Being the reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champions certainly comes with its perks. Such success goes a long way in attracting veteran players who are looking to add a ring to their resume—even if they’d previously chosen to hang up their cleats. Cornerback Steven Nelson serves as a perfect example, who elected to retire following his ’23 campaign but opted to return to football as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, the juggernauts of the AFC West.
Reliable secondary help is en route to Kansas City as the Chiefs continue their potential three-peat journey.
It’s much-needed secondary help, too. Although the Chiefs’ defense allows the sixth-least yardage (4,031) in addition to the seventh-least points (252), their struggles in pass-coverage are evident. 2,883 of their 4,031 surrendered yardage comes on passes, ranking 13th-highest across the NFL. 18 of their 28 allowed touchdowns have come by way of the air as well.
Kansas City’s pass-coverage struggles are only amplified by the absence of cornerback Jaylen Watson, who was enjoying a sensational 2024 campaign. Watson allowed a completion percentage of only 53.6% when targeted, forcing seven incompletions on passes his way; a number that remains a team-high despite the 26-year-old corner not taking a snap since suffering an injury that placed him on injured reserves following Week 6.
Nelson, who spent the first four seasons of his career in Kansas City, will go a long way in fixing his new team’s coverage struggles.
Veteran CB Steven Nelson returns to the AFC West, reuniting with the Kansas City Chiefs
It doesn’t get much more consistent than Steven Nelson; Chiefs fans should know that better than anyone. Since his career began in 2015, just two seasons have gone by where the 31-year-old has allowed a completion percentage north of 60.0%; excluding his rookie season, where he gave up one catch on one target.
That equates to only 25% of Nelson’s career.
More impressively, Nelson has allowed such a great completion percentage throughout his career while often totaling more snaps on passing-downs than his teammates. This was the case in both 2016 and 2018 during his first AFC West tenure with the Chiefs, where no cornerback in Kansas City took the field for more passing plays than the Oregon State alum.
Despite totaling a team-high 754 coverage-snaps in 2018, in addition to a team-high 113 targets, Nelson allowed only 53.1% of passes his way to end in a completion. His 76.8 quarterback rating when targeted was the lowest among all secondary players in Kansas City that season.
Things didn’t change after he departed with the Chiefs following his ’18 campaign, either. With the Pittsburgh Steelers, Nelson was able to post a career-best 51.5% completion percentage when targeted. And later on, as a member of the Texans in both 2022 and 2023, the 5-foot-11 cornerback served as a key piece to Houston’s defense.
Nelson’s most recent season was just as good as any he’s posted throughout his career. Despite totaling a team-high 64 targets, only one cornerback in Houston was responsible for a lower percentage of passes that ended with a reception on balls thrown their way.
The veteran was able to intercept four passes last season, tying a career-high he set in 2018 with the same Chiefs team he’s now once again part of.
*Top Photo: Jay Biggerstaff/ Imagn Images
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