What Veach Did on Draft Day’s One and Two

David Bell

Brett Veach has another solid draft, especially in rounds one and two. I am very enthusiastic about the first three draft picks. Veach didn’t panic and stuck with a plan, plus he didn’t trade up — as many of us expected — in order to select a player many of us had eyes on, or a player we had a crush on. I must say this once more: our Maverick Brett is someone I trust to do good work! IVWT — In Veach We Trust — applies. We have the makings of a great GM and I love his work!

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Felix Anudike-Uzomoah (FAU)

Edge Rusher, KSU, #Pick 31

Anudike-Uzamoah disrupts everything – ADaily Herald Photo

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I had the Chiefs possibly taking FAU in Round Two. He’s a different animal to last year’s Edge addition George Karlaftis as well as our Free Agent DL addition, Charles Omenihu. I am keeping in mind the varied rush attacks that DC Steve Spagnuolo utilizes and how his formats change from pass-rush-snap to pass-rush-snap. Therefore, I give this draft pick a high grade “A”.

Like Karlaftis, it will take time for him to acclimate to the Spagnuolo Defensive plan and play sets plus getting up to NFL speed. He offers talent and skill to quickly fit in the mix of Edge Rusher snaps. FAU provides flexibility, blending with the talents of the existing Edge Rusher corp, also providing a compliment to the Chiefs IDL. I’ll say this about FAU: he has excellent speed and bend for rushes around the edge.

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I was convinced that FAU would be an excellent choice for the Chiefs though I anticipated it would be a Round Two selection.

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Felix Anudike-Uzomoh’s Relative Athletic Score

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I am completely aware that many make a projection for Edge players for the Chiefs based on size alone. What I foresee is that the Chiefs are strengthening their pass rush –> pressures, QB hits, and sacks. Adding a contrasting pass-rush style to Charles Omenihu, George Karlaftis, and Mike Danna is something that I find high value in and it becomes part of the Joe Cullen effort to grow the pass-rush. That allows Spags to mix and match players for differing situations and approaches. That value is what the scouts saw, what Veach’s visualization found, and why FAU was the draft pick for Round One.

I was watching a video of Veach, Reid, and others in the War Room. They all appeared comfortable with the pick. I defer to them, though the particular player came as a surprise to me. I give this draft pick an “A” grade. I do see that the Chiefs kept a local player home, just so he could play in K.C.. I like it!

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Rashee Rice

Wide Receiver, SMU, Pick #55

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. Rashee Rice – 247Sports.com

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Brett Veach then used multiple picks to trade up and select WR Rashee Rice. He was another player on my “to-draft” list. I figured he would be gone before pick 63. I did have my eyes on UTenn WR Cedric Tillman or Ole Miss WR Jonathan Mingo. What I anticipated was that the Chiefs would draft an OT preceding the WR choice, thus they’d probably get a WR in Round Three.

Moving up from 63 to 55 to select Rice was another great move by Brett Veach. The Rice Profile is replete with skills, Route Running being foremost among things that Chiefs scouts have on their checklist as highly crucial. Rice checked many boxes such as Team fit in the WR Room, Chief’s persona, and Football IQ. The thing about Rice that struck me was his improvement and results in his last year at Southern Methodist University (number of catches, and receiving yards). That was stellar.

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Rashee Rice Stats – sports-reference.com

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The Rice selection was one of two day-two trade up’s that should cause the Chiefs fandom to salivate. To move up to #55 from pick #63, Brett Veach used picks 63, 122, and 249 to get there.

Rice’s physical stature is part of his mysticism, as he is 6’1″, 203 lbs. with great leaping ability, a 41″ vertical jump, which certainly aids him in making catches on contested balls. Plus, Rice has a 10’8″ Broad Jump, which is indicative of his explosiveness. I judge this draft pick to be a complete fit for the Chiefs. In year two, I can see him achieving JuJu numbers.

I give this draft pick an “A” grade also. He fits the WR group extremely well and PMII will quickly trust Rice to be in the right place at the right time. He will quickly become a reliable target in year one. Of course, he will have the usual learning curve with Andy Reid’s thick playbook and he needs to get quickly on the same page with Patrick Mahomes (down in Texas soon is what I think will happen).

Laddie also is big on Rice. He wrote in his article, yesterday, called: “Chiefs 2023 Draft Class”

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“If you couldn’t tell, I’m a big Rashee Rice fan. I’d go so far as to predict, that Rice will win the rookie of the year award — The Mack Lee Hill Award — for the Chiefs in 2023. Prior to the draft, I was calling for Brett Veach to take a DE, an OT and a WR with his first three… picks and that’s exactly what he did. As far as I’m concerned, the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs… just got better.”

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Rashee Rice Draft pick #55 (WR–A Chiefs Top-30 Visit)

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I think this was one of the players that we might have anticipated the Chiefs selected because he was a Top 30 visit. His 2022 numbers were impressively singular for last season. He must have checked the communication-intelligence-personality fit during this visit. His 40-time was not fast (4.51) and that was like the reason he was not drafted sooner.

