Why Brett Veach and the Chiefs could pass on a few defensive backs early in NFL Draft

Todd McShay knew he’d ruffle some feathers among Chiefs fans with his latest three-round NFL mock draft on Tuesday morning.

The NFL Draft analyst for ESPN had the Chiefs selecting North Carolina State center Garrett Bradbury in the first round. He followed up with Penn State running back Miles Sanders and Florida pass-rusher Jachai Polite in the second round and Massachusetts wideout Andy Isabella in the third round. The draft is from April 25-27.

So why no defensive backs? Especially when the Chiefs’ secondary remains the team’s biggest need for improvement, despite the signing of Tyrann Mathieu.

“I knew this question was coming,” McShay joked on a Tuesday conference call with reporters.

McShay’s reasoning comes down to philosophy. He noted that he calls the Chiefs’ preseason games and knows the team’s personnel well. But when going through each pick, he didn’t see the Chiefs taking a defensive back in the first three rounds, given what could still be on the board.

“I looked at the board and there were just better players,” he said. “It may be wrong of me, but I would always take the significantly better football player, if that’s what I believe, than reach for a need.”

The Chiefs lost center Mitch Morse to Buffalo in free agency and Cameron Erving’s development has been slow for a former first-round pick. McShay said the more he watches of Bradbury, the more he falls in love with him.

Bradbury is considered one of the best interior offensive linemen in the draft and could easily slide into the rotation, given the Chiefs’ scheme. McShay added that it’s a very deep class for defensive backs, which means the Chiefs could get a high-value pick in the later rounds.

McShay’s reasoning on taking a player like Bradbury resonates with general manager Brett Veach, who recently said at the NFL Draft Combine that the Chiefs could take the best available player on the board.

Between the loss of Kareem Hunt to a domestic battery incident and the investigation of wideout Tyreek Hill for alleged battery, the Chiefs could find themselves looking for playmakers

“The goal of every offseason is to acquire as much talent as possible,” Veach said at the combine. “We’re going to look to add receivers anyway because Tyreek had an heel injury last year and Sammy had a foot (injury). If a guy is there where we’re picking and if he’s the highest-rated player on the board, and the talent meets the value, then you go in that direction. If we did pick a receiver early, I guess we’re not sure about Tyreek, it may be because it was part of our overall philosophy of roster building.”

While McShay stuck to his original picks when discussing his reasoning, he ultimately thinks the Chiefs will prove him wrong and end up prioritizing needs over talent.

“At the end of the day, I would be very surprised if they didn’t take a defensive back,” he said.