Chiefs at 49ers Snap Counts: Wide Receiver Struggles Continue, What's the Plan at Cornerback?

The Kansas City Chiefs are the NFL's lone undefeated team following a win over the San Francisco 49ers, but with injuries on both sides of the ball, KC's snap counts paint an interesting picture of the immediate future.

Oct 20, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) runs with the ball after making a catch in front of San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (2) in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs are 6-0 after their Week 7 victory against the San Francisco 49ers, but the injury-riddled back-to-back champions had to get creative at several key positions on Sunday afternoon. As always, KC's snap counts provide a bit of insight into how the Chiefs view a few important position groups while a season of attrition rolls on.

What's the plan without Jaylen Watson?

Starting cornerback Jaylen Watson exited the game once before later returning only to suffer a fractured ankle that knocked him out for the rest of the game and for the foreseeable future. Watson has been a massive part of Kansas City's success in the secondary, as he took hold of the No. 2 cornerback position in Week 1 and built the start of a breakout year through the first six games. Now, with the remainder of his season in doubt and an injured reserve stint expected, who's up next?

Behind Watson and No. 1 cornerback Trent McDuffie, the third-most-used corner on Sunday was 2022 seventh-round pick Nazeeh Johnson, who took 21 defensive snaps (33%) after appearing to take hold of the No. 3 cornerback role in recent weeks. Undrafted rookie Chris Rolland-Wallace, who recorded an interception, took 15 snaps (24%) while 2022 fourth-rounder Joshua Williams returned to the defensive rotation with 12 (19%).

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to extracting above-average cornerback play from their remaining options, but after Watson provided such clear stability through the first act of the season, replacing him will be a vital task for the coaching staff and remaining healthy corners.

This wide receiver rotation is not sustainable

Sunday's other in-game exit came from the other side of the ball, as veteran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster exited with a hamstring injury after playing just seven offensive snaps. With only five wide receivers active for Sunday's game, the Chiefs were forced to use all four of their remaining healthy options, and it wasn't a fruitful performance.

Justin Watson took 51 of 70 offensive snaps (73%), leading Chiefs wide receivers in snaps taken for the second consecutive game. Despite all of those reps, quarterback Patrick Mahomes targeted Watson just once, resulting in an eight-yard gain. On 239 offensive snaps this season, Watson has been targeted nine times.

Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy was next with 42 offensive snaps (60%), a typical workload for the young speedster who has now played just over 63% of KC's offensive snaps this season.

Skyy Moore, a 2022 second-round pick who appears to have fallen out of favor with KC's coaching staff, was forced into action for 33 snaps (47%) which resulted in one target that was dropped. Moore had taken 49 total snaps through the first five weeks combined, and he now has three targets and zero catches on the year.

Mecole Hardman rounded out the wide receiver room with 21 snaps (30%) that resulted in two rushes and one reception totaling 55 yards from scrimmage and one rushing touchdown. While this isn't quite an argument for Hardman to become KC's new No. 2 receiver, his speed and pre-snap motions appeared effective in San Francisco, showing that he does bring a unique threat to the offense — something that can't be said about Moore.

Defensive end rotation looks familiar without Mike Danna

The Chiefs' lone active-roster injury absence entering the game was starting defensive end Mike Danna, who was ruled out due to a pectoral injury on Friday. Sunday's rotation looked similar to KC's Week 4 win over the Los Angles Chargers, when Danna was sidelined due to a calf injury.

With George Karlaftis leading the defensive end group with 56 snaps (89%), second-year defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah took the second-most reps among KC's ends with 35 snaps (56%) in a solid effort against an offense that entered the week with a formidable rushing attack. Malik Herring rounded out the rotation with 17 snaps (27%), and that duo appeared to at least provide stability on the edge in Danna's stead.

Mirroring his LA effort, preseason acquisition Cameron Thomas took just three snaps against San Francisco (5%), giving him six total defensive reps on the season.

Read More: In a Season of Attrition, the Chiefs' Defense Deserves Credit for KC's Undefeated Start