The TOP 5 Prospects for K.C. at #31

Laddie Morse

With the NFL draft just 9 days away – which is in Kansas City BTW – it’s time to narrow down the possible picks K.C. could make come Thursday evening, the 27^th of April. Assuming GM Brett Veach doesn’t trade away their first round pick, one of these fine gentlemen could end up in K.C. helping the Chief win their third Super Bowl in the past five seasons, and fourth Lombardi Trophy overall. If that happens, you know what that means, again — > PARADE!

I’ll begin this process by first listing those who are our favorites to be drafted at the following positions: OT, EDGE, and WR. Those have become our most popular choices, so I’ll start there:

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I’m listing OT first because that’s who David Bell likes the most, plus David Ferguson thinks the Chiefs should fill the wholes left by both Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie moving on. However, I’m not so sure the Chiefs will go with a player who is destined to play left TACKLE since they just signed Jawaan Taylor with left Tackle money and then said they expect him to play left tackle. This could just be smoke screen talk, I don’t know. However, it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll draft a Left Tackle when they already have one, someone they just signed.

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FAU is 6-foot-3 and weighs 255 lbs., about the same size as Frank Clark. He played his college ball at Kansas State so he’s become a popular mock target of those around K.C.. If K.C. does draft him, it will mean they plan on having him ready for the 2024 season and won’t necessarily count on him early on in the 2023 season, much as George Karlaftis has progressed. GK played on 64% of the defensive snaps in 2022 and that’s about what I’d expect out of FAU in 2023, except GK is much bigger — 6-foot-4, 275 — and his body can take the beating, as well as hand it out. On the subject of size, both Steve Spagnuolo (the DC) and Joe Cullen (the DL coach) expect their EDGE players to be bigger types, like GK, so FAU may not even be in the plans.

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Quentin Johnston has been falling on some popular Draft Boards lately and some even mock him to the Chiefs, so here he is. He is 6-foot-2 and weighs 208 lbs. and maybe the reason for him falling is his 40 time of 4.52.

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Still, that doesn’t answer why he’s been falling lately. DraftBuzz.com still has him as their #1 WR and that’s exactly what the Chiefs need, a #1 WR. The problem with taking a Wide receiver with the Chiefs first pick is that Andy Reid rarely advances his WRs in their first season. This may be the reason Veach pulls the trigger on a trade or a move to get a top level WR prior to the first round taking place. That’s not only the reason taking a WR first overall for the Chiefs may be folly, but is also the reason I’ve placed them at #3 on my list.

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The Chiefs need a great DT rushing the passer next to Chris Jones. Why… it makes CJ better now, plus, he should extend the career of Chris Jones in the meantime. The problem with Kancey is that he’s only 6-foot-1 and weighs 281 lbs. when he’s wet. He not only doesn’t measure up to the prototypical DL type of Spags and Cullen (mentioned earlier) but he had just 7 sacks in 2022. Kancey may be the next coming of Aaron Donald, but a lot of prospects have been compared to him and then not measured up. Not to mention the difficulties with someone that height trying to knock down passes. While a DT may be the best choice (position wise) for K.C. to take — because the shortest route to the QB is the best one — there may not be a top notch DT in this draft who is actually worthy of — or available — for the Chiefs with the 31st pick.

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Tight End Dalton Kincaid has become a popular selection for the Chiefs in the first round. With Travis Kelce getting up there in age, the Chiefs need to be thinking about who will eventually replace him.

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Not only would Kincaid help extend Kelce’s career, but he could help Patrick Mahomes in the passing attack, as well as helping to improve blocking for the running game. Kincaid was injured his back, but has since received full clearance from Dr. Robert Watkins:

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“Dalton Kincaid sustained a back injury while playing football on 11/26/2022,” said the email from Dr. Watkins. “Subsequent MRIs have shown appropriating healing and he has been asymptomatic with no pain and no limitation of function for at least 3 months. He is cleared to play football with no restrictions.”

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Kincaid is perhaps the best pass catcher in the entire draft and all the visits he’s been on to other teams seems to be revealing of that point. Those team visits include the: Pats, Packers, Texans, Raiders, Chargers, Jaguars, Titans, Lions, and the Cowboys, as well as the Chiefs. The problem with Kincaid as a pick #31 is that the value of a first round pick doesn’t usually take into consideration that of a Tight End.

Here are some highlights of Dalton Kincaid (4:08).

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I guess the unintended point of this piece is… there are no perfect draft picks. Not at least that we can see.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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