Everyone and their mother wants to know who the Chiefs will take in the first round. Rarely do we talk about their second round selection… that is unless we’re examining someone’s mock of the day. So, who might the Chiefs take with their second overall selection? The math is a little different — yes, harder — getting there, but doable. After all, there are 58 other picks to project instead of the 26 in the first round. Well, lets not a little thing like that get in the way. Right. Of course right!
After writing this opening on Thursday I found an NFL channel segment — Move the Sticks — with Bucky Brookes and Daniel Jeremiah who created a segment called the Perfect Pair, meaning the perfect first two picks for a team… and… they each chose two such perfect picks for the Chiefs. Here are their picks:
Move the Sticks: Perfect Pairs
Bucky Brooks- RB Alvin Kamara and LB Raekwon McMillan
Daniel Jeremiah- CB Kevin King and ILB Zach Cunningham
Zach Cunningham is still ranked at #25 with CBS Sports but DraftTek has his at #53, down 18 spots from last week… for some reason… and usually that reason is that other players who were not properly ranked are making their way up the draft board and surpassing — displacing is a better word — one draft prospect for another, in this case, Zach Cunningham. Jeremiah looks like he’s reaching here… a lot.
You may recall my piece a couple of months back in which I suggested that the Chiefs trade up in the first round to take Zach Cunningham. So, if he’s still on the board at pick #59, the Chiefs second pick, then they will likely be giving him heavy consideration. Brooks said he thinks that Kamara is a Jamaal Charles clone but I don’t think Kamara is as fast as JC.
Since we’re looking at the “Perfect Pairs” for the Chiefs right now, I’ll give you my suggestions:
- Ladner’s Perfect Pairs- Naomi Watts and Jennifer Lawrence… oh wait… wrong pairs… let’s try again…
- Needs’ Perfect Pair- ILB Haason Reddick and RB Alvin Kamara
- Fix the Offense Perfect Pair- RB Christian CmCaffery and TE Adam Shaheen
- Bolster the Defense Perfect Pair- CB Kevin King and DT Larry Ogunjobi (or Zach Cunningham)
- QBsOTF Perfect Pair- QB Deshaun Watson (1st) or QB Patrick Mahomes II (2nd)
- Get Well Soon Perfect Pair- OT Ryan Ramczyk and CB Sidney Jones
- “We just won the Super Bowl!”- RB Dalvin Cook and TE Evan Engram
As much as some of those scenarios sound irrational, take a look at who the second round picks are that have shown up on all the mocks I’ve done at either Firstpick.com or Fanspeak.com since January. The “M” following specific prospects means they’ve shown up there “Multiple” times.
- Evan Engram, TE – M
- Budda Baker, S
- Takkarist McKinley, OLB – M
- Kendall Beckwith, ILB – M
- Patrick Mahomes II, QB -M
- Christian McCaffrey, RB
- Jordan Leggett, TE – M
- Raekwon McMillan, ILB – M
- Alvin Kamara, RB – M
- Marcus Maye, S -M
- Larry Ogunjobi, DT – M
- Cam Robinson, OT
- Bucky Hodges, TE – M
- Elijah Qualls, DT – M
- Dan Feeney, OG
- Charles Harris, OLB – M
- Sidney Jones, CB
Many of these prospects could be taken in the first round which shows the strength of this draft. Engram, Baker, McKinley, Mahomes, McCaffrey, Robinson, Feeney, Harris, and Jones all have first round talent and have been graded as a first round prospect at one time or another. That’s nearly half of this list which also indicates that the Chiefs are going to be presented with the opportunity of possibly drafting two first-round-level players.
