Brett Veach has clearly decided the Chiefs can’t keep doing business the old way up front.
With nearly two weeks left before Kansas City opens at Arrowhead against the Denver Broncos, the roster picture is still coming into focus. But even in this early version, the defensive line looks dramatically younger, and that’s the clearest sign yet that the front office is responding to a 6-11 season with a much bolder approach.
The biggest change is on the interior and at defensive end, where the Chiefs have loaded up on new faces with more upside and more room to grow. For years, Chris Jones was asked to carry the middle with a supporting cast built around safer, steadier veterans. This time, Kansas City has gone looking for more variety and more explosiveness.
As the roster stands now, four rookies are part of the Chiefs’ nine defensive linemen. That group also includes five newcomers overall, with draft picks taken in both the first and second rounds. The organization doubled down on that direction in the 2025 draft as well, using consecutive selections in the second and third rounds on the defensive front while Jones was still the centerpiece.
That’s a sharp break from what Kansas City has leaned on in recent seasons. The depth chart used to be stocked with players who knew Steve Spagnuolo’s system and could be trusted to avoid mistakes, even if they didn’t change games. Derrick Nnadi, Mike Pennel, Charles Omenihu, Jerry Tillery, Mike Danna and Malik Herring all fit that mold at different points.
That kind of stability has value, but it also had a built-in limit. The Chiefs could count on those players to hold their ground, but they were not the sort of linemen opposing coordinators had to circle on the game plan.
Kansas City rarely took real swings on younger defensive linemen. When the team did, it was usually on late-round fliers like Keondre Coburn or cast-offs like Cam Thomas. That started to shift with Omarr Norman-Lott and Gillotte, at least on paper.
This year, Veach pushed harder than ever. He used the No. 29 pick on Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods, then came back in the top of the second round for Oklahoma edge rusher R Mason Thomas.
Thomas is not the kind of defensive end Spagnuolo has typically dealt with, but the speed and upside are obvious, and the preseason results have backed that up. After roster cuts, Veach added two more linemen in former 49ers defensive tackle Bryson Eason and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Jack Pyburn.
No one can say yet whether this younger group will outperform the veteran-heavy approach that came before it. The Chiefs could miss on these bets.
That part is always in play. But after a 2025 season when the line lacked real bite, Kansas City chose to chase more juice.
And now, with five new faces among nine linemen and four rookies set for their first NFL snap, the Chiefs’ defensive front looks like the most interesting it has been in years.
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