The Chiefs didn’t just spend this offseason trying to patch holes after their worst season in more than a decade. They also made a pretty clear bet on their own young talent.
That matters because Kansas City enters 2026 with the second-youngest roster in the NFL, and the youngest defense in the league. After losing several veterans in free agency, the message from the front office was simple: the next wave has to grow up fast. If the Chiefs are going to climb back toward their old standard, a few young players are going to have to make real jumps.
Here are five who could be ready to do exactly that.
Ashton Gillotte is one of the names to circle first. The Chiefs’ defensive end group was shaky in 2025, and while the team added R.
Mason Thomas in the second round, Gillotte still looks like a player with a path to a major role. Steve Spagnuolo has always liked big, athletic, physical linemen, and Gillotte fits that mold.
The 2025 third-round pick could be a Week 1 starter and log around 50 percent of the snaps at defensive end. For a former Louisville walk-on, that would be a pretty big leap.
Jaden Hicks is another player the Chiefs seem to be counting on. Kansas City quietly signaled this offseason that Hicks is in line for more responsibility, and that makes sense given the kind of athlete he showed at Washington State. He flashed elite ability in 2024, and with the Chiefs’ secondary shaping up as a highly competitive group, Hicks is one of the favorites to carve out a meaningful job on the back end in 2026.
Jeffery Bassa could be next in line on defense as well. He entered the 2025 NFL Draft with a third-round grade, and when he slipped to the fifth round, Kansas City got value.
His rookie season was mostly a quiet one, but 2026 should bring a much bigger workload. Bassa is projected to have a significant role and could even step into a starting spot in the Chiefs’ base defense.
The traits are there: athleticism, instincts, and enough skill to affect the game in a lot of different ways.
On offense, Esa Pole is a name worth watching closely. He was one of the offseason players I wrote about as someone Chiefs fans shouldn’t overlook, and the appeal is obvious.
Pole has the athletic tools, and the coaching projection is strong. Last season gave a few glimpses of what he might become at tackle, and now he’s competing for the starting right tackle job.
He has not played right tackle at a high level, but even if he ends up as a swing tackle, he could still matter a lot.
Then there’s Jake Briningstool, a longer shot but not one to ignore. Kansas City brought him in as one of its bigger undrafted free agent additions after the 2025 draft, but a hamstring injury in training camp wiped out most of his season.
The door is open at tight end behind Travis Kelce, and with this likely being No. 87’s last season with the Chiefs, Briningstool has a real opportunity to compete for a larger role. Coming out of Clemson, he looked like a strong pass catcher, and the tools that made him intriguing are still there.
In Other News...
Chiefs Fans Should Be Worried About Harrison Butker Right Now
Harrison Butker has been one of the most reliable parts of the Chiefs machine for years, which is why the last two seasons have stood out so sharply. His field goal accuracy has slipped, his extra points have been less automatic than Kansas City is used to, and the numbers have dipped far enough that the conversation around one of the leagues most established kickers is no longer just about a rough patch.
The bigger concern for the Chiefs is how that decline has started to show up in game management, where trust matters almost as much as leg strength. Butker remains on a major contract and still carries the rsum of a proven veteran, but the combination of missed consistency and a few uneasy moments has turned his status into a real storyline as Kansas City looks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Just Made A Massive Olathe HQ Decision
The Chiefs long-planned move to Olathe picked up another important piece this week, with the team lining up the firm that will help steer the new headquarters and practice facility from planning through construction. Burns & McDonnell, the Kansas City-based engineering, architecture and construction company, will serve as the owners representative on the project, a role that puts it in the middle of the day-to-day push to keep the build aligned with the Chiefs goals.
For a project of this size, that kind of oversight matters just as much as the headline-grabbing renderings and land deal. The complex is expected to rise near College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road on roughly 155 acres, and the team has been working toward a facility that can open before the 2031 season. Burns & McDonnell brings deep local roots to the job, which should make it a familiar name around a development that figures to be watched closely all the way through the build. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Fans Have One Huge Mahomes Worry Entering Training Camp
Patrick Mahomes health has become the central Chiefs storyline as training camp opens, and for a team built around its quarterback, that naturally changes the tone of everything else. Any time Mahomes is working back toward full speed, the questions multiply quickly, from how much hell do early in camp to whether Kansas City will even want to expose him in preseason action.
The backup picture adds another layer to watch. Justin Fields could be in line for a short-yardage package if the Chiefs decide to experiment, while seventh-rounder Garrett Nussmeier is the kind of developmental arm who could see opportunities if the staff wants a longer look. For now, the bigger issue is simply how Kansas City handles Mahomes through camp, because the answer will shape the rest of the quarterback conversation. [Read more 🡒]