KC Chiefs: Bashaud Breeland named most improved player in 2020

Pro Football Focus named Bashaud Breeland the KC Chiefs’ most improved player from this past season. 

Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus put together a list of every NFL team’s most improved player from 2020 and for the Kansas City Chiefs, it was cornerback Bashaud Breeland.

"Breeland’s 2019 season with Kansas City was interesting in that his coverage stats did not come close to matching his PFF coverage grade. He allowed just 47.5% of the passes thrown into his coverage to be completed, and quarterbacks recorded a passer rating of 77.4 on throws into his coverage. Yet Breeland earned just a 43.9 coverage grade during the regular season in 2019. The reason: He was one of the most heavily penalized cornerbacks in the league (12) and also benefited from dropped passes or errant throws his way.While the coverage stats took a step back in 2020, Breeland graded significantly better with a 72.9 coverage grade in the regular season. He made more plays on the football and isn’t giving up as many big plays with over five fewer yards allowed per reception."

It’s hard to argue with any of this. Breeland was very good in 2020, but those penalties were beyond frustrating and definitely had not as diehard of fans questioning why Breeland was a key member of the defense. He was good in coverage though and probably priced himself out of Kansas City this offseason.

If you remember, this time last year we were having a similar discussion on Breeland. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that he’d be playing elsewhere in 2020, but there wasn’t a market for Breeland so he ended up returning to Kansas City on a one-year deal.

Having him and rookie L’Jarius Sneed together in the secondary made the passing defense a pretty solid one for the most part. As mentioned above, however, the penalties were a huge knock on Breeland.

The Kansas City Chiefs were fortunate that Bashaud Breeland came back this past season.

Had Breeland not returned, the Chiefs probably would have rolled with Antonio Hamilton in a more key role and that would have weakened this secondary for sure. I hope Breeland decides to come back once again, but he played well this year and deserves a decent contract from a team.

For the rest of the division, Garett Boles was Denver’s choice, Nelson Agholor was Vegas’, and Justin Jones was named most improved for the Chargers. Some of the big names to appear were Josh Allen of the Bills, Dalvin Cook of the Vikings, and Daniel Jones of the Giants.

What do you think, Chiefs fans? Would Bashaud Breeland be your pick for the most improved player in 2020?