Chiefs: What I See From Here – The Newcomers!

David Bell

Here’s my view of the 2024 draft class and newcomers of note. This draft class was a good one, and I remain very enthusiastic. Meanwhile, I am watching the AFC Wildcard game again which happened to be re-broadcast on the NFL Channel. You remember that game, when it was 4 degrees in K.C. with a negative 27 degrees wind chill.

The 2024 Draft Picks

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Let’s begin with WR, Xavier Worthy. Here’s Pat McAfee on a sure thing pattern by “Zay” (1:55):

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The Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach did a wonderful job with this draft. I recently posted PFF’s view of the Veach Draft and I quote it here again. Concerning the selection process, PFF wrote:

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“Kansas City Chiefs: Brett Veach got everything he wanted

Dynasties are created because a great team continues to draft well with less-than-ideal resources. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has become the master of resourcefulness. Kansas City’s offense needed a vertical receiver? They traded up to select Xavier Worthy, the fastest player in NFL scouting combine history. They needed a pass-protecting left tackle? They traded up again for BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia. Then there is, of course, the longstanding tradition of Kansas City selecting late-round defensive backs and turning them into major contributors. L’Jarius Sneed, Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson and Chamarri Conner are past names that stand out. This year, the players to watch are safety Jaden Hicks and cornerback Kamal Hadden. The Chiefs continue to quietly nail the draft process every year.”

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The PFF article did not address itself to Brett Veach selecting TE Jared Wiley out of TCU with it’s first 4th round draft pick, and I admit I had not looked at Wiley pre-draft, but dug into him a bit after the draft and the pick makes a ton of sense. Add to that the signing of TE Irv Smith to mix with our soon to be GOAT at TE, Travis Kelce, along with TE Noah Gray and this group is now far stronger than the preceding season.

The Chiefs also added an IOL in this draft as well and with their 2nd 4th round draft pick, they selected Hunter Nourzad, a Center out of Penn State then with the 7th round pick Veach chose to bring in C.J. Hanson, a Guard out of Holy Cross. Hanson and Nourzad, gave the Chiefs 3 offensive linemen in this draft since… with their 2nd pick the Chiefs had drafted Kingsley Suamataia an Offensive Tackle out of BYU.

That’s really quite a haul for Offensive Line coach, Andy Heck, to work with. I truly can connect with the Suamataia pick as he’s someone who played LOT for BYU last season. That was one reasons I envisioned Patrick Paul of the University of Houston in my pre-draft prediction. I maybe should have thought about Kingsley Suamataia with greater scrutiny since there is the Andy Reid-BYU connection. However, Reid has since confirmed there will be no favoritism when it comes to Suamataia.

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Every draft pick adds a piece to the puzzle. Although we can’t yet know how successful the players will be during the 2024 season, they are at least strategic choices and fill all the holes in the position groups… save DT.

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If Wishes Were Horses

I would like to see Brett Veach re-sign LOT Donovan Smith and acquire another DT if at all possible. The problem here is that Charles Omenihu won’t be ready to go until sometime down — meaning, not the beginning of the season — the road due to the knee injury that he incurred late in the 2023 season. Like Jones, Omenihu could move inside or outside which complimented Chris Jones extremely well. Adding Donovan Smith to the LOT mix, eases the immediate emergence of either Wanya Morris or Kingsley Suamataia at LOT and provides a veteran presence for that role.

That’s a lot to ask for Brett Veach to handle, but I also worry that with the Rashee Rice Legal issues outstanding, we can’t yet know about how many games he’ll be suspended nor when the suspension would begin. I presume Rice will miss at least six games, which might make it a safe bet to bring Mecole Hardman back also, for one more season. Or Veach could sign a valued veteran for the WR group. Adding both players should take very little of the remaining cap space, which I believe is around $14M. That’s 3 players that would use up most of the approximate $14M in available cap space… and more.

In addition to the laudatory comments from PFF above, Nate Taylor of the Athletic wrote about the Chiefs’ draft:

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“One of the best parts of this draft for the Chiefs is that each prospect they acquired made logical sense, both in 2024 and in future years. Xavier Worthy’s addition gives the Chiefs two speedy receivers whom opposing secondaries have to account for, which should create more one-on-one opportunities for Rashee Rice and tight end Travis Kelce. Brett Veach and Andy Reid believed the Chiefs offense had to improve for the team to have a legitimate chance to win a third consecutive Super Bowl. Four of the Chiefs’ first five draft picks were offensive players.”

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With both views, I find myself in complete agreement. GM Brett Veach may have just aced his 3rd NFL Draft in a row.

UDFAs

There are too many UDFAs to consider here and still be effective. It is still far too early to even consider… until the pads go on. However, when I see some of these young players who ended up in K.C., I can see at least 2, and maybe more, making at least the practice squad. I will cover the UDFAs in another piece, down the road.

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David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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