The Kansas City Chiefs faded badly in the second half of the season, mostly due to the knee injury sustained by quarterback Patrick Mahomes against the Houston Texans. That injury brought the Chiefs offense to a virtual standstill for the rest of the year, but Kansas City’s defense was able to hold down the fort at times.
Two Chiefs defenders were exceptions in the second half, however. Thomas Valentine of Pro Football Focus did a positional rundown of what he called “second half risers,” i.e., players who improved the most in the second half of the season, and one name is familiar, while the other is quite surprising.
The familiar name is linebacker Nick Bolton, who’s been both a stud and one of the “glue guys” in the Chiefs defense. Bolton was good during the first half of the season, registering a PFF game of 59.1, which is considered good, while delivering 13 pressures.
But Bolton had the third-most missed tackles in tehe league, and he also allowed the fourth-most yardage in coverage. Indeed, his 40.5 coverage grate was76th out of the 90 linebackers PFF rated.
In the second half of the season, though, Bolton was exceptional. His grade of 90.2 was best in the league, and he added 31 stops to go with 12 pressures. Bolton also improved in coverage, yielding just 144 yards on 21 receptions while compiling a league-best coverage grade of 90.1.
The surprising name that popped up was Derrick Nandi. The former third-round pick has been a controversial figure in Kansas City, based on the fact that he’s failed to register a PFF grade of over 45.0. He’s seen his snap count drop in the last season or two as a result, and his PFF grade of 33.5 aligned with that drop. It was also last among defensive tackles during that time period.
In the second half of the season, though, Nandi seemed to find something, His grade jumped to 61.1 despite missing two games in Week 16 and 17, although those games didn’t end up meaning much. Still, the Chiefs keep Nnandi around for his run-stuffing potential, and his grade in that area was 62.3 while tallying six stops, according to Valentine.
Bolton will likely be relied on to do more in 2026, due in part to fellow linebacker Leo Chenal heading into free agency. The Chiefs will draft to replace Chenal if he leaves, but Nnadi’s future is unclear going forward as Kansas City tries to upgrade different defensive units during the offseason.