Question of the Week: Are we going to see more Jaden Hicks?

Coming into the season, one of my biggest questions for the Kansas City Chiefs was how they would deploy their safeties . By the end of last year, Bryan Cook was out with an ankle injury, which allowed Chamarri Conner to play well to finish the season, but we hadn't seen the tandem of Cook, Conner and Justin Reid get many snaps together.

On top of that, the Chiefs drafted safety Jaden Hicks in the fourth round. In my opinion, Hicks was the best safety in the class and someone who could get on an NFL field quickly. For me, the question wasn't talent or depth; instead, it was how they would get these guys on the field and where they would play.

To Kansas City's credit, they figured out their formula immediately. When the Chiefs were in their base defense, Reid and Cook would be the two deep safeties, and they would play a lot of zone-based coverages. When the Chiefs wanted to get into single-high coverages, Reid would come down into the box, and Cook would play center field.

When the Chiefs went to nickel, Conner would come on the field and play in the slot as the seventh defender in the run fit. The Chiefs also play two-high coverages in their nickel packages and primarily use zone coverages on early downs.

When the Chiefs got into dime coverages, all three safeties would remain on the field, but this is when defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo changed the looks up with his safeties. On some snaps, Conner would rotate from the slot to the deep half of the field in a Cover 2 look. When the Chiefs went into man coverage, Reid would often cover the tight end, often on the backside of formations. Reid and Conner were also used in blitzes and pressure packages. Cook was still primarily playing in deep coverage depending on the coverage call.

Before the bye, this was all the Chiefs did at safety, but in the San Francisco 49ers game, we finally saw Hicks get some snaps. Hicks got 12% of defensive snaps in that game , but mainly in red-zone situations. Hicks was able to snag an interception in those snaps, but we didn't get a genuine idea of what the Chiefs thought of Hicks' role in that game.

On Monday against the Buccaneers , Hicks was able to get on the field for nine snaps , and in those snaps, we saw multiple roles for him. Hicks played a drive in both halves. In the first half, Hicks came on the field for Cook, and in those snaps, he played a similar role to Cook. Hicks was one of the two deep safeties in their Cover 4 looks or rotating to centerfield in their single-high looks.

In the second half, Hicks played a drive for Reid and played a similar role. Instead of playing deep, Hicks was kicking down into the box as the extra run defender when the Buccaneers went into heavy personnel, taking on blocks and accounting for the run fit. Hicks did have one snap where he rotated deep, and Cook rotated underneath, but besides that, he was down in the box.

It's hard to glean too much from how he played in nine snaps, but I thought it was interesting that we saw Hicks play multiple roles depending on who was off the field. The Chiefs didn't ask Reid or Cook to make adjustments to their games when Hicks was on the field, but instead asked the rookie to be able to play in multiple spots and hold up. That's a lot of trust given to a rookie and a sign that Spagnuolo wants Hicks to be able to handle various roles in the defense.

This situation is interesting because we saw a similar scenario with Conner last season. In 2023, Conner was also used sparingly when the Chiefs had Reid, Cook, and Mike Edwards as their three primary safeties. Conner would get on the field for some funky looks, but his role was limited. When the Cook injury occurred, Conner became the team's Dime defensive back and was able to play well in the postseason, which has translated to high-level play this year.

Hicks hasn't played as much as Conner did even before Cook's injury, but I think we could be seeing a similar scenario here. As the team continues to put more on his plate, Hicks might start getting packages to get him on the field more, even at the expense of one of their safeties getting fewer snaps.

So, what will we see from Hicks for the rest of the season? Will the Chiefs design more packages to get him on the field? With the Chiefs' injuries at cornerback, can the Chiefs start playing four safeties and two cornerbacks in their Dime packages? When Hicks plays, where do they feel his best role is?

Justin Reid is a free agent next season, and it's unclear whether he'll be back with the team, so I think it makes sense for the team to explore looking at Hicks. Since he was drafted, I've felt that Reid and Hicks have duplicative skillsets, and if the Chiefs lose Reid, I think Hicks is an ideal body type and replacement for him. I would like to see Hicks get some run for the Chiefs to get some time to evaluate where he's at and if they can rely on him as a starter going into 2024.