{"id":768626,"date":"2026-02-22T09:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768626\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T09:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:45:07","slug":"kevin-knowles-gives-rookie-perspective-on-chiefs-veteran-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768626\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Knowles gives rookie perspective on Chiefs\u2019 veteran leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an era of Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> football that has multiple superstars dominating everyday headlines, it\u2019s easy to appreciate them and overlook the impact made by the quieter or humbler cornerstones of the team.<\/p>\n

To feel the gratitude for defensive leaders like linebacker Nick Bolton and cornerback Trent McDuffie, it takes listening to what coaches and teammates have to say. Defensive back Kevin Knowles was an undrafted signing by the Chiefs last spring before working his way onto the 53-man roster by midseason.<\/p>\n

He saw defensive snaps in six of the 13 games he played, and gained a new appreciation for the team\u2019s top defensive players. Knowles joined co-hosts Marcus Dash and former Chiefs tight end Jason Dunn on the Chief Concerns YouTube channel<\/a> to share that experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cNick wows me every day,\u201d Knowles said of Bolton. \u201cBecause regardless, he knows what that three-technique needs to be doing, he knows that the cornerback is supposed to be bailing, he knows the supposed the safety is supposed to be coming down and fitting the A-gap or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing about it: Nick [is] going to tell you \u2018talk to me, communicate, lets go,\u2019\u201d Knowles continued. \u201cIf you make a play, he is going to come dap you up and say something to keep you up. Don\u2019t get me wrong, don\u2019t mess up now\u2026 Spags relies on that man a lot, and the defense does, the front end, the back end, even the guys next to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowles admitted he believed Bolton was an older player before coming to Kansas City, speaking to the established presence of the Chiefs\u2019 middle linebacker.<\/p>\n

As impressed as Knowles was with Bolton, McDuffie \u2014 only 25 years old himself \u2014 is the player he and many young defensive backs truly look up to.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrent\u2019s the blueprint, Trent does everything right,\u201d Knowles declared. \u201cUs doing everyday drills, he\u2019s going to show you how to do it and let you know \u2018lets pick it up a little bit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrent paved the way for a lot of people in that room,\u201d Knowles emphasized. \u201cWhether it\u2019s answering questions that has nothing to do with him, answering questions about the defensive line, answering questions about a screen that we\u2019d never see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he knows, but there are a lot of people that got eyes on him, a lot of younger guys got eyes on him, especially me\u2026 me and Nohl Williams [say] \u2018Trent doing this, we got to do this.\u2019 It\u2019s little things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two of the defense\u2019s top players feel like coaches on the field to teammates, and that points to the impact the actual coaching staff has. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has always valued \u201cteaching\u201d the game, and Knowles credited he, defensive backs coach Dave Merrit and senior defensive assistant Matt House for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey teach it, they truly sit you down,\u201d Knowles explained. \u201cWe\u2019ll go over one thing for a whole week until you get it. Merrit [will] throw you on the board; he\u2019s going to ask you questions out of the blue. It\u2019s like \u2018if you don\u2019t got it, you\u2019re [going to] sit here and do it until you get it.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n

The persistence was needed for Knowles, who acknowledged the difficulty of learning the scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off a little shaky,\u201d Knowles admitted, referring to understanding the defense. \u201cIt took hours and hours of me truly diving into that playbook until I truly got it, until things started to stick. I\u2019m not going to lie, it probably didn\u2019t start sticking until middle of the season. Then, you know how the game comes\u2026 game adjustments are totally different.\u201d<\/p>\n

After being elevated from the practice squad multiple times, Knowles was signed to the 53-man roster before Week 8. He didn\u2019t start impacting the defense until the final five-game stretch of the schedule, but he was ready at anytime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where mental reps come in,\u201d Knowles reflected. \u201cI was on the sidelines, I was playing special teams, I wasn\u2019t playing any defense. Mentally, I had to lock in and see what I was doing because when my name is called, it wasn\u2019t \u2018oh I got to get ready.\u2019 If you aren\u2019t ready, it\u2019s next up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowles became an intriguing player to think about moving forward after flashing as a slot defender for the Chiefs\u2019 defense. According to PFF Premium Stats, Knowles allowed only four catches over the 12 passes thrown his direction in coverage.<\/p>\n

Knowles\u2019 flashes of playmaking are paired with a leadership group around him that could bring the best out of the young defensive back in his NFL career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an era of Kansas City Chiefs football that has multiple superstars dominating everyday headlines, it\u2019s easy to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,922,1193,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-768626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","13":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs-roster","14":"tag-kansascity","15":"tag-kansascitychiefs","16":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116113646829241501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}