Chiefs: 3 2022 roster holes that could cost Patrick Mahomes a Super Bowl
By KC Proctor
The Safeties
By the end of his time in Kansas City, many Chiefs fans were sour on Tyrann Mathieu. Complaints swirled about his lack of effort and unwillingness to play the position physically. However, his two first-team All-Pro and three Pro Bowl selections while with the team would argue against any slander.
Juan Thornhill and Justin Reid will take over duties in the safety room, and while both have been serviceable through the early days of their careers, there isn’t a Pro Bowl appearance between them. Thornhill is on the record making a bold claim of an All-Pro season for himself in 2022, and Justin Reid is — for the second time in his career — focused on replacing Tyrann Mathieu. When Mathieu left the Houston Texans in 2018, Reid was tasked with the challenge of filling his shoes, and did so with his most impressive statistical season to date.
Say what you will about the impact a safety can have on any given play, game, or season as a whole, but having a perennial All-Pro caliber player roaming the secondary makes a difference. As will removing that player and replacing him with inferior talent.
To say that the safeties in particular could cost Patrick Mahomes another Super Bowl might be a reach, but this is certainly a low point on the Chiefs roster, and it will hurt the team in one way or another this season.