Kansas City Chiefs: Sean Smith Bittersweet Return

The Kansas City Chiefs will receive much-needed reinforcement this weekend when cornerback Sean Smith returns from a three-game suspension.

He’ll draw the Cincinnati Bengals, receiver A.J. Green and a physical, power offensive opponent in his first week back.

It’s a bittersweet return however, as the Chiefs recently found out it will be without second-year corner Phillip Gaines, who sustained a season-ending ACL injury last week.

Is it a complete wash, or is the Chiefs defense better off with Smith despite the Gaines injury? Losing a starting defensive back always hurts, but Smith was pretty good last season.

Sean Smith had the 3rd best coverage grade among all CBs in 2014.

Chiefs will face the Texans, Broncos, and Packers without their top CB.
— PFF (@PFF) July 24, 2015

He also rated as a top five cornerback when Madden 16 when it came out. He’s an unrestricted free agent after this season, so he should have been plenty motivated to stay in shape during his extended preseason.

The Chiefs defense will certainly welcome him back. Smith drew some praise from linebacker Derrick Johnson, according to KCChiefs.com:

"“I’m already smiling about Sean Smith being back,” Johnson said. “That’s going to be a great addition to our defense. He’s our number one corner. Of course we’ve got Marcus Peters and those guys playing really well, but Sean Smith is a veteran in this league. Big corner, about my size. He’s a guy who’s going to be on the number one receiver, and we need that from our secondary just to make our defense more whole.”"

As you would hope, Smith wasn’t exactly enjoying his suspension, according to ESPN‘s Adam Teicher.

Smith is 6’ 3″, 218 pounds, rare size for a cornerback. While he gives up some speed, his height and weight combination can neutralize taller, physical receivers.

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He finished last season with one interception, 18 passes defensed and 47 total tackles. And he’s as reliable as they come. Before his three game suspension, Smith had missed just one game in his six-season career. He had played in 16 regular season games for four consecutive seasons.

Smith absolutely makes the KC Chiefs better, but it’s still a tough pill to swallow when you know you’ll be missing your third best cornberback for the rest of the season.

He’ll likely draw Green this week in Cincy, then the Chicago Bears’ Alshon Jeffrey when the Chiefs return to Arrowhead.

The popular pick seems to be that the red-hot Bengals will beat the scuffling Chiefs. Take that for what it’s worth (nothing).

The Chiefs add a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback to its defense and, despite losing Gaines, they project as a better defense overall.

Next: KC Chiefs: Phillip Gaines Replacement Options

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