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Kansas City Chiefs: What L’Jarius Sneed can provide in 2020

By Leigh Oleszczak

BOWLING GREEN, KY - DECEMBER 03: Taywan Taylor #2 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers catches the ball in the end zone for a touchdown as L'Jarius Sneed #24 of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defends at Houchens-Smith Stadium on December 3, 2016 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BOWLING GREEN, KY - DECEMBER 03: Taywan Taylor #2 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers catches the ball in the end zone for a touchdown as L'Jarius Sneed #24 of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defends at Houchens-Smith Stadium on December 3, 2016 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The Kansas City Chiefs selected L’Jarius Sneed in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. What can the Louisiana Tech product provide the team during his rookie season?

The Kansas City Chiefs needed to add players in the secondary and they did just that by selecting L’Jarius Sneed in round four. Sneed is the versatile player that the Chiefs were needing after Kendall Fuller took his talents to the nation’s capital over the offseason.

Fuller was playing both cornerback and safety during the 2019 season and that’s ultimately what the team would like to do with Sneed. It probably won’t happen during his rookie season though.

No, instead Sneed will be used as a depth piece while also seeing time on special teams. It makes sense to plan for that, as Sneed was a fourth round pick and is going to need fine tuning before being thrown to the wolves.

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The hope with Sneed is that he develops into a nice press corner for the team and then maybe from there, he can spend time there and at safety when needed. Once Fuller was moved into a duel-role player, the Chiefs defense became even better. That proved to be the difference in their run to Super Bowl LIV.

Sneed has spent time at both corner and safety before. He played his first three seasons at Louisiana Tech at the cornerback position and was moved to safety as a senior. That versatility is likely what attracted the KC Chiefs to him and hopefully fans will see that versatility shine in the secondary.

As a rookie, however, no one should expect Sneed to immediately be thrown into a starting spot. The Chiefs have Charvarius Ward and Rashad Fenton at corner to start the year (Bashaud Breeland not getting suspended would be shocking) and have Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill, and Daniel Sorensen manning the safety spots. If Breeland misses time, that could help propel Sneed into a starting role.

Sneed is an intriguing player due to his speed alone. The broadcasters during the draft mentioned that he had blazing speed and that’s yet another aspect of his game that the Chiefs were excited about. They love fast players.

L’Jarius Sneed has a lot to prove as a rookie and he has multiple ways to do it. He can make an impact as a depth piece (potentially at both corner and safety) and can also make his mark on special teams.

What do you think Sneed’s role will be in 2020?

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