Kansas City Chiefs: Rookie expectations for Rashad Fenton

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t address the cornerback position until the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft – pick 201 to be exact. With that pick, they selected Rashad Fenton out of South Carolina. What can he provide in 2019?

Kansas City Chiefs fans were probably surprised when the team opted not to upgrade at cornerback during the early rounds of the draft. Their corners weren’t great in 2018 and their passing defense was one of the worst in the entire league.

So, how did the Chiefs improve their cornerback situation between the end of the 2018 season to now? Honestly – They didn’t do much. They added safety help in the form of Tyrann Mathieu and drafted Juan Thornhill, but cornerback wasn’t a top priority apparently.

They signed Bashaud Breeland, formerly of the Redskins and Packers, to a one-year “prove it” deal. While that’s all fine and dandy, Breeland is only signed for a year and he’s not the long-term answer moving forward.

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Other than bringing Breeland in, the Chiefs didn’t do a ton to fix their cornerback position. They ignored cornerback until the sixth round of the draft and Rashad Fenton was a surprising selection.

That’s not to say Fenton can’t be an effective player moving forward, but he could have been picked up as a UDFA at the very least. The hope is that Fenton comes in, wows the pants off of us, and ends up being a pleasant surprise in the Chiefs secondary.

The realistic expectations, however, is that he contributes on special teams as a rookie and occasionally can come in and make a stand in the secondary. He’s not going to be a starter, unless Breeland, Kendall Fuller, and Charvarius Ward (even Tremon Smith) go down with an injury or don’t live up to THEIR expectations.

I mentioned Thornhill earlier as safety help, but he can play cornerback too, which could limit Fenton even further. The good thing with Fenton is that he has the ability to intercept the ball, hauling in three picks last year while at South Carolina.

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The Kansas City Chiefs must improve their secondary if they want to realistically have a shot at winning the Super Bowl and while it’d be great to see Rashad Fenton step up and make plays, those aren’t the most realistic of expectations. Fenton should hopefully be able to contribute heavily on special teams and maybe he plays limited snaps at corner in 2019.

What are your expectations for Rashad Fenton?

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