Categories: Kansas City ChiefsLaddie Morse

Mocking All Positions in the Top 3 Rounds

Mocking All Positions

in the Top 3 Rounds

by Laddie Morse | April 15, 2019

The National Football League’s Annual Draft will be held next week and it’s time to get down to the serious business of choosing new players — people — for the Kansas City Chiefs. The people most responsible for that will be General Manager Brett Veach, Head Coach Andy Reid, and owner Clark Hunt. Most might not include Clark Hunt in this process but when you consider that he’s the man holding the purse strings, and he is always there throughout the draft, he’s a cog for sure. Not only that but, if you think back just two years ago when… Veach told Reid about that QB from Texas Tech who told John Dorsey who told Clark Hunt who went and had a photo-op (at left) with him in the months before the draft… it’s seems clear, the Chiefs owner is involved.

One of my favorite national pundits is Terez Paylor. Paylor said recently that a case could be made for every position (except QB) for the Chiefs in the upcoming draft. So, I decided to put that assertion to the test and see if I could come up with a good choice at every position. Then, I thought… that’s not all that bold an assertion when the Chiefs have 8 picks. The real question is whether or not they could accomplish that in their first 4 picks. So, I set about to see if it could be done in the first three rounds.

Using FanSpeak.com, I chose a Big Board ranking by “On the Clock” and Team Needs by “User-Voted” to set the mock up. The following are a list of the Chiefs positions I was looking to draft which not only excludes the quarterback position but Long Snapper, Punter and Place Kicker as well:

In Round One: the possible choices are:

Tight end, running back, cornerback, wide receiver, defensive lineman, and/or a safety, could all easily come off the board for he Chiefs in the first round. Josh Jacobs could be an excellent pick and is going to be a top notch RB for some NFL team. Although, this is way too early for my blood. CB Byron Murphy deserves to be a first round pick as much as the other two and has been projected to the Chiefs many times at #29. If T.J. Hockenson actually still there, he’d be a great choice since Travis Kelce has just had offseason “clean up ankle surgery” and might possibly not be at full strength until mid-season. If that is the case… Hockenson has been called the best blocking TE in the last ten years among TEs coming out in the draft (see below) and it also doesn’t hurt that he’s got good hands too, dropping only 1 pass in 50 targets in 2018.

Although I don’t see WR A.J. Brown as good a fit for the Chiefs he’s ranked by many services in the 1st round and I won’t be shocked if he ends up in red and gold. Jeffery Simmons has had an ACL surgery and he’s also had off field issues, otherwise, he could go in the top 10. Both Nasir Adderley and Taylor Rapp have highly rated skills and I’d like to see the Chiefs go with ether one of them.

With all of those possible picks going to the Chiefs, that only leaves a Linebacker or an Offensive Lineman to be drafted. In the second round, FanSpeak offered these possible prospects:

With Center Erik McCoy and LB Mack Wilson showing up at 53 and 57, when the Chiefs go to pick in the second round with pick numbers 61 and 63, they could easily take both, or either, of these men at positions of need. Center Elgton Jenkins could end up being mainstay for the Chiefs for years to come if they go that route. Now, LB Mack Wilson is nowhere near as good as Devin White or Devin Bush but he should be an upgrade for the Chiefs. McCoy is ranked the 41st best prospect by both CBS Sports and DrafTek so if either of these prospects are there when it’s time to pick in the second round, they’d both be keepers. RB David Montgomery is the closest prospect to Kareem Hunt in this draft, that I have seen and led the FBS country in missed tackles. Pro Football Focus says of Montgomery, “Montgomery broke the PFF record with 100 broken tackles on 258 carries this past season.”

While the list immediately above covers both the late 2nd round picks, let’s take a look at who shows up for the 92nd pick? By looking this list over — studying it — and having gone through this procedure a few times (75)… one can begin to get a feel for which positions will still have good choices left late in the draft. Why is that important? Because if you know you can get a good TE later in the draft, why would you use an earlier pick on a TE?

What I just wrote about the TE position is probably more true of the RB position. IOW… if you take a RB early in this draft and are thereby bypassing up a credible talent at another position of need, you may be wasting that pick to a certain degree because this draft is deep in solid RBs. Darrell Henderson could be just as impactful for the Chiefs as the pick of Josh Jacobs… or nearly that. Consequently, taking a defensive position of need earlier in the draft may end up being a much wiser move.

Here’s how the whole mock turned out, with the idea that any position could be taken in the first three rounds:

The big realization for me is that, after doing months of mocking, the Chiefs can only fill a few needs in this draft. Now, it’s not like I haven’t known that before, but the reality of it is beginning to settle in. I hope you can appreciate that too as the NFL draft pulls closer. Also, it looks like Terez Paylor could be right, the Chiefs could end up drafting any position in this draft… except quarterback of course, I think we’re good there.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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