The Kansas City Chiefs lost a hustler in their secondary this offseason when Justin Reid signed with the Saints. It’s not easy finding someone to replace what Reid can provide but the Chiefs hopefully already have a replacement in mind.

That player very well could be Jaden Hicks, who Bradley Locker of PFF recently listed on his 2025 NFL All-Breakout Team. Locker went through every position and picked a breakout star and Hicks was one of the safeties on his list.

“Across 469 snaps in 2024, Hicks recorded an impressive 75.1 overall PFF grade with a 75.7 PFF coverage grade and a miniscule 2.7% missed tackle rate — the third-lowest among qualified safeties. Hicks’ advanced PFF metrics are wildly impressive, such as his 91st percentile run stop rate and 74th percentile forced incompletion rate.
Steve Spagnuolo has earned a reputation for drafting and developing top defensive backs, from Trent McDuffie to Charvarius Ward to Jaylen Watson and more. Hicks, a former fourth-round pick, seems to check all the boxes of the next great Chiefs late-round find.”

PFF says Jaden Hicks could be Chiefs’ next breakout star

It was always pretty crazy that the Chiefs were able to land Hicks when they did. He fell to the fourth round in the 2024 draft and that felt like an outright steal when it went down. Hicks played well as a rookie, sliding into multiple roles and doing whatever was asked of him so it wouldn’t be crazy whatsoever if he slid into a more prominent role and did so admirably.

As Locker noted in his write-up, Steve Spagnuolo has been able to get the best out of his guys no matter where they were drafted. Who’s to think that Hicks will be any different, especially with how well he’s already played in the system?

It’d likely frustrate other fan bases seeing another Day 3 pick come in and contribute heavily for the Chiefs but when a team drafts well, they’re setting themselves up for long-term success. The Chiefs have drafted well and Hicks is another example of that. Let’s hope Locker is right and that the absence of Reid is offset by the emergence of Jaden Hicks.