Chiefs Draft Focus: Trenches and Cinches

Chiefs Draft Focus: Trenches and Cinches – Familiarity. That’s what most of us are counting on from GM Brett Veach and his crew of scouting evaluators less that two weeks away now. I can remember when i used to read the L.A. Times to get the Dodger batting averages, which I used to have memorized: Maury Wills, Willie Davis, Tommy Davis, Frank Howard… and so on. Now, I have to be sure to remember to brush my teeth before bedtime. 😁 Veach and his merry men, however, have a huge task in front of them… and much of it is based upon less data or film, than in any other draft year. Matt Derrick recently said, on an RGR Football that:

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“You just don’t have enough guys, that you have information on now. I mean you know, this would have been guys coming out this year that, maybe they didn’t have two or three seasons worth of information on. Now you got some guys… two, maybe…. It’s going to be so much trickier this year, at the same time, they’re (Veach & crew) going to lean on film more than ever, and frankly, when we’re doing the post draft discussion with the scouts and with Brett Veach, I think we’re going to hear a lot about 2019.”

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Not often do I create a Mock, and I have over 100 for this season now, when a major Interior Defensive Lineman like Christian Barmore come up as available, but he did this time around. While I know the Chiefs have just signed Jarran Reid, Barmore could also give Steve Spagnuolo that bonecruncher to move around and take advantage of the versatility he likes in his defensive linemen, but he’d likely make the Chiefs D-line historically memorable… as David Bell has reminded me recently with the possible addition of Jaelan Phillips on the edge.

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With the idea that we need to take different prospects each time we do a mock, I’m presenting players I’ve researched recently and been impressed by, enough to include them here. So, let’s take a look, starting backwards at a group of possible draft additions and some I like to call bonecrunchers in the Trenches as well as surefire prospects who will make it in the NFL, referred to as Cinches.

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Wildgoose (no jokes please) played in only two game in 2020 before a shoulder surgery sidelined him, but I like Wisconsin players a lot, and I took a late flyer on him. So, why is he even listed here? Because if you look at his game tape, he’s much better than he’s ranked — #226 by DrafTek and #233 by CBS Sports. Wildgoose is 5-foot-11, 191 lbs. and runs a 4.41 – 40 yards dash, with a 10-yard split of 1.49, which is excellent.

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There may not be much tape on Wildgoose, but what I did find, I pieced together of him in coverage.

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I feel like I just discovered the next L’Jarius Sneed. I get excited when I come across a prospect in the later rounds who should be ranked higher. In the case of Wildgoose, perhaps much higher. Here’s a highlight reel of his 8 best plays and all but the last one are against the run. He’s certainly no Marcus Peters (in respects to the run), that’s for sure.

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One way or the other, drafting Rachad Wildgoose would be a wild goose chase, if they do.

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I wasn’t planning on mocking a Tight End this year at all. Not only is this one of the thinnest drafts for Tight Ends ever, but the Chiefs have too many other, higher, needs. However, I dedicated myself to the idea I going to go BPA as much as possible and when McKitty’s name popped up, I examined his tape and found someone who might just fit into the Chiefs plans, especially in future years. McKitty stands 6-foot-4 and goes 247 lbs.. TheDraftNetwork says McKitty is a #2 TE with starting potential. They also had this to say about him:

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Tre’ McKitty aligned as the “move tight end” for the Bulldogs offense. He has good athleticism, as evidenced by his good body control and agility. In the run game, he is willing to stick his face in the trenches and block… He is dynamic as a pass-catcher due to his outstanding “un after catch ability.

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McKitty fights for the ball and has excellent secondary moves gaining yardage after the catch. He understands body leverage, will fight for first downs, catches off target passes, and not only is a solid blocker, but blocks well while out in space. Darn good prospect for a late 5th round pick. Here’s his highlights:

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WR Marlon Williams is not only one of my favorite late round picks, and has been for quite some time, but, I’ve mocked him before. Williams is a stocky body wideout who goes, 6-foot-0 and weighs 215 lbs.. Tony Pauline of the Pro Football Networks says of Marlon Williams:

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Reliable possession receiver who is polished in all aspects of the position. Displays good awareness, knows where he is on the field, and uses the sidelines well. Consistent hands catcher who snatches the ball away from his frame. Quickly releases off the line of scrimmage, tracks the pass in the air, and gets vertical for nicely timed receptions.

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You had me at, “reliable possession receiver.” Every time I turn on Marlon Williams tape, he impresses me. Take a look:

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Hard nosed wide receivers are hard to come by. Tougher than a good running back? The Chiefs could use his type of tough.

