Chiefs Mock Monday’s: The First Four Picks

Chiefs Mock Monday’s:

The First Four Picks

by Dean Perkins & Laddie Morse | April 8, 2019

Dean’s Mocks:

Laddie’s Mock:

What I’ve done here is to highlight the first four picks in each mock. Since we’ve been hearing so much about how the Chiefs were a whisker away from going to the Super Bowl, I’m assuming the Chiefs will be wanting to maximize the first year use of these top four players to hopefully get them over the top. Writers and bloggers like myself and Dean have been creating mock drafts online for months now and I happen to save every mock I make. I believe I’m up to moch… I mean “mock” 70. Dean has shared with me that:

“I am creating a statistical draft database but will probably not finish until the week before the draft in order to get the latest information. I will forward to you when complete and you can decide the best way to share the information.” -Dean Perkins

I, of course, will be glad to share that with all of you. 🙂

Back to the mocks Dean and I shared today. If you’ve had a chance to glance over these mocks, you may seen that we have picked the following number of position players in the top four picks:

• Cornerbacks – 10 times
• Defensive Linemen – 8 times
• Safeties – 5 times
• Running Backs – 3 times
• Wide Receivers – 3 times
• Linebacker – 2 times
• Offensive Linemen – 1 time.

One of the reasons I like to keep my old mock drafts is so I can go over them and look for patterns. I can also look back a couple of months and see how much the perceptions have changed based on the Chiefs signings, and consequently, the evolving idea of team needs. One idea that has remained at the forefront of needs is: a cornerback. Here, Dean and I took ten CBs in the top four picks while projecting eleven different mock drafts. Is that an accurate portrayal of how the final NFL board will fall on draft night. Maybe. Maybe not. However, the idea that the Chiefs need to still upgrade at the CB position has not changed much at all.

The following list, I’m sure, would have looked much different two or three months ago. In fact I know that Iman Marshall for USC was the top ranked CB when the college season began so you can see how much things have changed over time. It’s also worth noting that the top CB on 3 out of 4 of these boards, Greedy Williams, is getting some criticism about his unwillingness to tackle, which may end up pushing him down the board, and the ranking list, when all is said and done.

As you can see, Iman Marshall only shows up on the Walter Football list at #12. One year makes a lot of difference. It also makes a lot of difference in the life of a football player as witnessed by the progression of Charvarius Ward. He was a UDFA for the Cowboys and ended up the season as a starter for the Chiefs… and in the playoffs no less. The point is, you can’t just say, “We should just draft the top CB in the draft that we can get” and then everything will be okay. It doesn’t work like that. It is perhaps as difficult to locate a great corner as it is to nail down a great QB. Especially one who fits the Chiefs current system. Now, you can look back over the decades and say, “But the Chiefs have had guys like Darrelle Revis or Ty Law, or James Hasty or Marcus Peters.” The problem with that is… the Chiefs only drafted one of those players and he’s now in Los Angeles… Revis was at the rear end of his career, Law was good for a couple of seasons with the Chiefs… Hasty was great and he spent 6 of his best years with the K.C. but that wasn’t even half of his career. 

The other challenge with drafting a cornerback is… every GM has a differing opinion about what is to be coveted in a corner. One GM may want a great one-on-one corner but that CB may not be able to switch to a zone easily and vice-a-versa. Do I think the Chiefs will pick up a CB in this draft with one of their first four picks. I’m reasonable sure the answer to that is yes, but if for some reason Brett Veach does sell off a first round pick in a trade for… say… Jalen Ramsey… then the Chiefs will not be going after a CB in this draft and that trade will signal that the Chiefs are pushing all their cards to the middle of the table, this season.  

Do I want to see the the Chiefs make a trade like that? Not really. That’s because in a trade like that you usually end up having to sell half the farm to get there and I don’t think Veach or Reid are in a position to leverage the future right now. Not with the hefty contracts that they’ve had to walk away from (Berry and Houston).

So, which positions do you want to see the Chiefs focus on with their first four picks in this draft?

Dean Perkins and Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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