Assumptions:

1. The Chiefs finish 12-4, win the AFC West, and secure the 2nd overall seed. They host the Patriots and manage to fend them off for a trip to the AFCCG, where they lose in Pittsburgh to the Steelers, 26-13. HC Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach stay on.

2. The Chiefs trade QB Alex Smith to the New York Jets for a 2nd round pick.

3. The Chiefs trade DE/OLB Tanoh Kpassagnon to the Houston Texans for ILB Zach Cunningham.

4. OLB Tamba Hali and ILB Derrick Johnson retire.

5. The Chiefs re-sign NT Bennie Logan 3 years, $27m ($15m guaranteed).

6. The Chiefs tender NT Rakeem Nunez-Roches.

7. The Chiefs re-sign RB Akeem Hunt, FB Anthony Sherman, ILB Kevin Pierre-Louis to minimal deals.

8. The Chiefs cut TE Ross Travis.

9. The Chiefs let walk QB Tyler Bray, RB CJ Spiller, WR Albert Wilson, WR De'Anthony Thomas, OL Zach Fulton, OL Jordan Devey, NT Roy Miller, DE Jarvis Jenkins, ILB Ramik Wilson, ILB Terrance Smith, CB Phillip Gaines, CB Kenneth Acker, P Dustin Colquitt.

10. The Chiefs sign QB Chad Henne (Jaguars) for 1 year, $3m, TE Virgil Green (Broncos) for 1 year, $2m, DE Kyle Williams (Bills) for 2 years, $10m ($2m guaranteed).

11. The Chiefs are picking 30th, and have one compensatory pick (a 6th) for QB Nick Foles. They have three conditionals: a 6th for OT Isaiah Battle, a 7th for DE David King, and a 7th for CB Marcus Cooper.

The draft:

2 (Smith). OLB Harold Landry, Boston College

Landry is a 1st round talent who could fall to the 2nd round because he's pretty closed to maxed out. He could body up a bit, but for the most part he just has some technique work. He should be able to start on Day One, so putting him in a rotation with Houston and Ford should allow him to work on his run defense.

2. CB Keith Toliver, LSU

2018 will likely be the last year of Terrance Mitchell, so the Chiefs take a long corner who should be adept at erasing those jump balls that Mitchell is getting torched on this year. Toliver can take a year to groom while Mitchell gets the arrows slung at him, and Steven Nelson can continue owning the slot.

3. DE Matt Elam, Kentucky

Allen Bailey costs too much for the little he's giving us in this scheme. The Chiefs need a guy who can specialize at two-gapping, since that's apparently what Sutton wants in his DL now.

4. OT/G Timon Parris, Stony Brook

Parris is kind of an exciting guy to watch right now, a dude with all the physical tools but is going to need a ton of grooming to get ready to start. Fortunately, he's going to be a swing tackle behind two of the most consistent starting bookend tackles in the NFL.

6 (Battle). WR Janarion Grant, Rutgers

After losing De'Anthony Thomas and Albert Wilson, the Chiefs take a quicker, smaller WR who can make some plays in the open field and return kicks.

6. QB Nic Shimonek, Texas Tech

Why not? They already have Shimonek's buddy Patrick Mahomes running the offense.

6 (Foles). C Michael Deiter, Wisconsin

The Chiefs only have Cam Erving providing depth at center.

7 (King). P Johnny Townsend, Florida

Colquitt will hit the bricks this offseason, so Dave Toub goes shopping for a new kicker.

7 (Cooper). ILB Travin Howard, TCU

This is an experiment -- if the Chiefs are going to play a safety at nickel LB, why not draft a guy like Howard who is a dramatically undersized LB to specialize in that role?

roster:

QB: Mahomes, Henne, Shimonek
RB: Hunt, Ware, Hunt, West
FB: Sherman

WR: Hill, Conley, Robinson, Chesson, Grant
TE: Kelce, Harris, Green

LT: Fisher, Parris
LG: Ehinger, Witzmann
C: Morse, Erving, Dieter
RG: Duvarney-Tardif, Witzmann
RT: Schwartz, Parris

DE: Jones, Elam
NT: Logan, Nunez-Roches
DE: Bailey, Williams

OLB: Ford, Landry
ILB: Ragland, Pierre-Louis
ILB: Eligwe vs. Cunningham, Howard
OLB: Houston, Zombo

CB: Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, Toliver, White
S: Berry, Parker, Sorensen, Murray

K: Butker
P: Townsend
LS: Winchester
[Reply]