Sunday Review:
Veach’s “Best” So Far!
by David Bell | April 28, 2019
Sunday Review: Veach’s “Best” So Far – You probably think I am going to lead with the draft — I am not. First, I wish to cover just how far the Kansas City Chiefs rebuilding the defense has come since the departure of Justin Houston, Dee Ford and Eric Berry. Or for that matter, since Tamba Hali left… you get the picture right?
Even this draft has had a spanner tossed in as late as the day of the draft. The Chiefs had just committed their #1 pick to obtaining DE Frank Clark, a move I saluted. Then the “Hill Affair” stuck like a bolt of lightning. This article is not about that problem, rather it will be a reason for the contingent action of Brett Veach’ s first pick on Day 2. As the article nears completion in preparation for Sunday, the Draft is completed and Brett Veach did a quick recovery, and moved on and did a fine job in the draft.
Enter Stage Left, Laughing — the Best So Far, Thursday looked Very Good
In a few short months of 2019, the Chiefs obtained new players all of whom are on the defensive side of the ball. They are: Frank Clark, Emmanuel Ogbah, Khalen Saunders, Damien Wilson, Alex Okafor, Bashaud Breeland, Keith Reaser, and Tyrann Mathieu. [see the draftees below for additional players]
In 2018, the Chiefs acquired the following defensive players: Derrick Nnadi, Xavier Williams, Anthony Hitchens, Dorian O’Daniel, Ben Nieman, Charvarius Ward, Tremon Smith, Kendall Fuller, Armani Watts, and Jordan Lucas. Before these players were added, The Chiefs drafted Chris Jones and Tanoh Kpassagnon as well as adding other players but notably Reggie Ragland, and adding Justin Hamilton, and Daniel Sorensen was added to the mix.
Evaluating the picks and new acquisitions is tough before they play a down is tough but all of these players are quick, have good SAQ for their position and possess speed to get to the ball. What we have now is a very good mix and match group of players Front, Middle and Back. Thus far, Veach has Swapped to the 43 with a new DC in Steve Spagnuolo and a new Defense coaching crew, and mostly in the few months of work, since losing in the AFC Championship round, Veach has rebuilt the front end to a 43 controlled Chaos group — ON THE FLY.
Brett Veach traded to get a top DE for the 43 in Clark, ditto Okafor and Ogbah. These are added to existing roster contributors of Speaks and Kpass outside and Derrick Nnadi and Chris Jones inside. Talk about controlled chaos, the Chiefs have given Steve Spagnuolo all the tools he needs to get it done. So, the defensive front is totally solid up front when you consider the addition of 2019 draftee DT Khalen Saunders (see below).
The Back End of the Defense
Last year, Veach brought in Safety Jordan Lucas. In house he had Armani Watts who was out to the IR and Dan Sorensen who missed time but was back by week 12. The Chiefs then acquired, in a big FA move, Tyrann Mathieu a top player for safety who can fill any role. At that point, we had a top hand starter and two depth players returning in Lucas and Sorensen. Neither will be starters. I earmark Armani Watts as a starter but now via pick #63 of this draft, there’s S Juan Thornhill. So, I am pleased as punch about the safety crew.
The Back End of the Chiefs Defense is Totally Solid
What’s left is to continue working with the LB Crew. Veach added Damien Wilson (WILL or SAM).
With Sutton gone, I can’t pronounce the LB crew as totally solid. It needs more additions but it should be improved from what was offered by Sutton in his defense sets(yes, I blame much of the defense faux pas’s on Sutton and his defense philosophy.
Its True: The Middle needs continued work — the LB crew is not up to snuff in my view — not like the front and back end, but I don’t think it’s as poor as most viewers think (I reserve blaming Bob Sutton for his use of LBs on the roster).
The Chiefs Draft of 2019
I touted all along this spring that the Chiefs could walk away with 4 top performers on defense from the 2019 draft. We didn’t make it. We had to go get a WR and Brett Veach did a good job of handling that. Still, we acquired 3 top defensive performers who will help put the defense over the top.
Round 1 (#29) – Trading the pick for Frank Clark. First the Chiefs used Pick #29 and their 2nd round, 2 pick in 2020, to get a top performing Defensive End to add to the mix: Frank Clark. This is a superb use of a draft pick and officially for me, put the Defensive Front End in very good shape to be a competitive defense in 2019. During the draft, Brett Veach added a class pick that will go a long way in stopping the run, providing a man of heft — a 326 lbs. 1-tech DT — as the 3rd pick by the Chiefs in this draft. He will be the Chief’s new Dontari Poe. He will eat blockers and double teams and he is agile for a man his size. (see the picks below).
