of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Key Free Agency/Trade Additions
| Position | Player | 2025 PFF Grade |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Justin Fields | 67.3 |
| HB | Kenneth Walker | 91.4 |
| HB | Emari Demercado | 53.8 |
| DI | Khyiris Tonga | 68.0 |
| CB | L’Jarius Sneed | 50.4 |
| S | Alohi Gilman | 70.3 |
| CB | Kader Kohou | N/A |
| CB | Kaiir Elam | 56.8 |
Adding Kenneth Walker at running back gives the Chiefs one of the league’s best players at forcing missed tackles. He forced 77 missed tackles across the regular season and playoffs last year, trailing only Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson over that span. Walker has improved both his overall PFF grade and PFF rushing grade in every season of his career and should be a significant addition behind Kansas City’s offensive line.
Alohi Gilman should step into a starting role at safety after a solid 2025 season that saw him traded from the Los Angeles Chargers to the Baltimore Ravens. He finished the year with a 70.3 PFF grade, the second-highest mark of his six-year NFL career, ranking 26th among the 99 safeties who played at least 300 snaps.
2026 NFL Draft Class
| Position | Player | 2025 PFF Grade |
|---|---|---|
| CB | Mansoor Delane | 90.5 |
| DI | Peter Woods | 72.3 |
| EDGE | R Mason Thomas | 85.3 |
| HB | Emmett Johnson | 85.6 |
| S | Jadon Canady | 85.5 |
| WR | Cyrus Allen | 72.6 |
| QB | Garrett Nussmeier | 77.1 |
Cornerback Mansoor Delane joins the Chiefs after an impressive season at LSU in which he allowed just 14 receptions on 35 targets across 357 coverage snaps. He did not allow a touchdown while recording two interceptions, resulting in a 31.3 NFL passer rating on throws into his coverage. His 90.7 PFF coverage grade further highlighted his dominance.
The Chiefs used their second first-round pick on defensive tackle Peter Woods, a 21-year-old with plenty of upside. Woods earned an 87.6 PFF grade during his first season at Clemson in 2023, but his overall, pass-rush and run-defense grades declined in each of the following two seasons. The potential is clearly there, but it will be up to the Chiefs to help Woods rediscover his early-career form and translate it to the NFL.
Reasons for optimism
Despite coming off the lowest-graded season of his career, Patrick Mahomes being expected to return for the start of the season is a huge boost to the Chiefs’ chances of reclaiming the AFC West. His 76.0 PFF grade in 2025 tied for just 16th at the position, well below the standard he has set throughout his career.
For the first time since his emergence as an NFL superstar, there are legitimate questions about whether Mahomes is still the best quarterback in football. His track record remains remarkable, though, with seven seasons featuring a PFF grade above 80.0 since 2018, including five at 90.0 or higher. A return to that level would go a long way toward putting Kansas City back among the AFC’s top contenders.
Reason for pessimism
Part of the reason for the Chiefs’ struggles in 2025 was a lack of production at wide receiver. Marquise Brown led the group with just 587 receiving yards, while Rashee Rice’s 77.2 PFF receiving grade was the best among the team’s wide receivers. Xavier Worthy also took a step back from his rookie season, with his PFF receiving grade falling from 71.6 to 66.3 and his yards per route run dropping from 1.51 to 1.25.
Rice is expected to be available in Week 1 after missing significant time in each of the past two seasons. His career average of 2.29 yards per route run highlights his status as Kansas City’s most productive wide receiver, but the Chiefs need him to stay on the field in 2026.
Breakout Candidate
After a difficult rookie season at left tackle in 2024, Kingsley Suamataia made significant strides following a move to left guard in 2025. Across 1,090 snaps, he earned PFF grades above 60.0 as both a pass blocker and run blocker, while his 64.9 overall grade represented a significant improvement from the 37.9 mark he posted across 198 snaps as a rookie.
Suamataia still allowed 35 pressures, so there is plenty of room for improvement. Given the progress he made in his second season, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take another significant step forward in 2026.
Key roster battles
The Chiefs traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, and while the addition of Mansoor Delane gives them a potential starter opposite Nohl Williams on the outside, there is still competition for the slot role.
Kansas City added Kader Kohou in free agency, with the former Miami Dolphins cornerback bringing significant experience in the slot. He earned a 68.9 PFF coverage grade in 2024 before missing all of last season. Fourth-round rookie Jadon Canady also spent significant time in the slot during his lone season at Oregon, earning an 88.0 PFF coverage grade.
The Chiefs also brought back L’Jarius Sneed after two seasons with the Tennessee Titans. The 2020 second-round pick earned a career-high 75.7 PFF coverage grade with Kansas City in 2022, the last season in which he lined up in the slot on the majority of his snaps. That gives the Chiefs three legitimate options for the role heading into 2026.
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