L’Jarius Sneed Is Emerging as a Star for KC Chiefs’ Defense

Kansas City's fourth-year cornerback is enjoying a career year and is thriving at just about every step of the way.

Coming into the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings, much of the talk was centered around Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson. After all, he'd gone for yardage totals of 150, 159, 149 and 85 in the first four games of the season and had three touchdowns on his ledger in his two most recent outings. Steve Spagnuolo's defense faced a tall task in holding him to around 100 yards, let alone wiping him out of the game entirely.

Jefferson left Sunday afternoon's contest late with a hamstring injury, which did suppress his numbers some. When he was on the field, though, Kansas City did a downright fantastic job against him. The primary "stopper" in Minneapolis? Fourth-year cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, who spent a lot of the game shadowing Jefferson and doing whatever it took to slow down the best wideout in football. Head coach Andy Reid certainly took notice. 

"What do you say about Sneed?" Reid said. "I mean, this is the best receiver in the National Football League, or at least one of them, arguably the best. You know, he went toe-to-toe with him tonight. Great job."

On six targets, Jefferson mustered just three receptions for 28 yards. His output trailed four other Minnesota pass-catchers, with a combination of other wideouts and even tight end T.J. Hockenson producing more than him. In the first half alone, Sneed spent four of Jefferson's seven matched-up routes in man coverage and didn't give up a single reception to him in those scenarios. The former fourth-round pick was all over the place, recording eight tackles, notching a pair of passes broken up and even logging a quarterback hit. A pair of second-quarter penalties didn't deter Sneed one bit, as he continued playing a physical brand of football and saw it ultimately pay off for him.

Sneed, who measured six feet tall and weighed in at 192 pounds during the pre-draft process in 2020, is tailor-made to line up opposite a No. 1 receiver. Despite his success in the slot in recent seasons, the emergence of 2022 first-round pick Trent McDuffie has allowed him to kick back outside and play to his strengths. Instead of dealing with shifty, sometimes smaller and less rigid receivers, Sneed can cover vertically on the boundary and use his combination of length, timing and instincts to his advantage. Jefferson marked yet another top receiver he's covered in 2023, and it's nothing new. Safety Justin Reid embraces Sneed's style of play, citing him as an "old school" standout.

"Man, we put LJ on whoever the best receiver is week in and week out, it doesn't matter if it's Calvin Ridley, Justin Jefferson, whoever, he goes out and plays his game," Reid said. "I know those guys see the tape and he's aggressive and physical and he's an old school corner that you don't see anymore, so he puts his hands on people and that throws guys off their game and I think he did a hell of a job today. Some of those penalties were ticky tacky and that's going to happen when you're a physical corner, and I'll take that any day of the week. With the type of player he is and the type of plays he makes and what he does for us as a defense, I'll take that day in and day out."

Five weeks into the season, Sneed has been mostly terrific in coverage. On 30 targets, he's surrendered just 14 completions, good for a career-low 46.7 completion percentage. Additionally, he's posting a lifelong best in yards per target (4.6) and his opposing passer rating when targeted (60.0) is a massive improvement over his 2021 and 2022 figures of 91.9 and 84.2. Considering the difficulty of his assignments and the trust Spagnuolo has in him, this is a coming out party for the Lousiana Tech product.

Of course, Sneed isn't doing it alone. McDuffie is emerging as a star-level player in his own right, spending plenty of time as Pro Football Focus' top-graded cornerback while thriving in the slot and displaying some Sneed-esque versatility. Safeties Bryan Cook, Reid and Mike Edwards each make plenty of plays, helping contribute to wins. Sneed was the biggest piece of the puzzle on Sunday, however, playing a significant role in shutting down the game's top wideout. Sneed has arrived, and McDuffie agrees that it's time for folks to take notice of it. 

"He's a dog out there," McDuffie said. "People better wake up because that's someone each and every week he's going up against the top receiver, getting his hands on them, pressing them. You can just look at the numbers. That dude is balling right now and I'm just happy I'm playing right behind him and learning from him and being able to go out there and be on the other side of him." 

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