The Un-Mock: Prospects I Hope the Chiefs Don’t Draft

The Un-Mock: Prospects I Hope

the Chiefs Don’t Draft

by Laddie Morse | April 12, 2019

The Kansas City Chiefs will be selecting their first of eight picks in the draft in 13 short days, most likely (unless they trade out). However, there are some players I’d like them not to take. No, I’m not talking about players who are ranked 3 rounds lower, I’m talking about players who I perceive not to be a fit or simply aren’t good prospects, although there are those who think they are. Thus, The Un-Mock: Prospects I Hope the Chiefs Don’t Draft!

Garrett Bradbury is an excellent prospect and I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see the Chiefs take him at #29. I just hope that doesn’t happen. Bradbury is ranked the 22nd best prospect in this year’s draft by CBS Sports and DrafTek has him at #30, and he may well be a first round talent, but the Chiefs still have needs on the defensive side of the ball and I am not a fan of drafting a Center in round one of any draft. Mitch Morse came from round 2, pick #49 in 2015 (and Morse was thought to be drafted too high at the time), and before him Rodney Hudson also came from round 2, pick #55 in the 2011 draft. Last year the Chiefs used Austin Reiter, a 7th round pick in the 2015 draft by the Washington Redskins, and he did a good job while he was on the field replacing Mitch Morse and since Reiter is still on the roster, then a Center may not be a high priority.

What’s most difficult for me when projecting Bradbury as the Chiefs pick at #29 is the list of player who were still available:

1.  CB Byron Murphy
2.  TE TJ Hockenson
3.  CB Rock Ya-Sin
4.  WR Terry McLaurin
5.  WR Marquise Brown
6.  CB Deandre Baker
7.  DE Jaylon Ferguson
8.  FS Chauncey Gardner-Johnson 
9.  CB Amani Oruwariye
10.  DE Zach Allen

It’s hard to see Center Garrett Bradbury being ranked a tier higher than any of the above ten prospects. 

Irv Smith is 6-foot-2, 242 lbs. and that just too small to work in Andy Reid’s system. Smith is really a large wide receiver when it comes right down to it. He started for Nick Saban at Alabama during his sophomore and junior seasons and in 2018 he had 44 catches for 710 yards and a 16.1 yards per catch average. Reid not only prefers more experienced players but the list of other prospects makes his being drafted by the Chiefs improbable. Here’s a menu of available players when pick #61 came around:

1.  DE Oshane Ximines
2.  CB Trayvon Mullen
3.  DE Charles Omenihu
4.  FS Nasir Adderley
5.  TE Dawson Knox
6.  FS Deionte Thompson
7.  CB Joejuan Williams
8.  WR Parris Campbell
9.  SS Juan Thornhill
10.  DE Joe Jackson
11.  FS Johnathan Abram  

No, I don’t necessarily have anything against Alabama players but, Damien Harris is one of my least favorite RBs in this year’s draft, for the Chiefs. Add that, to the idea of taking a RB in the second round and you have a losing combo. Kareem Hunt was a third rounder and so was Jamaal Charles. A running back must be truly special in my mind for him to be taken earlier than that. Also, all the prospects who are listed above (1-11) were available to the Chiefs, but were taken in the next 15 picks following pick #63. Darrell Henderson from Memphis and David Montgomery from Iowa State were still on the board much later and I like both of them more than Damien Harris (besides… I think the Chiefs already have enough Damien’s on the team so it would be waaay too confusing to fans to add another Damien to the mix… and… and… I’m still trying to get over the last Harris they employed).

Alright, alright… I admit it… I do have a bit of an anti-Alabama bias. Beyond that, Isaiah Buggs hasn’t performed as well as I thought he had, after I watched his tape. Bugss, as is often the case with Alabama players, overruns the play and approaches the offensive backfield by getting too deep. That works well when it is part of a planned scheme but not all the time. When you consider that most of the players who play for Alabama are 4-star and 5-star athletes, it makes it more difficult to isolate just how well one player impacts the game. At 6-foot-3, 306 lbs., Buggs size makes it difficult to project his natural position in the 4-3 defense: a Defensive Lineman or a Defensive End? Here are some of the prospects still on the beard following the 92nd pick:

1.  FS Darnell Savage
2.  WR Emanuel Hall
3.  CB Lonnie Johnson
4.  ILB Tevon Coney
5.  CB David Long
6.  OT Bobby Evans
7.  SS Jaquan Johnson

…

Lukas Denis was a starter for Boston College for three years, 2016, 2017, and 2018. He had some good stats like his 9 INTs over his Sophomore, Junior and Senior seasons but, 7 of those INTs came in his Junior year and of his 16 passes defensed, 10 of those came in his Junior year as well. While I’m sure Reid and company will like Denis’ full college service, his lack of speed is the main concern. Draftnetwrok.com says Denis has natural ball tracking skills and takes good angles to the ball but unless you can coach speed, which you can’t, I’m afraid he won’t have much of a career in the NFL. Denis runs a 4.64 – 40 yard dash. Perhaps — maybe — he could succeed as a backup down the road. Hopefully, not with the Chiefs. The Chiefs still have Armani Watts and Daniel Sorensen backing up Tyrann Mathieu and Jordan Lucas. Consequently, I can’t see Denis beating out either of them.

I hope the Chiefs don’t take a wide receiver this late in the draft. At least not this WR. The Chiefs have need of two different WR types: one like Chris Conley and one like De’Anthony Thomas. Preston Williams is 6-foot-4 and goes 210 lbs. which means he would have to serve as a Chris Conley replacement, a WR who can at the minimum provide good blocking. In the end, that’s all Conley was good for, sad to say. Obviously, Williams will not provide that fast and twitchy WR who can provide Reid’s offense with an alternative to Tyreek Hill on the Jet Sweeps that he likes to run. You may have noticed that Reid didn’t run as many of those after DAT went out for the remainder of the year. I should say, I think DAT is sitting on hold on a phone line in Reid’s office and was probably told, “We’ll get back to you after the draft”… maybe. He’s currently a Free Agent. 

Patrick Vahe is 6-foot-3, 325 lbs. With the exceptions of Austin Reiter and Kahlil McKenzie, who are both 6-foot-3, the rest of the Chiefs offensive linemen are in the 6-foot-5 to 6-foot-7 range. I suppose, if an OL is all that good, the Chiefs may take them and make them a developmental linemean. However, with McKenzie still serving in the role, it doesn’t seem likely that they’d carry two such OL on the 53 man roster. The point is, if the Chiefs are going to improve their offensive line, they probably need to invest some early round draft capital in that pick. Since I don’t think that will happen this year, it seems a waste to be picking up an OL with the 214th pick. 

In the past two drafts, I’ve recommended that the Chiefs should take one of college football’s best punters to move on from Dustin Colquitt. However, since Colquitt signed a 3-year contract extension with the Chiefs last offseason then drafting a Punter at this point will be unwise. I suspect when Colquitt’s contract runs out at the end of 2020, the Chiefs will keep him hanging out until they see if they can draft or sign one in the offseason of that year. For now, any draft picks spent on a Punter, a Place Kicker or a Fullback, is throwing money into a black hole. BTW… did anyone else see the the first picture of an actual black hole was taken this week?

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/the-un-mock-prospects-i-hope-the-chiefs-dont-draft/#disqus_thread)