The Highest Impact Draft Picks for the Chiefs – By now, Kansas City Chiefs fans should realize that GM Brett Veach is going to take the best possible player that comes to him with his first pick in the draft. Make that, every pick in the draft. While that may include a trade, many NFL prospectors who are panning for golden stories, usually stay away from trade speculating, although a few brave (or ridiculous) souls have ventured there in recent years, perhaps because they have nothing else to dream about.
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To clarify, trades are not what I’ll be doing here today. This is about identifying prospects who would potentially have the greatest impact on the Chiefs at a given position. So, we’ll look at the first three rounds and a few options per round. Still confused? Think of it in reverse: the Chiefs would not want to draft Trey Lance (if he fell to them) because… they already have the best QB in the biz. Or, think of it this way: if K.C. could draft OT Penei Sewell, they be drafting the best possible player at the LT position… only I’m not going to project a player we know with 1000% certainty will be gone when Veach selects.
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High Impact Players at #31
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Jaelan Phillips, Edge Rusher (ER)
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Adding a superior ER like Jaelan Phillips (6-5, 265) to the Chiefs defensive line could turn their defense into an epic nightmare for other teams. David Bell wrote me recently saying the addition of Phillips would be: “TRUE IMMEDIATE IMPACT. If such a pick happened the Chiefs Front Four would rival the great NFL Front lines of historic note.” Now, do you think Veach would want to pass that opportunity up? While I’d been pondering an impact-player piece like this before David Bell’s response, his comment made me think we should consider this as a direction Veach will go… if given the chance.
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While most mocking and ranking services have Phillips going much higher, in the teens, he became available to me in a recent mock, so I was intrigued by what his addition could mean to the Chiefs, even with their current black hole at LT. In Tony Pauline’s analysis of Jaelan Phillips he said: “He’s a terrific athlete with natural pass-rushing skills as well as growth potential.”
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Rogue Analytics Matrix has Jaelan Phillips finishing:
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- 6th in EXPLOSION
- 9th in POWER
- 2nd in Short Area Quickness (SAQ)
- 4th Overall – MASTER ATHLETIC MATRIX (seen below)
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Rashod Bateman, WR, Minn.
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Rashod Bateman is 6-foot-1, and 210 lbs., and runs a 4.39 40 yard dash. While most rankers have him going well before K.C. picks, in a class of wideouts this strong, if the top three or four WRs weren’t in this draft, Bateman could be a top ten pick.
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Rogue Analytics Matrix has Rashod Bateman finishing:
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- 11th in EXPLOSION
- 18th in POWER
- 8th in EXPLOSIVE RANGE
- 10th in DEEP RANGE
- 9th Overall – MASTER ATHLETIC MATRIX (seen below)
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Bateman had 472 yards receiving in a truncated 2020 Big Ten season, in only 5 games plus, over 1,200 yards the year before. We know how HC Andy Reid loves players with loads of experience, so Bateman would appear to be a quick fit. Adding Rashod Bateman to a receiving roster that includes Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, should make them unstoppable, even in the biggest game of the year. With so many QBs and OTs slated to go high in this draft, an excellent player will very likely fall to K.C. at #31.
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High Impact Players at #63
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Landon Dickerson, OC, Alabama
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Although the Chiefs have signed Austin Blythe this offseason in Free Agency, I’m not so sure he’s been an upgrade to that position… and we know how Austin Reiter was shagged and bagged in SB LV. DrafTek has Dickerson ranked as the 62nd best prospect right now, and I’ve even speculated that Dickerson could end up the Chiefs first pick at #31, so if he falls this far, I’d hope to see Veach pounce like a leopard.
