Kansas City Chiefs: Five players who may be underrated

Steven Nelson

Steven Nelson hasn’t got some of the negative press that other Chiefs defenders have received lately, likely due to the fact that there hasn’t been time to form an opinion.

Nelson started 15 games for the Chiefs in 2016. Although he is yet to grab his first interception, he did manage 16 pass deflections that year while totaling 64 tackles. 2017 was split in half due to injuries, but he still managed 41 tackles, four deflections, and a forced fumble.

Up to this point, many might have just considered him the best of what Kansas City had to choose from opposite Marcus Peters. Now that Peters is gone, this is Nelson’s chance to prove his salt in the league.

He appears to have the football smarts needed to have a career in the sport, although he tends to get lost in coverage, sometimes becoming a bit grabby. There were plenty of times that Nelson got hammered with huge penalties detrimental to the team.

Nelson is a speedy corner that has a problem getting turned the other way. These are fixable. Although he may not be on anyone’s wish list, he should be able to blend in with the Chiefs secondary this season. A career year would turn into a hefty paycheck and job security going into the future.

While at Oregon State he racked up 122 total tackles and eight interceptions over two seasons. If he can get the speed of the game to slow down for himself, the Chiefs secondary should be better than many anticipate.