Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs boasted one of the NFL’s very best cornerback duos as L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie roamed the secondary. With Sneed traded to the Tennessee Titans, though, things could change ahead of the 2024 campaign.

With no big-time acquisition made at cornerback this offseason, someone else will surely be expected to step up for the reigning champions. In Steve Spagnuolo and Dave Merritt’s secondary, candidates to do so primarily include Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams.

Watson is coming off surgery to repair a torn labrum, so the team may not be in a hurry to rush him into doing more than is necessary at this point. As OTAs ramp up, Pro Football Focus is singling out Williams to be a breakout candidate for Kansas City.

In his list of potential risers for all 16 AFC teams, Bradley Locker’s pick for the Chiefs is Williams. Citing him as “next in line” to become the “unheralded” corner to step up, Locker sets the bar high for the 2022 Day 3 pick as he prepares for year No. 3 in the league.

“Someone is going to have to help mitigate the loss of L’Jarius Sneed, and Williams should assist,” Locker wrote. “Last season, the 2022 fourth-rounder amassed a 74.4 overall grade and four pass breakups while missing only 4.2% of tackles. Steve Spagnuolo has a knack for developing unheralded corners, and Williams is poised to be next in line.”

After playing in all 17 regular-season contests as a rookie, Williams was active for 16 games in 2023. He logged 18 tackles in those outings, including one tackle for loss and the aforementioned passes broken up. In the playoffs, he added eight tackles en route to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII win over the San Francisco 49ers.

There are a couple of ways to take Williams’s second season with the Chiefs. On one hand, he saw his total defensive snaps played drop from 437 to 321 and he took on more of a special teams role instead. From Weeks 6-15 of the 2023 season, he was on the field only 74 times combined on defense. On the other hand, Williams posted improved numbers in coverage. His completion percentage (44.8), yards per target (4.9) and passer rating (82.7) allowed were all much better than his rookie figures.

This signals that a bit more of a dialed-back role for Williams did him some good. His workload returned to normal in time for the playoffs, where he posted a PFF grade of 67 or higher in three of four games. The foundation has been laid out for him to enjoy a better 2024, but only if he can handle the bigger role and take it in stride.

Behind Trent McDuffie, there aren’t a lot of proven high-end talents in the cornerback room. Watson and Williams are very nice depth pieces, although one of them may have to ascend to new heights in order to offset the loss of Sneed. Can Williams evolve into that player? It wouldn’t be the first time a late-round Brett Veach draft pick impressed at corner.