After news broke of a back injury for Kansas City Chiefs starting cornerback Jaylen Watson in Week 8, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was asked about veteran free agent acquisition Kristian Fulton, who has not seen the field since Week 2. His response suggested that Fulton has simply fallen down the depth chart due to circumstances.
“Well, a couple of things [have prevented him from reentering the starting rotation]. That’s a hard thing for Kristian right now,” Spagnuolo said of Fulton on October 24. “And I think he’s getting there health-wise, but now you’ve lost all the practice time, lost all the reps. Nohl [Williams] has gone in there and done a really nice job. And we’ll see where it goes.”
“I talk to [Fulton], usually, weekly about, ‘Be ready,’ because inevitably in this league, you’re going to need more than two or three and sometimes even four corners,” the long-time Chiefs DC added. “We’re going to need them all. So, at some point we’re going to need him, and he’s working hard at it. It’s just that and especially with where we’re going with practices now we just can’t get that volume of reps for guys. So we’re kind of sticking where we’re at right now.”
After signing a two-year, $20 million contract this spring, Fulton has only been on the field for 17 defensive snaps over the first seven weeks of football. As of now, it seems the Chiefs are comfortable keeping him in that depth role, but things could change if another starter falters or suffers an injury.
### Chiefs Rookie CB Nohl Williams Has Taken Kristian Fulton’s Job Early On in 2025
Fulton was signed to play on the perimeter across from Watson, allowing star DB Trent McDuffie to shift back into his more natural role in the slot. However, the Chiefs doubled down on this area of need by drafting Nohl Williams in late April.
What Spagnuolo basically admitted on Friday, October 24, is that Williams has stolen Fulton’s job as of Week 8.
Week 7 isn’t the best case study for snap counts, since the Chiefs pulled some of their starters toward the tail end of the blowout victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Still, it’s clear that Williams is third on the CB depth chart behind McDuffie and Watson.
KSHB 41 beat reporter Nick Jacobs shared the KC snap counts from October 20, highlighting the leaders in the secondary:
– Safety/nickelback Chamarri Conner – 26 snaps
– Trent McDuffie – 25 snaps
– Jaylen Watson – 25 snaps
– Nohl Williams – 24 snaps
– Safety Bryan Cook – 23 snaps
– Safety Jaden Hicks – 20 snaps
– Utility DB Christian Roland-Wallace – 18 snaps
– Cornerback Joshua Williams – 10 snaps
As you can see, Nohl Williams has decisively taken hold of the role that Fulton was brought in to play. More concerning for Fulton is that he’s not even dressing as the emergency fourth cornerback on the perimeter. That job has fallen to 2022 fourth-rounder Joshua Williams.
### Jaylen Watson Seems on Schedule for Chiefs’ Week 8 Matchup vs. Commanders
As for Watson, the starting cornerback appears to be fine after logging a “limited” practice on Thursday due to his back injury. On Friday, The KC Star’s Pete Sweeney reported that “both [running back Kareem] Hunt and Watson looked normal during warmups in our brief media period.”
Chiefs Digest beat reporter Matt Derrick also noted that “everyone [besides LT Josh Simmons (personal) and RG Trey Smith (back) is] expected to work in some form, [and] that includes CB Jaylen Watson (back).”
As of October 24, it seems Jaylen Watson is on track to play on Monday night in the Chiefs’ matchup against the Washington Commanders.
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/week-8-news-kristian-fulton-commanders/