The second round pick is a pivotal pick for a general manager. It’s pivotal because… if… they’ve taken an offensive player in the first round… do they go defense in the second if all things are equal among the two prospects they’re considering in round two? Or… do they just continue to look at the “best player available” (BPA) formula no matter what the offense/defense balance may be? JARDs performance in the past four years of drafting would suggest they stick to the BPA blueprint to the letter, unless you’re talking about first round picks. Then it’s… need-based-BPA. In 2016 they choose three CBs. In 2015 they took back-to-back LBs. Their first three picks in 2013 were offensive prospects and that draft ended with 5 offensive players and 3 defensive picks. So, while the second round pick may be pivotal for some general managers, it’s not for John Dorsey. Not in that way anyway.
The evening and night before the second day of the draft is a huge advantage for those picking first, second and third in the second round because teams get a 12 hour block time to re-evaluate their draft board and decide if there’s anyone they want to trade up to get early on day two. Once the second round winds down, the impact-prospects thin out so teams who want to target those players have to make a move.
In 2016, there were 19 second round trades involving 32 teams. There were 12 second round trades in 2015. There have already been two trades involving second-round picks this year. With all the compensatory picks readily tradeable the opportunities for a team with more than 8 or 9 draft picks — such as our home-town Chiefs — are golden in the second round. Although John Dorsey showed that he’s willing to deal away an early round pick in last year’s draft, he doesn’t have a history of doing so. If anything happens in the second, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dorsey package some lower round picks together to jump up into the second, in which case, the Chiefs could end up with two second round choices: three impact players in all… including their first round pick.
Fox Sports Mock projects CB Teez Tabor to the Chiefs at #59, leaving these prospects on the board:
- OLB Tim Williams (Alabama)
- CB Cameron Sutton (Tennessee)
- WR Zay Jones (East Carolina)
- DT Jaleel Johnson (Iowa)
- OC Ethen Pocic (LSU)
- WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (USC)
- OLB Duke Riley (LSU)
- DE Chris Wormley (Michigan)
- OG Dorian Johnson (Pittsburgh)
- S Obi Melifonwu (Connecticut)
- S Marcus Williams (Utah)
- DT Eddie Vanderdoes (UCLA)
- RB D’Onta Foreman (Texas)
- OT Roderick Johnson (Florida State)
- CB Desmond King (Iowa)
- TE Bucky Hodges (Virginia Tech)
WalterFootball projects OLB Tim Williams to the Chiefs at #59, leaving these prospects on the board,
- CB Desmond King (Iowa)
- OLB Tyus Bowser (Houston)
- DE Tanoh Kpassagnon (Villanova)
- OG Dion Dawkins (Temple)
- S Josh Jones (NC State)
- WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (UCLA)
- ILB Raekwon McMillan (Ohio St)
- WR Carlos Henderson (Louisiana Tech)
- OT David Sharpe (Florida)
- WR Noah Brown (Ohio St)
- Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington)
- DE Trey Henderson (Florida Atlantic)
- DE Tarrell Basham ((Ohio)
- DT Carlos Watkins (Clemson)
Matt Miller of Bleacher Report has Sidney Jones projected to the Chiefs at #59, leaving these Prospects on the board:
- DE Jordan Willis (Kansas State)
- LB Duke Riley (LSU)
- CB Rasul Douglas (West Virginia)
- TE Bucky Hodges (Virginia Tech)
- S Justin Evans (Texas A&M)
If you’re looking for a pattern here at pick #59… there doesn’t appear to be one. You can see that there’ll be a plethora of high-quality prospects available but outside of that, there is no consensus. Take a look at Mike Mayock’s top five CBs compared to CBS Sports and DraftTeks top five CBs:
Marshon Lattimore and Marlon Humphrey are the consensus #1 and #2 cornerbacks in this draft and after that, it’s all over the football map. In fact, prior to Sidney Jones getting injured on his Pro Day, Mike Mayock had Jones as the #1 CB. As much as I’d like to say there is a way to come to a general idea of who the Chiefs might take with their second pick, it’s nothing more than guesswork. Which… at this point, is also what many general managers are facing. No one knows for sure who the top three picks will be… much less picks 5, 10, 15… or 27 or 59. Cleveland could surprise everyone and decide not to take Myles Garrett at #1. It happens. Just ask Reggie Bush.,