Laddie Morse
In less than a week, we will know who the new Kansas City Chiefs will be. I was going to say… “we will know who the 10 new Kansas City Chiefs will be”… but I doubt that 10 rookies will make this roster, even though K.C. currently has 10 picks. Last year was a special situation and GM Brett Veach made enough excellent picks that many of the rookies he had drafted played significant minutes and games during the season and into the playoffs as well (7 out of 10 picks spent a lot of time on the field).
So, this year, if 10 picks don’t translate into 10 new Chiefs… where and when will Brett Veach make a move to trade up in this draft? I don’t see that happening in the first round… unless it is to move up. K.C. has three of the first 95 picks and I can’t see them moving down to pick up more picks… unless those picks are in the top 100. What that also means is, the Chiefs two 4th rounders are in play (picks #122 and #134), as far as I’m concerned.
So, let’s take a look at some recent mocks I’ve done and focus on who was left to choose from. Each of these mocks was done at ProFootballNetwork.com. Here’s one with TE Michael Mayer (not Meyer… not so scary now huh?) as the best choice for pick #31:
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Michael Mayer is often thought of as the best TE in this draft but even if he is the next coming of Travis Kelce, it’s hard to see the Chiefs prioritizing the TE position so much that they’d jump at one in the first round. Next up is a smallish Defensive Tackle in Calijah Kancey. Kancey has already said he’d love to play next to Chris Jones and unless Kancey is the next Aaron Donald, I’d have to pass on this DT going first overall to the Chiefs. Next is OT Anton Harrison and although I’m not 100% happy with his height — he’s 6-foot-4 — he’s good enough to insert at Left Tackle allowing K.C. to keep Jawaan Taylor on the right side, his natural position.
Here’s a Mock that places a DT tackle first on the Chiefs list of options:
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Brian Bresee is ranked 27th on CBS Sports ranking and 29th on DrafTek’s ranking so he would not only be well worth the value there, but would give the Chiefs a starting four that would rival any team in the NFL with: Charles Omenihu, Brian Bresee, CJ and George Karlaftis. If Veach pulled the trigger on this move, I’d be a happy boy. Here’s a video breakdown of Defensive Tackles in this draft by Matt McMullen, which includes insight on Brian Bresee (2:34):
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I ditto the information (in the previous section) about Tight Ends and Michael Mayer.
If OT Darnell Wright fell into the Chiefs lap at #31, I’d also be a happy camper. Wright had played next to Trey Smith (at Tennessee), the Chiefs starting Right Guard, so with that experience he’d fit right into the Chiefs starting lineup and that would allow Jawaan Taylor to gracefully move to the Left Tackle position.
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Note on Jawaan Taylor — he has perhaps the fastest, piston-like feet of any OL I’ve ever seen — so his transition to the left side of the OL should be seamless. IOW, he’ll be superior to OBJr..
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This particular Mock also allows K.C. to possibly pick up WR Zay Flowers and so the choices get clouded. I like WR Zay Flowers a lot, even though he’s smallish. It then becomes a question of who the Chiefs — meaning: Brett Veach, Andy Reid and their coaches, plus I understand Patrick Mahomes now has input — so if Flowers does end up as a choice for K.C., I can see the Chiefs going his direction.
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Here’s a Mock with OT possibilities at the top:
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OTs Darnell Wright and Anton Harrison may be too good to pass up, but if EDGE, Will MCDonald IV out of Iowa State shows up, the decision gets rather difficult. With Zay Flowers and Josh Downs on this list, it makes the decision making process even tougher. If I were made to choose, I’d have to go with EDGE Rusher Will McDonald IV simply because I think he’s the best player available (BPA).
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The more mocks I perform, the more they become similar. Here’e the next three (first 6 prospects) available in three separate mocks. Notice how two of them have a TE available.
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That leads me to believe the draft simulation services only rank the players one certain way — and always rank them the same way — no matter who is taken off the board in front of the Chiefs at pick #31. What I also noticed in the Mock up above is, that QB Hendon Hooker was always the Chief 12th possible pick. No matter how crazy the first day gets, there is no way the Chiefs are even considering a QB in the first three rounds of this draft. Nope. Never. Put a pin in it.
I will be publishing a piece on the Bump Method this coming week, so I want to reserve any comments I may have about who will NOT BE DRAFTED ahead of K.C. until then.
What do you think? Have you learned anything from this Draft Scenarios exercise?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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