Laddie Morse
With the NFL Draft in Kansas City beginning in three days, it’s time to squeeze in our last Mock of the season. Today I’ll be featuring Mocks performed by other pundits. To many a fan folk, this days will bring an at-long-last smile to their face, so without further adieu, here’s The Last Mock Monday.
Some of the Mocks presented here were 7-Round type, but I will only be showing the Chiefs picks from those mocks.
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Chad’s mock requires a trade to move up to pick #24 in the first round. While I can see that happening, I think it may be more likely that K.C. moves completely out of the first round to gain more picks in the top 100 while also dumping some later picks. The naysayers of that idea say the first round pick brings along with it a fifth year option, but the problem with that thinking is… the Chiefs can’t afford to be paying out a fifth year option to any player at this point. Not as long as they have Patrick Mahomes contract to protect as primary.
The other problem I have with this trade is that it’s too difficult to perform a mock much less include trades, so I usually try to stay away from doing that.
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Dane Brugler’s 7-Round Mock
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Keion White keeps coming up on mocks I perform so he’s no surprise and if the draft went that way, I’d be thrilled. He’s a large man and working next to Chris Jones would give the Chiefs a formidable DL. I have my doubts about Jaelyn Duncan at #95 and have heard some not so flattering things about him on the field. If Sean Tucker falls to #178 and the Chiefs can get him that late, I’d be thrilled.
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Nate Taylor’s 7-Round Mock
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I enjoyed reading Nate Taylor’s 7-round mock because he offered us choices. He also did a write-up on each possible pick but I chose not to publish that here (space constraints). Seeing Keion White’s name surface again at the top of this mock makes me wonder if these pundits know something we don’t. I like seeing Sean Tucker’s name in another mock but I’m afraid he won’t last that long… not with his speed. I have my doubts that some of this “possible” prospects will last as long as he lists them here. Like OT Anton Harrison in the 2nd round? I have serious questions about that possibility.
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Vinnie Iyer’s 7-Round Mock
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One aspect of each of these drafts remains consistently true, each one includes a tall DL first in round one except for Chad Reuter in the first mock presented here. His way around that was to pick the 6-foot-6 321 lbs. OT Tyler Steen out of Alabama in the 2nd.
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Here’s a mock by our own David Bell. He calls it the covering all the bases mock. Enjoy:
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David Bell’s Mock
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Once again, most mocks I see have the Chiefs taking a WR, OT and an Edge Rusher with their first three picks. David does the same here. The only reason I think a move up is possible is so K.C. could attain a higher level prospect at one of these crucial positions in the first round, then they’d probably have to settle for whoever fell to them in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
The more I think about it and perform many a mock, I’m leaning towards the Chiefs doing whatever is possible to draft Edge Rusher Will McDonald IV.
One of my favorite evaluators is Brett Kollmann. He now works with the Los Angeles Chargers and is stationed out of L.A., but his work is excellent none-the-less. Following is a link to Bootleg Football (partially his podcast along with E.J. Snyder) and their Top 10 Gems of the 2023 Draft:
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His Top 10 Offensive Gems include (go to the 52:10 point to hear them talk about RB Sean Tucker):
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The point of including this list is that these are players who are all undervalued. That means any of them could end up being picked by K.C.. I find it very interesting, once again, that RB Sean Tucker is on their list. They see him as a terrific second back for a team that runs a “Running-back-by-committee” system. However, no one has, as of yet, caught onto the idea that Tucker could end up becoming a great WR.
What do you think? We’re three days out from the actual draft so do you think there will eb a trade involved in the day one process for K.C.?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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