Round 2, Pick 24 (#56) – Mecole Hardman, WR, Georgia: Hardman is a very fast wideout, offers the 
kind of speed that can’t be touched (had timed 40’s below 4.30 seconds and one of them was apparently 4.27. That is fast. He will need work with the playbook and route running but the Chiefs can bring him on board on the fly, giving him patterns to run each week until he has the repertory to get the #2 role down. Sammy Watkins will be elevated to #1 WR. Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson and Gehrig Dieter will be the planned front 4 of the receiving crew. Hardman offers the type of threat that Hill provided. It will be a building “Crescendo”. Rating? “B” due to circumstance of needing to draft a WR so late in the deliberations and having used our #1 pick to obtain Frank Clark.
Mecole Hardman was selected to help handle a problem due to Tyreek Hill, his antics, violence and unacceptable behavior. This is not the place to write about it but now we know, via this pick, that Hill is no longer a factor for 2019’s season and like Kareem Hunt, I am sorry to say, he will very likely be cut loose on Monday.
This is also going to require special hands on time with PM2. After all, Hill was a crucial threat in the Mahomes arsenal and Patrick is going to have to bring him on board quickly as only a QB like Mahomes can do. Hardman has to provide the over the top threat and be able to stretch the field — deep and wide — and make catches so that means there is going to be significant work in the OTA’s, camp and preseason.
Round 2 (#63) – Juan Thornhill, S, Virginia: Thornhill is a tough, versatile safety with the ability to play different roles. His Short Area Quickness — SAQ — is one of the top metrics he turns in according to Ryan Tracy and Rogue Analytics. He is able to play up in the box or single high. He can cover in zone layouts or press man coverage. If he has a weakness, it’s his explosiveness in reacting to the ball as a safety. The coaching staff will need to work that through but Thornhill provides a 3rd top safety to the back end of the defense. I’m going to rate this pick as an “B+.”
Expensive new safety Tyrann Mathieu is versatile… which means the Chiefs needed to find another versatile safety — and with Daniel Sorensen being mostly a dime linebacker, Kansas City looked in the draft and Thornhill, like Mathieu, can play both.
Round 3 (#84) – (here we traded up to get the pick giving up our position and pick #134).
Round 3 (#84) – Khalen Saunders, DT, Western Illinois: This pick surprised me because I thought it 
would be a Tight End. Saunders though, brings something that has been missing from the Chiefs since the year before Dontari Poe departed the Chiefs, due to his injury, because Poe was just not himself. We all loved Poe and when he left he was doing this for his personal gain but we missed him. Now we get a real “1-Tech” back to the defensive front line and that is exactly what the D-line needed. Everyone is very positive about how quick this big man hits the opponents and the strength of his drive toward the QB in a pass rush, or his ability to take on double teams. Most evaluators will not see how this singular talent fits as well as it does but they haven’t had a player like the Chiefs have had up the middle and have again with Saunders presence. Think on this: Inside you have Jones and Nnadi or Jones and Saunders or Saunders and one of the other men swapped in. Outside you have the players discussed above.
I like this pick very much and give it a B but it could be higher once we review his contribution in retrospect after 2019’s season is over. Why? Because I know how Spagnuolo and Daly will use the force of Saunders in the middle of the defense.
The Other Picks? I can get no better than a combined C+
- Round 6 ($201) Rashad Fenton, CB, South Carolina
- Round (#214) Darwin Thompson, RB, Utah St.
- Round 7 (#216) Nick Allegretti, G, Illinois
How do I rate them? Rounds 5-7 are acquisitions that I know little about in most seasons. Usually I can get into round 4 and know who is who, but this draft holds true to form. We could use each player in their position. I do like Allegretti, who can play all three Interior line positions and gives competition to existing roster players playing the interior line positions. Ditto on Darwin Thompson who looks good in the RB room and Fenton may be one of those sleeper picks.
I now anxiously await further actions by Veach and Co. I firmly believe this defense will be superior to the defense of the past 2 seasons by a factor of “X”… with X being the middle of the pack rating. I truly see the Chiefs defense ranking in the top 15 at least, with an even better DVOA Outlook.
David Bell — ArrowheadOne
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