The Kansas City Chiefs’ recent success is heavily linked to Patrick Mahomes and the offense, but the defense had emerged as one of the top units in the league before a dip in 2025.

During his appearance on the Chief Concerns YouTube Channel, rookie cornerback Kevin Knowles spoke highly of multiple defensive players while providing how he grew as a player throughout the season.

Knowles’ Thoughts

Linebacker Nick Bolton has been one of the leaders on that side of the ball, and the 2025 undrafted free agent explained how amazed he was by Bolton’s understanding of the playbook.

• “Nick [Bolton] wows me every day,” Knowles said. “Because regardless, he knows what that three-technique needs to be doing, he knows that the cornerback is supposed to be bailing, he knows the supposed the safety is supposed to be coming down and fitting the A-gap or whatever.”

• “One thing about it: Nick [is] going to tell you, ‘talk to me, communicate, let’s go,’” Knowles continued. “If you make a play, he is going to come dap you up and say something to keep you up. Don’t get me wrong, don’t mess up now… [defensive coordinator] [Steve Spagnuolo] relies on that man a lot, and the defense does, the front end, the back end, even the guys next to him.”

Cornerback Trent McDuffie, who could be traded this offseason, instantly developed into a top player for the Chiefs. Knowles praised the 25-year-old cornerback on his leadership and doing everything the right way.

• “Trent’s the blueprint, Trent does everything right,” Knowles stated. “Us doing everyday drills, he’s going to show you how to do it and let you know ‘lets pick it up a little bit.’”

• “Trent paved the way for a lot of people in that room,” Knowles continued. “Whether it’s answering questions that has nothing to do with him, answering questions about the defensive line, answering questions about a screen that we’d never see.”

• “I don’t think he knows, but there are a lot of people that got eyes on him, a lot of younger guys got eyes on him, especially me… me and Nohl Williams [say] ‘Trent doing this, we got to do this.’ It’s little things like that,” Knowles said.

As an undrafted rookie, it took time for Knowles to find his footing and fully grasp the defensive scheme. However, he explained how he eventually got over the learning curve.

• “I started off a little shaky,” Knowles explained. “It took hours and hours of me truly diving into that playbook until I truly got it, until things started to stick. I’m not going to lie, it probably didn’t start sticking until middle of the season. Then, you know how the game comes… game adjustments are totally different.”