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While Landon Dickerson didn’t participate in offseason and Pro Day skills because of a knee surgery to fix an ACL, he was seen doing cartwheels behind Mac Jones on his Pro Day interview. That would not only indicate he’s healthy, but more than that. The high impact he’d have for the Chiefs is if he becomes the starter in year one. Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports created this chart (seen below) and gives Dickerson a score of 6.02 which places him in the range of “possible starter”…
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At 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 335, Dickerson is nearly as big as Dontari Poe (3 inches taller and 10 pounds lighter), so, he’s a big boy. While Dickerson looks like only a marginal prospect based in this current chart, his value to K.C. could be incredibly high by providing that cement in the middle of the OL, and more importantly, giving Patrick Mahomes the time he needs in the pocket without being mangled. Edholm also sees Dickerson as a first round pick and says of him:
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“Brawny strength to battle with big nose tackles. Nice core and lower-body strength to drive the pile. Good punch to ward off defenders — quality hand fighter. Anchors well vs. bull rushes. Can deliver some slobberknocker blocks to bury people. Mauler in the run game in both zone and man schemes.”
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Landon Dickerson is ranked at #102 by CBS Sports. Why? I don’t know! My guess is he’ll go much, much higher.
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Tylan Wallace, WR, Okla. St.
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Tylan Wallace runs a 4.45 40 yard dash but sometimes, a player looks like they play faster than their 40 time, and that’s the case with Wallace. Sometimes, you can tell a lot about a player from watching one single play. Here’s that play for me:
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When watching the tape on Wallace, after so many of his catches, he lowers his head and secures the ball, meaning, he puts to arms around it. You can see him lower his head here in as he attempts to get more yards, but ends up coming free on the play. An excellent move, and after a couple of tough stiff arms and a broken tackle, he ends up scoring.
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Admittedly, Wallace doesn’t score high on the Rogue Analytics Matrix, but sometimes players are so good, they bring other intangibles to the table. This tweet shows Tylan Wallace’ production, compared to past Oklahoma State star WRs:
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High Impact Players at #94
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Jabril Cox, LB, LSU
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It’s odd to me to even consider LB Jabil Cox being available at pick #94, but if he somehow even fell into the 80s I’d expect Brett Veach to move up to take him. CBS Sports has Cox currently ranked at #85 but aside from taking Zaven Collin with the 31st pick, Jabril Cox would be my next choice (assuming Micah Parsons and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah are gone, which, is an easy assumption). Cox is not only fast (though he hasn’t run a 40 this offseason) but he hits well. Cox set a goal for his eventual 40 time when he said: “I’m trying, right now, we’ll see — low 4-5, high 4-4.“ Here he is before he left North Dakota State for LSU:
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In a separate play:
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I’m a big fan of Jabril Cox and see the need for a speedy LB like him in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. He may end up being gently given more and more snaps in 2021, like Willie Gay was scaled in last year, but in 2022, he’d be a full time starter.
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Quinn Meinerz, OC,
UW-Whitewater
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Quinn Meinerz is an enigma. We just don’t know what we just don’t know about him. Still, he’s someone that teams are showing a great deal of interest in, and one of those team could be the Chiefs. Ever since K.C. plucked Laurent Duvernay-Tardif in the 6th round of the 2014 NFL draft, it’s opened up doors of possibilities for unknown players like him.
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The man Meinerz is blocking here, is 6-foot-5, 260 lbs., DE Patrick Jones, out of Pittsburgh. If the Chiefs were interested in Meinerz, it would likely be as an offensive Center, a position Meinerz has player some in his time at UW-Whitewater. It’s hard to find tape on Meinerz but once I did, he could be seen blocking one man with one arm, while blocking a second with his other arm. So, he has other worldly strength. While his height may be a bit of a concern, he plays low and is able to get underneath defender’s pads so his height is something he uses to his advantage.
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Quinn Meinerz has actually run a 4.86 40 yards dash so he may be more athletic than it shows here. If he’s there at pick #94, the Chiefs could consider him and if taken, would have an impact, if not in 2021, then down the road.
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When Brett Veach and Co. drafted L’Jarius Sneed in the 4th round last year, it should prove that they can spot an impact player, even in the lower rounds. Let’s hope they get some impact players this year, especially in rounds 1-through-3.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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