Kansas City Chiefs: Four Breakout Candidates in 2019

Breakout Candidate Number 3: Juan Thornhill

The Kansas City Chiefs player with the best chance to be a breakout star next season on defense also happens to be a rookie. Juan Thornhill is expected to come in and immediately start in the secondary and upgrade the Chiefs safety unit.

He should have a great chance to start opposite new arrival Tyrann Mathieu, and that in itself is a reason why Thornhill has a chance at a very productive rookie season. Not only will Mathieu be avoided by quarterbacks on the field, he will help Thornhill off the field by just being there.

Mathieu has taken the reigns of a defensive leader early in his Chiefs tenure, and he provides and excellent example for Thornhill on how to prepare off the field. There is maybe no better brain to pick than Mathieu’s at the safety position.

Thornhill is a former corner, and Mathieu is the most versatile safety in the league. This is an ideal situation for the rookie to learn and emulate, which should lead to solid production in year one.

Another reason Thornhill is set to have a breakout season is because of what he excels at, and that is creating turnovers. Thornhill had 13 interceptions over three years as a starter for Virginia, with ten coming in his last two seasons. This is a big contributor to his “breakout” status because to truly breakout, a player has to be noticed by others around the league and NFL media.

Thornhill could be a versatile player able to cover tight ends and impact the run game, but doing little things like that often gets overlooked by observers. If he is able to do the little things consistently as well as pile up turnovers, then he may garner the attention needed to warrant the label of a breakout player.

Thornhill breaking out would be a welcome sight to Chiefs fans. In the last few years, the Chiefs have lacked true first day contributors out of their rookies. Draft picks such as Breeland Speaks, Dorian O’Daniel, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Khalil Makenzie, Dee Ford, and even Patrick Mahomes didn’t find success right away.

The Chiefs tend to draft for talent and potential, trusting their coaches to groom players into stars. Having Thornhill play well from the start would be a nice change of pace for a Chiefs team that needs defensive help.