The Kansas City Chiefs are finally making a change at the free safety position according to a new report.

Eighth-year veteran Daniel Sorensen is heading to the bench in Week 6, yielding starting snaps to third-year man Juan Thornhill per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Steve Spagnuolo hinted this change might be coming during his press conference earlier in the week, defending Sorensen in the same breath.

Sorensen has played nearly 100% of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps on the year, starting in each of the first five games at the free safety position. Through those first five games, Sorensen’s play has been severely lacking. Not only does the former undrafted free agent out of BYU lead the league in missed tackles with 12, but he leads his position group in passer rating allowed with 153.8. Last week, Sorensen surrendered two explosive plays in coverage against the Bills on Sunday night, including a 53-yard touchdown to Dawson Knox.

The Chiefs really had no choice but to make a change here. Fans have been calling for it from the beginning of the season and it has only been worse as Sorensen’s performance has declined. This change won’t cure their defensive ailments, but after the 2-3 start it was clear that a change was necessary, and that it couldn’t hurt.

A second-round draft pick in 2019, the 26-year-old Thornhill should have been starting in the first place. Thornhill unseated Sorensen as a rookie, but his late-season knee injury in 2019 seemed to have set him back a long way. He was never 100% in his return from the injury in 2020. The coaching staff insisted that earlier this season he was still working through some mental things related to his late-season knee injury. Now, he’s going to get the chance to prove that he’s all the way back, potentially providing a boost to a defensive unit that desperately needs it.