The Kansas City Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions, and this team isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The Chiefs have some of the best young talent in football, and that is reflected in the Nick Shook’s All-Under-25 team. Kansas City had three players make the list, tied for the most from any one franchise.
3 Chiefs Highlight NFL’s All-Under-25 Team
Trey Smith – Guard
Trey Smith has quietly been one of the biggest steals in recent NFL Draft history, and Shook acknowledges that in his write-up of the starting guard. “Smith has been excellent since he arrived in the NFL two years ago,” Shook writes. “The Chiefs have remained elite thanks, in part, to the pivotal draft picks that helped them rebuild their offensive line prior to the 2021 season.”
While the Chiefs have some questions at offensive tackle, their interior offensive line could easily be the best in football. Paired alongside Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey, Smith rounds out an incredible trio. On his own, the former sixth-round pick finished the season with the 12th-best PFF grade among 77 eligible guards, and he should only improve with time. Trey Smith is great, but he’s not even the best Chiefs offensive lineman on the All-Under-25 team.
Trey Smith don’t get enuf love. Here is a clip of him absolutely destroying Maxx Crosby‼️😤🫡😮💨@treysmith #chiefskingdom pic.twitter.com/Gw38ttZQry
— Soulofarrowhead (@Soulofarrowhead) June 26, 2023
Creed Humphrey – Center
Former second-round pick Creed Humphrey has dominated the NFL from Day 1, with Shook going so far as to call him one of the “two elite centers in the NFL right now.” While the other elite center, Jason Kelce, is nearing the end of the line, Humphrey is locked in as the future of the position for at least the next decade.
To the surprise of nobody, Humphrey finished the 2022 season with the highest PFF grade among 36 eligible players, narrowly beating out Jason Kelce. It’s hard to quantify just how good he’s been since entering the league, so put on some tape and you’ll see why he is a deserving member of the All-Under-25 team.
Nick Bolton – Linebacker
Once again, the Kansas City Chiefs struck gold outside of the first round. Shook acknowledges that “[w]ith the rise in popularity of sub packages, off-ball linebackers don’t get as much love as they once did…Regardless, Bolton has played like a seasoned veteran since he joined the Chiefs in 2021.”
Bolton might not quite as big a name as the other two Chiefs on the All-Under-25 Team, but he is still one of the better young linebackers in the game. Last year, the linebacker finished the year with a staggering 180 tackles, nine tackles-for-loss, six quarterback hits, two sacks, and two interceptions.
Pro Football Focus was similarly impressed with his season, as he finished the year with a 77.3 grade, the 12th-best mark out of 81 eligible players. While the Chiefs defense as a whole might not be the most impressive unit in the league, it’s clear that they have one of the better young playmakers at the heart of the unit. It will be hard for a defensive player to ever receiver proper credit on a team led by Patrick Mahomes, but Bolton should grow into more of a household name as time goes on.
Main Photo: Danny Medley – USA Today Sports