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At 6-foot-4 and 268 lbs., Daelin Hayes brings a versatile combination to both the Edge Rusher and the Linebacker positions. Prior to this, I have looked at Daelin Hayes strictly as an Edge rusher, but The Draft Network says Hayes’ ideal position is a SAM Linebacker. They go on:

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EDGE defender Daelin Hayes projects as a hybrid pass rusher in the NFL. The Irish used him frequently in 2020 to stack in a two-point stance and attack the LOS from tight alignments. He did well there, too—Hayes nearly equaled his career-high for a single season with six tackles for loss and tied his career-high with three sacks on the year. Hayes appeared slimmed down in 2020 and was listed at 258 pounds, which allowed him to play with some nice fluidity and smoothness to go along with his length and heavy hands on the edge. Hayes will draw plenty of appeal for his build—he’s ready to step in and contend at the point of attack and his ability to reset blockers and collapse to generate some creases in protection will afford him the chance to serve as a valuable role player in the NFL.

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“Hybrid?” Someone at One Arrowhead Way is going to sit up and take notice me thinks. When an analyst says, “Two-point stance” they mean he plays standing up instead of placing his hand on the ground, which is Hayes best set. Here’s Hayes at a Senior Bowl practice. He looks like he beats his man every time he lines up against him and since these are mostly guys who will be playing in the NFL, his standing out is more meaningful than college tape or highlights.

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Hayes sets a hard edge against the run and he’s faster than Anthony Hitchens as well running the 40 in 4.57 (Hitchens ran a 4.67), and for reference, Derrick Johnson ran a 4.52 so Hayes isn’t far behind one of the best LBs in Chiefs history. Hayes would give Steve Spagnuolo a LB who can not only cover most TEs, but blitz and has experience living in the opponent’s backfield with 20.5 Tackles for a loss, 9.0 Sacks and 97 Tackles over four years, and 33 games, at Notre Dame.

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Yes, I’m double-dipping at CB this time around. Much like Wildgoose, Wade is another CB prospect who may be perceived lower than his actual value would indicate. With Wade, it’s not because he was injured. From 247Sports.com:

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In the national championship game against Alabama, Ohio State’s secondary — Wade included — struggled to keep up with Heisman winner DeVonta Smith, who caught 12 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

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Shaun Wade, and his 4.43 speed is not likely to stay with Devonta Smith and his 4.27 speed… in most cases. However, Marcus Peters has made a Pro Bowl career out of his 4.53 speed and the Chiefs DB coaches, Sam Madison and Dave Merritt, should be able to teach Shaun Wade exactly how to do that. There’s too much not to like about Wade and if he was once projected to go in the first round, there was a good reason for that. In February, 247Sports wrote about Wade:

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Former Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade is slipping ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, a product of a season that didn’t go as planned and several others at his position making a rise. In NFL.com’s latest mock draft, Wade is slotted No. 73 overall to the New York Jets, a far cry from first-round speculation prior to the 2020 campaign.

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Shaun Wade was ejected in the game between Ohio State and Clemson for “targeting” Trevor Lawrence. I don’t agree with that call because Lawrence lowered his head as well and Wade was moving forward with his shoulder. Take a look:

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In any event, teams should not hold that play against Shaun Wade, in fact, it shows he’s willing to make a hard tackle on the QB and if anything, that should be the takeaway from that play. Here’s another delicious Shaun Wade hit.

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Oh yea, I forgot to say, Shaun Wade is very good in coverage too.

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Chatarius TuTu Atwell runs a 4.32 – 40 yard dash, plus a vertical jump of 33 inches, a broad jump of 9’9” and a 3-cone of 6.87. Once again, I’m double-dipping at WR and since I have drafted the speedy Atwell here, I took the stocky WR Marlon Williams later. Atwell looks like he consistently puts himself in positions to be right where his QB needs him to be, crossing underneath to make himself visible. One aspect of Atwell’s football career that I’m sure, at some point this offseason, got the attention of Andy Reid, was that he was a four-year starter at QB in high school. The following play may have Dr. Franken-Reid salivating, with eyes bulging, with mental gymnastics tubes overflowing, in his Play Design Scientific Basement Laboratory:

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Some coaches don’t know what to do with speedy players, but Reid does, and especially the versatile ones. Atwell had 139 receptions in 32 games over three seasons at Louisville which included 2,303 yards receiving and 20 TDs, but a whopping 16.6 Yards Per Reception. Here’s another TD Atwell was involved in, on the receiving end this time:

