The Kansas City Chiefs once again waited until Day 3 of the NFL draft to address the defensive secondary, but that doesn’t seem to worry defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
In fact, there’s a lot of excitement across the coaching staff over versatile defensive back L’Jarius Sneed. While Sneed played safety during the 2019 season at Louisiana Tech, he prefers playing cornerback. He has experience playing both outside and in the slot for the Bulldogs. Spagnuolo came away impressed with everything he saw from Sneed on tape.
“L’Jarius Sneed, I was very impressed with his tape with regard to all of the things that he did,” Spagnuolo told reporters on Tuesday. “He played corner and he’s a big corner, he played some nickel, he covered the slot receivers and they actually played him at safety. I thought he did really good at all of them. We see him as a corner right now and we’ll see where that progresses to. I think anybody that can come in with that kind of flexibility is a good thing.”
The Chiefs have committed to playing Sneed at the cornerback spot initially, but the more you can do, the more valuable you are in the NFL. Sneed’s ability to play multiple spots helps the team in terms of depth, but it also allows for a bit of deception in their coverage shells.
Sneed won’t just be participating on the defensive side of the ball. Special teams coach Dave Toub envisions Sneed, along with most of the other draft picks in Kansas City as four-phase special teams players.
“. . .We evaluate each one of them, Clyde [Edwards-Helaire], Willie [Gay Jr.], [L’Jarius] Sneed, [BoPete] Keyes, we had special teams grades on each one of those players,” Toub explained. “What we do, we work with [Brett] Veach and if we have two players that are close, we’ll take the guy that has the higher special teams grade than the other. All of these guys had good special teams grades. I’m really excited about every one of them. They’ve all got speed, they’ve all got good height.”
Sneed had the fastest 40-yard dash time among Chiefs’ draft picks with a 4.38 at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. He should be able to come in and compete for a spot on the punt and kick coverage units immediately.
Both Spagnuolo and Toub clearly covet the versatility in Sneed’s game. His athleticism, size and ability to be position flexible should help him see the field early in his career.
