By many accounts, it’s been an underwhelming start to the season for the Kansas City Chiefs. The reigning AFC champions enter their bye week at 5-4, currently outside the playoff picture in the conference.

Several players need to step up, and stars are no different. Defensive tackle Chris Jones, in particular, is finding himself subject to national criticism.

In a November 3 story for NFL media, Jeffrey Chadiha peered into the “midseason crystal ball” to list some players who could define the second half of the season. Jones made the cut, albeit in a stock report-style section.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where Chadiha stands on Jones as Week 10 arrives.

Many are focused on quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense. Chadiha believes more attention should be paid to Jones’ shortcomings, however.

“There’s been so much buzz about the Chiefs finally having more weapons around Mahomes that most people likely haven’t noticed the way Jones has declined this season,” Chadiha wrote. “He’s been almost invisible lately — he had two tackles in that loss to Buffalo and one in a win over Washington in Week 8 — and he only has two sacks through nine games.

“Factor in his decision to not chase Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence on a game-winning touchdown in Week 5 loss and failure to keep contain on a game-clinching scramble by Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in a season-opening defeat, and this hasn’t been his year. The Chiefs have every reason to be excited about a better offense. The problem is they won’t win a championship if their best defensive player doesn’t play better.”

The two instances Chadiha referenced carry some weight. In the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, the three-time All-Pro was undisciplined. Linebacker Drue Tranquill certainly took notice of it in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Weeks later, Jones deactivated his X account around the time of the aforementioned Week 5 gaffe against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He claims the account was down prior to the outing.

Despite playing 410 snaps on defense, Jones has a pair of sacks and 5 tackles for loss in nine games. That won’t cut it when compared to his $23.6 million cap hit for 2025 (or his $44.85M one for next year).

The eye test depicts Jones as a player who’s in some level of decline. He isn’t generating consistent production like he used to, and his effort comes and goes. His run defense remains a shortcoming, as it has for most of his career. Perhaps the most alarming tracking metric is his fall-off in Pro Football Focus grading.

Jones has long posted some of the best PFF grades for not just a defensive tackle, but for a defensive player overall. This year, he’s earned career-worst marks for defense (60.3), run defense (42.9) and tackling (28.8). His 81.4 pass rush grade trails only his rookie campaign (75.8) in 2016 for a personal low.

NFL Pro data is a bit kinder to Jones. His average get-off time of 0.84 seconds is the quickest among all interior players with 100+ pass rush attempts. On the flip side, his pressure percentage of 8.1 is his only seasonal mark under 10%. 2022’s 11.8% effort was his previous low. Additionally, Jones is pacing for fewer “stops” in 17 games than he had in 16 games two years ago (25).

In fairness to Jones, it’s rare for a 31-year-old interior defensive lineman to produce at Hall of Fame levels. He’s still objectively a good player, and the Chiefs haven’t given him much to work with. He commands seemingly countless double-teams because aside from defensive end George Karlaftis, there’s no formidable pass-rushing threat in Kansas City.

Maybe the second half of the season can see the CEO of “Sack Nation” tap back into his previous form. It’d certainly be a boost for a Chiefs team that needs it.