Chiefs' Secret Defensive Weapon: Chamarri Conner pt. 2

Chamarri Conner could be in for a massive sophomore season for the Kansas City Chiefs.

In part 2 of our series covering Chamarri Conner’s potential and role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2024 defense, we are going to focus on his ability as a deep safety. The Chiefs’ defense is going to undergo some serious changes this season with the loss of L’Jarius Sneed and they may need someone to take that big step forward. Conner is someone who appears primed to be that person.

In part one of this series we looked at Conner expanding his role as a slot defender in the scenario that either Trent McDuffie moves to outside CB full time or that the Chiefs return to their big nickel/buffalo defensive package. In part two we are going to focus on a more traditional safety role, being a deep safety.

This include both single high coverage shells and playing split field safeties. The Chiefs’ added more of the former this past season due to their strong corner play, but a return to a heavy split field coverage shell would make sense with the absence of Sneed. In either case, Bryan Cook has drawn the primary deep safety role last year. Mike Edwards both filled in for Cook as the primary deep safety after his injury but also was saw plenty of time as a second deep safety while Justin Reid rolled down into the box frequently. Chamarri Conner looks to be in line for that Edwards’ role this season and his prowess as a deep safety should be tested.

Chamarri Conner Defensive Weapon

As mentioned, this installment is going to focus on Conner’s play as a deep safety. Last year for the Chiefs, Conner saw more snaps as a deep safety than he did in the box or in the slot for the Chiefs. That’s mildly surprising given in four years at Virginia Tech, he played just 10% of his snaps in that role. For that reason, there is an expected learning curve for him but there was also plenty of highs.

Range

With Conner’s plus athleticism overall, he shows above average range on the back end of a defense. When he is able to quickly process out the route combinations and get his hips flipped in the right direction, he has the acceleration and speed to close on the catch point quickly. On the play above, the Chiefs are rotating their two-high shell with a slot defender rotating to a deep half and Conner aligning on one side of the field but rolling to the opposite side to play his deep zone.