Veach and the Scouts saw his value and as a round-two pick with his explosiveness and ability to elevate, it gives me a reason to be highly positive about Rice’s draft selection. I see this as another draft feather in Veach’s headdress. If you look at the tape, you see a player who makes contested ball catches, breaks tackles, and scores – he is a great fit for the WR Corps. In fact, someone is not going to make the roster due to Veach drafting Rice. No, he is not a WR #1. He is what I see as a total value as a possession WR, a true value for a Patrick Mahomes target. See his 2022 highlight film, here (you may want to mute your volume before watching):

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He also fits the Athletic Profile desired, but on the Chiefs board, and RGR-Football’s Athletic Matrix. His RAS Shows:

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RAS from Kente Platte’s Site, RAS.Football

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Wanya Morris

OT Oklahoma U. Pick #92

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SI.com – Wanya Morris

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When looking at the positions of need, OT remained on my top 3 needs list. By trading up in Round Three, Brett Veach added to the OT position group. I think this was a valuable choice because the Chiefs lost their end-of-the-year OTs from 2022. This was a necessary draft pick and in many ways, the ArrowheadOne staff also believed that Job-One for the Chiefs is keeping QB Patrick Mahomes upright. Morris fits in that scheme. He is not as flashy a pick as the first two picks, but a solid choice none-the-less.

If there was concern about the ROT, which was valid since the penciled-in starter (Lucas Niang) was MIA at the end of the 2021 season due to a Patellar Tendon tear. This injury is tough to recover from. He was not available for play in 2022 until later in the season. Not only that, but Niang had also completely opted out of the 2020 season due to the virus scare.

I have written that I believed he made a mistake with that decision.

None-the-less, his career with the Chiefs began in 2021 and then ended due to an injury. In 2022, Veach selected an OT, Darian Kinnard, who is earmarked for ROT. It appeared to me that Andy Heck’s ROT exposure occurred because Andrew Wylie was not retained and had flown to other pastures. The Chiefs have believed that adding Jawaan Taylor to the roster covers the LOT role. His experience is on the ROT and a transition to the left side is ongoing. The Chiefs apparently trust Taylor enough that they did not tender a contract to Orlando Brown nor did they apply a Franchise tag… something that I anticipated as logical. Veach, Reid, and Heck apparently viewed Brown as a liability as I — and many others — viewed things as well.

I have considered that Wanya Morris played OU’s ROT opposite Anton Harrison. I wonder if another choice was possible since Morris has limited game time experience from the Sooners. Still, I can see the value of adding Morris to the mix as he comes from OT-U (Oklahoma) though he started at UTenn and played LT with Trey Smith on the OL.

I do not expect Morris to be the starter as the ROT, but he could win out and get the nod. I expect him to compete and be coachable in camp and preseason games. I wrote to Laddie after Day Two that I was giving him an “A” Grade. I have backed off from that. I think this draft choice gets a “B”. I like what I saw on tape but he had limited snaps and never a full season’s worth at OT. If Morris fulfills his promise, it frees up Kinnard to move to an Inside/Outside Swing role. The Chiefs do need a Swing man as well. It’s an important role and has added value too. Before making the… Varsity Roster… Morris had LOT credentials as noted by this tweet:

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What Sterling does identify, is that the early play of Morris was at UTenn before he transferred to OU. I do not know that the Chiefs have a vision for Morris as a LOT but at least he earned recognition for playing the role. It could be that he is anticipated by Reid and Heck as the future Swing Tackle. See this link to view Morris a ROT for the Sooners, here:

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The Relative Athletic Score for Wanya Morris is shown below. He ranked 215th of all tackles(1294) from 1987 to present which is a very good ranking.

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Again, thanks to Kent Platte for his work with RAS

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Needless to say, there was criticism of this draft pick from various and sundry sources, one of which was PFF. Meh. In fact, the negatives are hoopla as far as I am concerned. For one thing, he has a great Arm Length: 35.125. This will play well in the NFL in fending off defender attacks trying to get to his sternum. Morris plays with a physical technique that also aids him in holding his block, as does a bit of nastiness.

I like the player.

What I believe happened on Day Two, was the Chiefs went to get the player that was their target and took care of business. I like the draft pick but backed away from an A-type grade. Still, I think it was a B-level grade even if he might have lasted into the fourth, though I doubt Morris would have been available at the end of round four.

What I would judge is that what took place in the Draft War room is the Feedback from the Scouts, Heck, and Reid all of whom saw the promise and collected the player. With the selection of Wanya Morris, I think Andy Heck has the horses to get “Job-One” accomplished even if a starter is injured. Protecting the House that Mahomes has helped build increased depth and the ceiling. It also raised the Position Group Floor.

It is my view that even LOT #2 is going to be handled by currently unproven but athletic OT Prince Tega-Wanogho. I will admit that I wanted a trade-up by the Chiefs to take Broderick Jones. He was my personal target. I saw the fallback position as being OU’s LOT Anton Harrison with pick 31. As it turned out, a trade-up for Harrison would have been required as well because the Jags took him at pick #27. So, that didn’t happen. What the Chiefs accomplished is bringing Morris to the OT Group (he did have a bit of LOT at UTenn before transferring to OU).

Morris brings the right persona to the Roster. Nate Taylor — The Athletic — quotes Morris saying this about his outlook:

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The Bottom Line: it’s good to cover the bases and improve the strength of the OT position group for an OL that boasts one of the best, if not the best Interior Offensive Lines in the NFL. Morris is 6-foot-5″ and weighs in at 307 lbs.. He has some weaknesses that need work, but we have OL Coach Andy Heck. I am satisfied that this was a worthy selection. I am still going to call the Group a WIP (work in progress) because we still don’t have experienced depth on the left. I do believe that progress was made in the 2023 draft. Wanya Morris will compete for the starter role at ROT. At this point, it’s a 3-man competition and as noted, and it could end up that Darian Kinnard is moved to the IOL.

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Day One and Two Success

Brett Veach Personified

When Brett Veach speaks, other teams listen. He knows the GM-speak, but he speaks the truth at the same time, often at the same presser. He is the face of the Kansas City Chiefs and he will one day be honored as a great GM in the NFL. Bank on it. Days One and Two were great successes. I will cover Day 3 another time. Here;s Brett Veach in his presser from yesterday:

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David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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