Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

Chiefs Mock Mondays: First Take

LadnerMorse February 18, 2019 No Comments

 

 

 

 

Chiefs Mock Mondays: First Take

 

by Laddie Morse | February 18, 2019

 

Chiefs Mock Monday’s is an invitational post featuring the mocks of our readers and what we might learn from those mocks. Many of today’s mocks come to us from David Perkins — thank you David — and he includes some comments which can help us understand more fully about the possible outcomes from the upcoming NFL draft and what it means for the Chiefs. All of David’s Mocks come from Fanspeak.com while mine may include FirstPick.com.

 

David took the approach of doing a mock in which he took a Defensive player first but also includes mocks where the Offense goes first. His note following these mocks is: “In all the mocks I have run , it appears if you want an impact DL, he must be picked in the first.” Take a look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David goes on to Mix these mocks together twice, which looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice that David lists the players to be taken late in the draft: Offensive Linemen, Safeties, and Cornerbacks. I’d add Wide Receivers to that group. That’s because those groups are deep in this draft and because other positions may take precedence in terms of priority in being drafted, overall. David goes on to offer an “Offense First” draft which he says could look like this. His notes following are revealing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • “If Hockenson  is available it will be hard not to take him
  • The offense could absolutely explode
  • Pringle, Deiter and Robinson can fight for WR3 because they won’t get many looks
  • But we lose on a top DL – the only drawback – but can we find a fill in in FA or resign Bailey reasonably?
  • Good CBs, LBs, can be had in rounds 2 and 3″

 

Although we don’t normally like getting into mocks that involve trading, we do know that GM Brett Veach likes trading up and down the board to get his man. I know that many AO fans have said they don’t like the trading UP scenario, unless it’s to get Patrick Mahomes, so, with that in mind, David has provided us with one more Trade Back Mock:

 

“Ideally the Chiefs trade down out of #29 and into the 2nd, picks 1 – 10, and a 4th, picks 1 – 10
This is doable under draft trade values
#29 is worth 640 and #35 and #105 are worth 550 and 84 respectively

This will give us #35, #61, #63, #92 and #105, in addition to #168, #203, #215 (comp) and #218
The draft could then look like this:”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we’re taking a look at possible Trade-back scenarios, here’s a mock I did last week at FirstPick.com. Now, First Pick allows trade-backs and also keeps score so you can compare the draft you just finished against all the other mock draft results that day (by mockers who are mocking for other NFL teams). I usually don’t do trading mocks there, because I’m normally taking my time to research the players I’m choosing. However, sometimes I like to see how high I can run my score up. The way to do that is to trade back and keep trading back to compile the most picks possible and then make sure you select only players who get an A or and A+. Here’s how that trade-back mock came out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: the score I achieved that day was over 32,000 but that wasn’t even good enough to get me in the top 20.

 

This draft shows us that there’s a lot to be gained by trading back. There are a ton of good players in the lower rounds of this draft. However, we also know that there are a lot of players who will go undrafted who will not only make the Chiefs roster but who will be drafted by the rest of the league:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The draft is exciting. For me, it has been the most exciting event in the NFL season, in season or offseason. Then there’s the period right after the draft when so many undrafted players find a home. Last year, the Broncos found undrafted RB Phillip Lindsay who ended up making the Pro Bowl and was voted to the Pro Football Writers Association All Rookie team. No, it gives me no joy to talk about the Broncos but, Brett Veach and his staff have their work cut out for them.

 

 

Making a connection with potential UDFAs prior to the draft and letting them know that the Chiefs are interested in them, even if they don’t get drafted is a bit of a tricky wicket. How do you tell someone, “Hey, we like you.. but not enough to draft you.” That’s an important task because, for guys who know they might be drafted at the end of the draft, they are probably thinking, “I hope I don’t get drafted so I can be a free agent and choose which team I’ll sign with.” That’s important because, once they are signed, even if they get released, they fall under the waiver wire system and can be picked up by any team if they’re any good, for 24 hours. It’s only after they are waived and 24 hours passes that they become free agents again. Then, they’re just out on the street competing against all the other hundreds of players who were waived and not picked up.

 

 

 

It appears from the mock drafts we’ve seen and done so far that GM Brett Veach may need to sign a Defensive Lineman in free agency. This draft will be full of quality defensive linemen, but all the impact defensive linemen will most certainly be gone by the time the Chiefs select at #29. The Chiefs have been nickel and diming it on the DL for the past two offseasons. In 2018, signing Xavier Williams and drafting Derrick Nnadi were not moves comparable to drafting Dontari Poe #11 in the draft, which was now 7 years ago. In 2017, signing DT Bennie Logan and drafting DE Tanoh Kpassagnon has had a negative effect on stopping the run and now the Chiefs are left deciding what to do with Kpass while hoping he fits Steve Spagnuolo’s 4-3 scheme. At pick #29, you’d either have to trade one of your second round picks, #61 or #63, to package with #29 and jump up to draft a significant defensive lineman like Christian Wilkins or Jeffery Simmons… if they fell to the #19-to-#24 range… or sit tight and take the BPA knowing that you already signed a DL in free agency.

 

So, who are some of those DL Free Agents?

 

  1. DeMarcus Lawrence, DE (Cowboys)
  2. Grady Jarrett, DT (Atlanta)
  3. Trey Flowers, DE (Patriots)
  4. Frank Clark, DE (Seattle)
  5. Sheldon Richardson, DT (Vikings)
  6. Ndamukong Suh, DT (Rams)
  7. Ezekiel Ansah, DE (Lions)
  8. Brandon Graham, DE (Eagles)

 

Those are probably players who will all be too rich for the Chiefs blood. However, if I had to pick, I might want the Chiefs to sign Frank Clark. If the Chiefs are going to go to a 4-3 and if they are going to stick with four men rushing the passer, then from that 4-3 scheme they must answer this question in the offseason: who will they pair with Chris Jones on the inside to rush the passer while Dee Ford and Justin Houston apply pressure from the outside? Frank Clark, from Seattle, had as many sacks (13) as Dee Ford did last season. If the Chiefs want to have a formidable pass rush team, then they look for someone like him. Seattle was also 11th against the run in 2018 and Clark had 41 tackles.

 

 

The kinds of players that Brett Veach may be interested in signing include:

 

  1. David Irving, DE (Cowboys)
  2. Corey Liuget, DT (Chargers)
  3. Danny Shelton, DT, (Patriots)
  4. Kerry Wynn, DT (Giants) – Spags connection
  5. Jay Bromley, DT (Saints) – Spags connection

 

 

If I had to choose one of these young men, it would likely be Corey Liuget. He’s 29 now and will be 30 before the year is out but has had a good career with the Chargers. The last two years he’s battled injuries and he had knee surgery in November. Depending on his recovery, he could be a good get for the Chiefs.

 

With so many decisions to make, it’s that time of year when your guess is as good as the next guys. Go Chiefs!

 

 

 

 

 

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