### **Cooper McDonald**
The 6-foot-2, 235-pound McDonald tallied 25 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and a pass defensed in nine games for TCU last season. Prior to his time with the Horned Frogs, McDonald spent two seasons each at Washington (2020-21) and San Diego State (2022-23).
He earned himself a contract following a successful tryout at rookie minicamp in May.
### **Cam Jones**
Jones is back for his third season with the Chiefs after appearing in all 17 regular-season games last year. Jones was a core contributor on special teams throughout the campaign, logging the fourth-most special teams' snaps of any Chiefs player with 284.
Prior to joining the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2023, Jones was the No. 15 overall linebacker in the 2022 draft class according to The Athletic's Dane Brugler. He projected Jones to be selected in the fifth or sixth round in his pre-draft guide, writing the following:
_"Overall, Jones' take-on and shed skills require further maintenance, but his instincts and short-area quicks lead him to the football, where he looks to create violent collisions as a tackler. He is a ready-made special teamer with the talent to inch his way up the linebacker depth chart."_
The 6-foot-1, 226-pound linebacker racked up 208 tackles, 13.5 tackles-for-loss, 11 passes defensed, seven sacks, five forced fumbles and two interceptions in 47 career games (23 starts) at Indiana from 2018-22. He also played on kick and punt return coverage in all five of his seasons.
Additionally, Brugler wrote that Jones was on his way to a career year in 2022 before suffering a season-ending foot injury midway through the campaign. Prior to the injury, he was leading the Big Ten in tackles-per-game (10.8) through five contests.
### **The Bottom Line**
The Chiefs kept five linebackers for Week 1 last season, but they've retained as many as six (2023) and as few as four (2022) in recent years.
Notably, all five linebackers who made the team last year are still with Kansas City in Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, Leo Chenal, Jack Cochrane and Cam Jones. Rookie Jeffrey Bassa turned in a great spring and seems in good position to make the team, too.
All that being said, behind Bolton, Tranquill and Chenal, it's fair to say that the remaining spots in the linebacker room – whether it be just one slot or as many as three – will be up for grabs between the remaining six players currently in the linebacker corps. As always with this position, the final guys who make it will have demonstrated their value on special teams – in addition to the defense – throughout camp, just as Cochrane and Christiansen have over the years.