Khyiris Tonga
Kansas City ChiefsModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 14 games
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
STM Take
Five career tier 8 STTM finishes across five NFL seasons puts Tonga in the structural rotational depth band. The BYU Independent 7th-round origin plus the multi-team experience across four teams gives him basic plug-in nose tackle veteran value. The 2026 question is whether Tonga holds an active-roster spot or whether the role compresses to practice-squad rotation.
Tonga came out of BYU as the Chicago Bears' 7th-round pick (250th overall) in 2021 and has bounced through the Bears, Vikings, Cardinals, and now Patriots across five NFL seasons. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#91) in 2021, tier 8 (#65) in 2022 with Minnesota, tier 8 (#64) in 2023, tier 8 (#111) in 2024 with Arizona, and tier 8 (#75) in 2025 with New England.
Strengths
- Five years of NFL survival as a 7th-round pick across four teams gives him the rare journeyman nose tackle résumé.
- BYU Independent pedigree plus the multi-team experience gives him basic plug-in veteran depth value.
Concerns
- Five career tier 8 STTM finishes confirms the structural ceiling has never climbed above rotational depth.
- Patriots' broader defensive identity transition compresses the structural support around Tonga's late-career role.
What to watch: Whether Tonga holds an active-roster spot for the full 2026 season or whether the role compresses to practice-squad rotation.