Arrowhead Pride
Special teams coordinator Dave Toub on his highest-graded special teams player this season
“It’s going to be probably (linebacker) Cooper McDonald, production-wise,” Toub revealed during his press conference on Thursday. “He has kind of jumped out in front here these last couple weeks, but it was a tight race all the way up until that point.”
McDonald joined the Chiefs last May after impressing during a tryout in rookie minicamp. He earned a spot on the 53-man roster after a strong preseason, and has now been recognized as one of the most crucial members of Toub’s unit.
Ranking the Top 40 NFL Free Agents of 2026 | The Ringer
18. Cornerback Jaylen Watson
Current team: Kansas City Chiefs
Age: 27
Drafted: 2022, seventh round (243rd)
Pro Bowls: None
All-Pro teams: NoneWatson is a tall, long-armed cornerback who has improved every year of his career. Over the last two seasons, Watson has allowed just one touchdown and recorded three pass breakups and two interceptions, per PFF. He’s a scheme-versatile, disciplined player with more than 2,000 snaps played at outside corner over the last four years. Watson may not have a ton of ball production, but he makes up for it with down-to-down consistency and an overall reluctance to give up the big play. The Chiefs currently have the least 2026 cap space of any team in the league, making it hard to imagine that they can afford to keep Watson (and others in his draft class like safety Bryan Cook and linebacker Leo Chenal) on the franchise tag or a new multiyear extension. DJ Reed, Christian Benford, Charvarius Ward, and Carlton Davis—outside corners with decent résumés like Watson’s—signed multiyear contracts in the $16 million to $18 million per year range last offseason; Watson could be looking for something similar.
Bonus five: Things we got wrong
5. Belief in the Kansas City Chiefs: The 2023 season was hard for me to shake. That year, the Chiefs lost three of four games to start December to fall to 9-6, then went on to win the Super Bowl. They still had Patrick Mahomes in his prime this season, paired with Andy Reid and a receiver group that looked talented
on paper and was supposed to become more available — from injuries and suspension — as the year went on. The defense was also not bad.
It never came together, though. That makes it look really foolish to rank the Chiefs in the top three as Super Bowl favorites from Week 8 through Week 11. Of the eight games the Chiefs lost with Mahomes as the starter, seven were against teams that are in the playoffs, and only once in those eight...
