Dynamic Shift: Veach Steps Out of Dorsey’s Shadow

The Kansas City Chiefs General Manager, Brett Veach, took ex-GM John Dorsey’s draft plan, shredded it, dumped lighter fluid on it, and watched it burn to ashes. There’s a new sheriff in town, and the old days of BPA, and athletic projects are over. Veach took SEC players with four of his six picks. He also took Nnadi from the great ACC, leaving only one prospect from a smaller school: 6^th round pick Tremon Smith. Veach has laid out a new set of priorities. Instead of BPA, Chiefs are drafting passionate football players with great tape. They are focusing on getting guys at positions they need, rather than quality depth options, who won’t see the field. Let’s check out how each player fits this strategy.

OLB/DE Breeland Speaks: The Chiefs need edge rushers. Houston is expensive, Ford is unreliable, and and management is still talking about Kpassagnon like they hope he develops, rather than him being an immediate starter. I’m convinced, though, that Veach had another motivating force in mind, when he selected Speaks. Chiefs were absolutely terrible against the run last year. They‘ve made significant additions to the defense to shore up the interior, but they were still stuck with Zombo and Ford setting the edge. Teams could bypass the strong interior and get easy runs around Chiefs’ oft-injured finesse edge: Ford. Zombo? Well Zombo got blocked out of the play by Marcus Mariota, a QB, with the game on the line. Veach reached up to take Speaks, because he was a reliable edge setter, from the SEC who could start early on run downs and offered upside as a pass rusher. Speaks has some developing to do, but he’s not going to be on the bench doing it. He’ll get early snaps on obvious run downs.

NT Derrick Nnadi: Did I mention how terrible the run Defense was? Dorsey seemed to always focus on DL who had upside as a pass rusher. The trouble was, at the end of the day, too few of those guys developed and Chiefs were stuck with a line that got man-handled in the middle. Veach drafted the best run stuffing DL in the draft, and no, he doesn’t care that Nnadi doesn’t offer much pass rush. Better a guy who can handle double teams day one, than a guy who MIGHT split them in a few years. There’s a ceiling on Nnadi’s value. To Veach, that just means he got a good player, who can start now, and might be cheaper to re-sign later. While Dorsey looked at a player’s ceiling. Veach is more concerned with their floor. That could mean a little less boom and a lot less busts.

ILB/S Dorian O’Daniel: Dorsey never spent more than a 4^th round pick on an ILB. So far, Veach has traded for Reggie Ragland — at the cost of a 4^th — spent $9M a year on Anthony Hitchens, and now, he’s spent a 3^rd round pick on Dorian O’Daniel. He’s a versatile player who will start day one, as Chiefs dime ILB. That’s a decent value, especially when you consider his Special Team’s prowess. Elite ST’s players are generally taken at the top of the 4^th round. DO’D, was taken with the last pick of the 3^rd, so that’s pretty close. He’s easily the best ST’s player in the draft and will provide an instant boost to Chiefs coverage units. It’s certainly possible that this is a bi-product of Dave Toub taking the assistant head coaching job, but, most likely, it’s Veach, once again, looking for a player who can carve out a role right away, not in a year or two.

S Armani Watts: Watts was likely the best player available, but I doubt Veach cared. What he saw, was a highly productive SEC safety with a nose for the ball. While Watts does need to clean up his tackling, the Chiefs are thin enough at S, that he could see early action as Chiefs #2 or #3 safety. Another guy who could make an impact right away.

CB Tremon Smith: Veach’s lone small school super athlete, Tremon Smith, isn’t just a lump of clay to be molded. He was hyper productive at Central Arkansas with five interceptions and 12 passes defensed. The NFL will be a big leap in competition, for him, but he’s got the athletic skills, and ball-hawking ability of players who go much higher in the draft. Going forward, expect Veach to focus on finding starters in round 1-4 and depth guys from 5 on. In this case, I think he’s found a great depth guy who could be a starter as early as later this year. KILLER value in the 6^th round.

OG Kahlil McKenzie: With the last pick of the draft, Veach takes his first true developmental prospect. McKenzie played DT in college, but he’ll be playing OG for the Chiefs. While I’m not generally a huge fan of drafting a player to play a new position, if you’re going to do it, do it late. McKenzie has the frame and physical tools that teams covet, at the position, but if Heck can’t coach him up quick, he’ll struggle to make the roster. This pick is more like one Dorsey would make, but, given the lack of great options late, I can see why he tried to fill a position of need.

I have some qualms about Veach’s process. As I said, I think we’ll see a little less boom. Chiefs might not be cranking out new pro-bowl players every year, like they did with Dorsey, but I think they’ll see a lot more production, from their rookies. This eye towards team needs, and game-ready players, will probably be most useful in keeping the salary cap under control. With immediate contributors coming in each year, Chiefs can afford to let some of the veterans go. As long as it yields wins, I’ll sign off on the new approach. Veach is his own man, and that might be a good thing. Go Chiefs.

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