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Kansas City Chiefs
It’s never difficult to discern what the Chiefs are trying to accomplish. When they wanted to address their offensive line last offseason, they traded for tackle Orlando Brown, signed the most expensive free-agent guard in Joe Thuney and drafted multiple starters. Using seven of 10 draft choices on defense this year, including five for defensive backs, left little doubt of the Chiefs’ direction.
“They went all-in for defense a few years ago as well, so that is their pattern, to fix the problem,” an exec said. “One difference in this draft was, they not only got what I think are good players, but they avoided some of the character risks they might have taken in the past. These are all really good football character people.”
Though most execs had Stingley and Gardner as the clear top two corners, a few did prefer Trent McDuffie, the corner Kansas City drafted at 21 after trading up eight spots with New England. On our podcast before the draft, Mueller said he had McDuffie as the top corner in the draft based partly on scheme versatility and what he described as an impeccable sense of timing in coverage and when playing the ball. He ranked McDuffie as the 10th-best player in the draft.
“I thought Minnesota was going to take McDuffie at 12 before they traded out,” an exec said. “I had him in that 15-20 range, more in the teens, because you are talking about a cornerback who is under 5-11. I do love the player, but the size does affect the value some.”
It was interesting to see Kansas City and Green Bay each select two defensive players in the first round after creating major holes at receiver by trading Hill and Adams, respectively. Both teams did draft wide receivers, but they filled the void by signing veterans and using less premium picks. For Kansas City, that meant making Skyy Moore the 13th receiver selected and the final one taken in the first two rounds.
“Kansas City is in better position than Green Bay because their quarterback is younger,” an exec said. “It is rare you have a team that has made however many straight AFC Championship games then have extra draft capital in multiple drafts. That is a pretty good position to be in, whereas for Green Bay, you are hoping the guy from North Dakota State (Christian Watson) pans out and that Rodgers stays more than an extra year.”
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