Player
Chris Jones
DT · Chiefs
Chris Jones: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Career arc: every year a double-digit pressure season — but the sack count yo-yos by 6+ between years.
TrendChris Jones regular-season production by year
| Year | Sacks | TFLs | QB Hits | FF | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 2017 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 7 |
| 2018 | 14 | 19 | 29 | 2 | 5 |
| 2019 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 1 | 4 |
| 2020 | 7 | 3 | 28 | 2 | 4 |
| 2021 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 5 |
| 2022 | 14 | 17 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
| 2023 | 9 | 13 | 29 | 0 | 4 |
| 2024 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 7 | 12 | 25 | 0 | 2 |
Sacks by season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | 6 |
| 2018 | 14 |
| 2019 | 9 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 14 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2024 | 5 |
| 2025 | 7 |
The sack column reads like a coin flip — 2 → 6 → 14 → 9 → 7 → 8 → 14 → 9 → 5 → 7 — but the QB hits column tells a different story: he’s posted 17+ QB hits in 9 of 10 NFL seasons, with a career-high 29 happening three separate times (2018, 2022, 2023).
For an interior rusher to draw constant double-teams and still finish in the backfield this consistently is the kind of disruption that gets you four All-Pro nods even when the raw sack number dips.
He’s the only interior DL with 10+ sacks in 2 different seasons since 2018 (other than Aaron Donald).
RareTop sack producers since 2018 (regular season)
| Player | Sacks |
|---|---|
| Myles Garrett | 109 |
| T.J. Watt | 99 |
| Danielle Hunter | 84 |
| Trey Hendrickson | 73 |
| Chris Jones | 73 |
| Khalil Mack | 69 |
| Cameron Jordan | 68 |
| Brian Burns | 67 |
| Aaron Donald | 67 |
| Maxx Crosby | 64 |
73 sacks since 2018 — tied with Trey Hendrickson for 5th in the entire NFL, and ahead of Aaron Donald (67) over the same window. Every other name in the top 10 is a primary edge rusher; Jones plays roughly 60% of his snaps at 3-tech.
He and Donald are the only two players in the modern era to post multiple 14-sack seasons as primary interior rushers (2018 and 2022 for Jones; Donald did it three times). The sack output is essentially what you’d expect from a Pro Bowl edge — the position is what makes it absurd.
In 2018 he sacked the QB in 11 consecutive games — the longest streak by any interior DL in the modern era.
MilestoneChris Jones 2018 — game-by-game sacks (regular season)
| Week | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 |
| 11 | 2 |
| 13 | 1 |
| 14 | 1 |
| 15 | 2 |
| 16 | 1 |
From Week 5 through Week 16 he registered a sack in every single game (Week 12 was the Chiefs’ bye). 11 straight games with a sack — and three of them were multi-sack games. By Week 16, he was sitting at 14 on the season.
For context: the modern NFL’s longest consecutive-game sack streak by any player is 11 (Simeon Rice 1999, Robert Mathis 2013, DeMarcus Ware 2007). Jones tied that mark from the interior, which had never been done before.
Among modern interior DTs, only Aaron Donald has posted more sacks since 2016.
ComparisonDL/DT sack leaders since 2016 (regular season)
| Player | Sacks |
|---|---|
| Myles Garrett | 116 |
| Danielle Hunter | 102 |
| Aaron Donald | 85 |
| Chris Jones | 81 |
| Trey Hendrickson | 75 |
| Joey Bosa | 73 |
| Chandler Jones | 71 |
Cut through the position labels: Garrett and Hunter are edge rushers, and Donald and Jones are the two true interior names in this list. 81 career sacks since 2016 puts Jones at No. 4 overall — and a clear No. 2 among 3-techs, just 4 sacks behind Donald with two more seasons left on his contract.
The pace matters: Donald has 85 sacks in 10 seasons since 2016, Jones has 81 in the same window. If Jones plays through 2027 he’ll likely pass Donald’s post-2016 total, which would be the highest interior-rusher career arc of the era.
He’s a Super Bowl machine — and the playoff sack rate matches his regular-season pace.
SplitChris Jones — playoff sacks
| Postseason | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2022 (SB LVII run) | 2 |
| 2024 | 1 |
The narrative around Jones is the playoff version of him is the real one — and the data half-confirms it. 2022 was a 2-sack playoff run that ended in a Super Bowl LVII ring, and his 2024 postseason produced another sack heading into Super Bowl LIX.
The interesting wrinkle: his playoff sack-per-game rate matches his regular-season rate almost exactly — what separates him isn’t a different gear in January, it’s that the offenses he faces (Bills, Eagles, 49ers in those Super Bowls) can’t double him without exposing their tackles. He converts the same chances at the same rate, the opponents just give him more of them.
2024 looked like decline — 5 sacks. 2025 disagrees: 25 QB hits, his best volume in 3 years.
AnomalyChris Jones pressure profile, 2023-2025
| Year | Sacks | TFLs | QB Hits | Hit-to-sack ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 9 | 13 | 29 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 4.0 |
| 2025 | 7 | 12 | 25 | 3.6 |
The 2024 dip (5 sacks) was real — but the 20 QB hits and 9 TFLs were within his career norms, meaning the pressure was there and the finish wasn’t. 2025 shows the bounce-back: 25 QB hits, 12 TFLs, 7 sacks in a season where Kansas City’s defense overall regressed.
The hit-to-sack ratio (3.6 in 2025, down from 4.0 in 2024) is trending back to his career baseline of ~3.0. If the variance reverts to his career mean, he’s a 10+ sack guy in 2026 at age 32.
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