Throughout the months leading up to the NFL draft, you may hear analysts say the words scheme fit during the process. Scouting the prospects before the event, analysts try to focus solely on the player, but some play styles clearly work better in certain schemes at the NFL level. Think of Miami Dolphins first-round pick Chris Johnson. He is a zone coverage corner and wasn’t asked to play press-man at the college level.
Naturally, it’d make sense for Johnson to go to a team that runs more zone coverage. That’s what happened on draft night as the Dolphins head coach, Jeff Hafley, ran a top-of-zone coverage in Green Bay, making it a match made in heaven for the two sides.
One of my personal favorite draft classes from the 2026 draft was the Kansas City Chiefs for this exact reason. The defensive side of the ball was a clear need, but they selected players who can fit into the defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme. Spagnuolo is known for running an aggressive style to garner quick pressure and create free runners at the quarterback.
In 2025, the Chiefs blitzed the quarterback 34 percent of the time, ranking third in the NFL. It wasn’t as effective as the team pressured the quarterback at a rate of 33.8 percent, ranking 19th in the NFL. To help create more confusing looks, the Chiefs needed to get more atheltic along the defensive line.
The team needed new additions to the secondary after losing Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie during the offseason. The aggressive style of Spagnuolo doesn’t work if you don’t dare to play tight-man coverage.
Kansas City did exactly that throughout the draft, adding corners Mansoor Delane and Jadon Canady. On the defensive line, they added Peter Woods and R Mason Thomas.
The Chiefs in 2025
Spagnuolo blitzed a lot in 2025, but he didn’t use stunts. The Chiefs’ stunt rate ranked last in the NFL at 10.8 percent. You’ll typically see defensive backs as a part of the pressure packages, and here against the Jacksonville Jaguars, you do. McDuffie, on the short side of the field, comes on a blitz, and the safeties shift post-snap to play man against the receiver McDuffie left.
The same type of blitz happened against the Detroit Lions. You see McDuffie on the short side of the field, but when the Chiefs are playing a zone coverage behind it. The Lions pick up this blitz, and notice how there’s no stunt along the interior of the defensive line. The only added pressure is McDuffie on the edge, which isn’t enough to pressure Jared Goff, and he finds his receiver wide open on a drag because the Chiefs dropped into a Cover 4, post-snap.
Against the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs are bringing an overload blitz to the strong side of the field, and the coverage behind it appears to be a split. Watson, on the short side of the field, is one-on-one with the receiver, as the safeties shift inside to pick up the receivers on the strong side of the field. No safety help, and he gets beat over the top, and Bo Nix delivers a perfect ball to make it happen.
This is the first blitz you’ll see a stunt from the Chiefs. The outside rusher on the short side of the field loops around the inside and gets pressure on Dak Prescott. Prescott makes a great throw to CeeDee Lamb, but you can see the Chiefs utilize stunts at times. Just not as often, with the personnel they had last year. Again, man coverage in the back-end with no help. Covering Lamb is easier said than done, but that’s the type of risk you take when blitzing as often as Spagnuolo does.
How the new faces fit in
Starting with Delane, he’s not the most physical corner off the line of scrimmage, but he’s exactly the type Spagnuolo needs. You can see in the first clip that he does a great job of getting his hands on the receiver’s back hip and has the agility to stay with him through the break. When the rceiver turns his head, Delane’s head is already there and he gets a hand up breaking up the pass.
In the second, you see the fluidity Delane can bring to the table. Arkansas’ quarterback scrambles, which is a defensive back’s worst-case scenario. Watch Delane’s hips in this rep. He accidentally shifts his weight vertically, assuming the receiver will re-route vertically, but he ends up breaking to the sideline. Delane has the quickness to turn his entire body to get back on the hip of the receiver towards the sideline. He has the skills to play in the Chiefs’ defense and thrive in man or zone coverage.
With Canady, it’s essentially the same thing. He plays more of a nicket role, and doesn’t have the fluidity Delane has, but has the quickness to come downhill and is aggressive at the catch point. The first clip he’s manned up on now is Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon. Canady keeps his hand on the back of the hip and gets his head back to play the ball, making the interception.
In the second clip, you can see he’s playing off coverage, but still in man. He stays parallel to the line of scrimmage and quickly transitions the moment the receiver breaks. His eyes again are on the ball, and he makes a play on it. He’s a physical corner who thrives on playing against these shorter routes.
With the team’s other first-round pick, they selected Woods. He’s a smaller defensive tackle, but adds much-needed versatility opposite Chris Jones. The Chiefs didn’t use stunts as much in 2025, and with Woods on the roster, the team can now explore different blitz looks. In the two clips for Woods, you can first see him lined up in a two-point stance and able to loop around the tackle. That’s serious athleticism for a man his size, and in the second, you see him work well on the stunt as he has the agility to get home for the sack.
Woods gives Spagnuolo the opportunity to get more creative with just four-man pressure with the athleticism he possesses.
Thomas adds even more athleticism along the front. He’s a smaller edge, but in the two clips, you can see the explosiveness he plays with. In the first clip, he’s able to loop around inside (which we saw the Chiefs do in the clip vs. the Cowboys) and get in for the pressure. In the second, it’s just straight speed around the edge to get home for the sack.
That type of athleticism to bend around the edge is something the Chiefs haven’t had for a while. With Thomas being a threat on the edge, it can force quarterbacks to step up into the arms of Jones or Woods rushing from the inside.
It’ll be fun to see how Spagnuolo can use the new weapons he has on defense to get the Chiefs’ defense back to the level we expect it to be. All four of these players are sure to make an immediate impact, and it’ll be even more fun to see if the Chiefs incorporate more stunts alongside man coverage to play to their strengths.