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I know a lot of Chiefs fans want K.C. to draft a Left Tackle in round one this year. That may still happen. However, if a player like Christian Barmore becomes available in round one, as he did here, you have to jump on it because he’d clearly be the BPA (best player available). More on that later, Jackson Carman provides another player who will develop into a starting Tackle for the Chiefs, it just might not happen in 2021. Carman is 6-foot-5 and is 335 lbs. while ranking 49th at DrafTek and 67th at CBS Sports. Still, there are those that see Carman in a different light. Like Jack Borowsky at SI.com:

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After the top three [OTs], there is a large group that could hear their name called in the first 50 picks. One of those is Clemson’s Jackson Carman, who is a top-32 talent and should be selected earlier than people expect.

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If the Chiefs have vetted Carman, they may have to take him at #31 if they really decide they like him. Let’s not forget that Carman has spent the last three years at Clemson, a National Champion in 2018 and appearing there twice in the past three years while protecting the blind side of the QB Trevor Lawrence, everyone’s projected #1 pick in this draft. We know Reid loves drafting champions — like he did with Clyde Edwards-Helaire last year in the first round — and Jackson Carman qualifies. While the Chiefs may (or may not) like him, Carman has gotten some negative press leading up to the draft. Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network thinks Carman may not be suited to play Left Tackle in the NFL and may have to move to the right side, or even inside, to succeed at the next level.

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Carman didn’t participate in Clemson’s Pro Day a month ago, and FanSided writer Jeff Benedict thinks he may have hurt his draft stock by sitting out:

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There is no doubt that Jackson Carman has the ability and size to play at the next, but his decision to not work out today will undoubtedly have some teams take him completely off their draft board.

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Jackson has some syrup to go on those pancakes if you want:

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What I really take away from this play is Carman’s ability to get out in space and make a block on a smaller, much more elusive, player. Maybe I shouldn’t share this next play with you, but I’m going to anyway because every now and then I come across a play that is so over the top, that it makes me laugh. This is one of those plays:

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Have you ever squashed a bug flat? That’s what happened here. While Carman struggles with speed rushers off the edge at times, he’s a strong run blocker and moves well for such a big man. If K.C. can find a way to give him a year to develop, they’ll have their Left Tackle for the future for years to come and that should make Patrick Mahomes sleep a lot better at night… as well as Brittany and Sterling Skye.

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When Christian Barmore came up as available on The Draft Networks Mock generator, I had to take him. He was clearly the best prospect on the board. No doubt. Many are thinking, if he Chiefs already have the interior defensive line built to demolish opponent’s offensive lines, then why oh why would you want to take someone like Christian Barmore? Simple, Barmore gives the Chiefs that element that no team could match… that unstoppable force… that way to put pressure on other team, for which there is not answer. It’s that simple. We all though K.C. had that on offense last year and the Bucs showed that’s not the case. That’s why we’ve heard all this talk about Free Agents like JuJu Smith Schuster or drafting a WR high in the draft… a veritable replacement for Sammy “Helped Us Win the Super Bowl” Watkins.

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“But… but… but… we have so many other needs.” I get that. However, any time you can improve one aspect of your team to the level that the addition of Barmore could help improve the Chiefs defense, like the addition of Jarran Reed does, everyone else on the defensive side of the ball gets better. Much better. Steve Spagnuolo loves to mix and match and move his defensive linemen around and the addition of Barmore gives him just that, more versatility. If you want Frank Clark to be the best Frank Clark he can be, you make a move like this. Easy peasy. Can you imagine an offense having to face this alignment:

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Yes, I know, I have Chris Jones lined up at DE. Do you know how many times Steve Spagnuolo hase moved his DL around? Maybe more times than not. The addition of Barmore would make every other rotational player along the DL better and then he’d also provide a pass rusher and stout run defender for the future, long after Jarran Reed is gone..

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Jordan Reid at the Draft Network says Barmore is “a penetrating 3-technique that’s able to create vertical push and disruption.” DrafTek has Barmore listed as the best 3-technique defensive lineman in this draft. At 6-foot-5 and 310 lbs. Barmore is tall enough to block down passes like Chris Jones does with regularity.

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I have high hopes for DE Taco Charlton this year, as he put up very good numbers when on the field: 7 tackles, 1 TFL, and 2.0 sacks in only 90 snaps. If he is healthy, he could show us all why he was the first round pick of the Cowboys in 2017. The only reason to bring him up here is to say, Taco Charlton will be a much more effective player when HE IS on the field. simply because of the addition of Christian Barmore.

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Let me know what you think.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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