Over the past few years, one thing I’ve given attention to is the snap percentage the Kansas City Chiefs have given All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. Of everything Jones brings to the table, the most underrated strength he possesses is phenomenal conditioning.
When Jones entered the league, he showed flashes of the dominant player he would become, but the consistency wasn’t there. Some of this was that Jones needed more time to develop, but that conditioning also hurt his consistency.
As Jones developed into a star, his conditioning had improved, but there were still some inconsistencies in his game. Jones would take particular run plays off and not bring it every single down.
As he approached his peak seasons — from ages 27 to 29 — Jones continued to get in even better shape and refine his game. Around 2022, Jones focused on run defense, becoming a significant positive in the run game.
Jones started using his length more effectively and showed improved gap integrity and leverage against double teams. He wasn’t always caught trying to backdoor plays, and he played more in the structure of the defense. As a pass rusher, Jones was able to extend his impact over 60 minutes so that he was always felt. Since that point, Jones has been the best defensive tackle in the league and has the argument for the NFL’s best defender.
An underrated aspect of Jones' peaking is his conditioning and ability to play a high number of snaps. Over the past three seasons, Jones has played more snaps, achieving a snap percentage above 80%.
Here are Jones’s snap counts through his career:
**Chris Jones Snaps
2016-2024**
Year Gms Snaps Snps/Gm Pct
--- --- --- --- ---
2016 16 573 35.8 51%
2017 16 678 42.4 62%
2018 16 773 48.3 66%
2019 13 646 49.7 73%
2020 15 693 46.2 69%
2021 14 628 44.9 68%
2022 17 916 53.9 80%
2023 16 741 46.3 73%
2024 15 771 51.4 83%
Being able to play 80% of snaps as a defensive tackle is wild.
The physicality of playing defensive tackle is brutal. You’re constantly dealing with two offensive linemen slamming into you. Blockers can come from all different angles. You have to keep your head on a swivel to read blocking patterns.
In the run game, you have to take on two 300-pound linemen flying into you. On top of all this, Jones is the source of the Chiefs' pass rush and faces constant double teams and slides. And despite all of this, Jones has excelled.
That being said, Jones is now going into his age-31 season. We’re approaching the post-peak part of his career. That’s not a knock on Jones, but it’s an inevitability of the league. Not only will Jones experience some natural physical decline in his athleticism, but injuries will also start to become a factor. The NFL schedule is a bloodbath, and expecting Jones to continue to be the best defensive tackle in the league while playing all those snaps would be unfair.
To be clear, I’m not predicting Jones to all of a sudden fall off; I still expect Jones to be the best defensive tackle in the league this season. However, I’ve felt for several years that the Chiefs needed to build a deeper defensive line to help Jones, particularly in the defensive tackle room. I’ve wanted the Chiefs to approach building their defensive line more like the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, who have seven or eight defensive linemen who can rotate in and give you production. The Chiefs haven’t built their team in that way.
However, I do feel the Chiefs took steps in the right direction in the draft. Defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott and defensive end Ashton Gillotte are indications that the Chiefs plan to build a deeper rotation moving forward.
Norman-Lott’s presence will directly help Jones. Norman-Lott profiles well as a 3-technique. Norman-Lott is unique with how few snaps he played in college, but on film, he’s a dynamic pass rusher. His quickness and agility, combined with his pass rush moves, are exciting.
With Norman-Lott now in the fold, the Chiefs can now give Jones breathers on early downs and still field enough pass rush if teams decide to throw. They can take some of the grueling run downs away from his plate, which should make Jones fresher for third downs and high-leverage situations.
Another way Norman-Lott can help Jones is on third downs. When I watched Norman-Lott ahead of the draft, one thing I noticed was that he’s really good rushing from the nose tackle spot. When he can play in the A-gap against a single team, he’s tough to handle. With Jones getting constant doubles or teams slide protections his way, Norman-Lott can get a one-on-one on the backside A-gap. If he’s able to punish that, then the Chiefs will have another angle to generate quick pressure, and it could lead to teams being less inclined to slide as often.
With Gillotte, the Chiefs have an upfield edge rusher who can turn the corner and win with speed. Gillotte was a power rusher in college, but he dropped weight and showed elite explosive and agility testing results.
Gillotte showed some craft to get around the corner in college at 280 lbs., and now, at a lighter weight, he could give the Chiefs a presence around the corner they’ve desperately needed. Gillotte being able to turn means that rush angles could get wider for Jones, and that quarterbacks will have to stay more compact in the pocket.
The bottom line
With Norman-Lott and Gillotte, the Chiefs have a deeper rotation and more angles to attack pass rushers from. They can now play Jones fewer snaps while also giving him more secondary help. Having an even fresher Jones on high-leverage downs with more support around him is exciting for 2025.
As he exits his peak, that will be very impactful and extend his career.