Who might the Chiefs consider on Day 2 of 2020 NFL Draft? Here are some possibilities
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach stayed true to the organization’s draft board Thursday night with the first-round selection of running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire from LSU.
Now, the front office’s focus shifts to Friday night for the second and third rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft.
“We’ll go back and look at all the names on the board again and kind of stack these guys,” Veach said. “And then we’ll get to a point where, again, just like (Thursday), if we’re at 2-31 and we don’t move up or back, we feel confident these will be the guys.
“We’ll stack them in the order, and if we don’t trade up, we’re just going to go in that order.”
The Chiefs enter Friday night’s portion of the draft with two picks (63rd and 96th overall) to use in adding to their Super Bowl-winning roster.
By going with a running back in the first round at No 32 overall, the team’s remaining holes are at linebacker, cornerback and the interior of the offensive line. And there are plenty of intriguing names at a variety of positions remaining on the board for Veach and his personnel staff to consider.
If an every-down linebacker, especially one possessing coverage and pass-rushing skills, is on Veach’s radar, Wisconsin’s Zack Baun, Wyoming’s Logan Wilson and Ohio State’s Malik Harrison, among others, could be appealing.
Veach previously complimented the depth at cornerback in this year’s draft, and the likes of Utah’s highly regarded Jaylon Johnson, Virginia’s Bryce Hall, LSU’s Kristian Fulton and Mississippi State’s Cam Dantzler remain available after the first round.
Addressing cornerback sooner or later with a view to the future makes perfect sense for the Chiefs when considering Bashuad Breeland and Antonio Hamilton are on one-year deals for the upcoming season.
Should the Chiefs decide to bolster their offensive line, Louisiana-Lafayette’s Robert Hunt or Kansas’ Hakeem Adeniji might be difficult to ignore. Both players provide the position flexibility to play both tackle and guard, and the Chiefs covet interchangeable pieces along their front five.
Regardless of what happens in the second and third rounds, the Chiefs enter Friday night with a plan and are prepared for many scenarios.
“That’s certainly why you put in all the time and make sure you have the numbers worked out and have the stacks where you think they belong,” Veach said. “We’ll get up, and we’ll have another web chat with our scouts (Friday). We have spent so much time really the last few weeks just kind of narrowing down. You have the logical selections everybody has in their mind.”
Friday night’s draft kicks off at 6 p.m. Central Time on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network.
DID YOU KNOW
Friday night’s selection of Edwards-Helaire marked the 10th time in franchise history a first-round pick was used on a running back.
The last time the Chiefs drafted a running back in Round 1 came in 2003 with the selection of Larry Johnson (27th overall).
Edwards-Helaire was also the first running back to come off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft.
DID YOU KNOW, TAKE II
Edwards-Helaire capped off a historic night for national champion LSU as the school set a record with five players selected in the first round.
The new Chiefs running back joined quarterback Joe Burrow (first overall to Cincinnati), linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson (20th overall to Jacksonville), wide receiver Justin Jefferson (22nd overall to Minnesota) and linebacker Patrick Queen (28th overall to Baltimore) as first-round picks.
The Chiefs have some LSU flavor in their locker room, too, with Edwards-Helaire joining former Tigers running back Darrel Williams and safety Tyrann Mathieu.
DRAFT NIGHT QUOTABLES
- “We certainly view this guy as a franchise-type running back,” Veach on Edwards-Helaire
- “It’s going to be pretty epic,” Edwards-Helaire on being teammates with Mathieu
- “Darrel was the person that made me understand playbooks and everything more,” Edwards-Helaire on Williams taking him under his wing at LSU
