Two future Hall of Famers make this the Chiefs’ best draft ever. How about the worst?
Mock drafts by the tonnage feed the NFL Draft frenzy ahead of the three-day event that begins on Thursday. Chiefs fans are especially tuned in with the team holding 12 selections, including two in each of the first four rounds.
Drafts under general manager Brett Veach portend a successful endeavor. More than half of the players selected in the past three drafts have been starters or regular rotation players for at least one of the seasons, and have contributed to teams that have posted the most playoff victories since 2019.
But let’s look back at Chiefs drafts to find the best and worst hauls:
Best draft: 1963
A draft that produces a Hall of Famer is special. But land two in the same class? It’s an all-timer. So it was in 1963 when with the AFL’s top overall selection, the Chiefs took defensive tackle Buck Buchanan from Grambling.
The seventh round produced Minnesota defensive end Bobby Bell. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1983, Buchanan in 1990.
For good measure, add guard Ed Budde (Michigan State) and punter Jerrel Wilson (Southern Miss), both members of the AFL all-time team, and the Chiefs landed early foundation pieces for a three-time AFL and Super Bowl champion team.
Best draft, post-merger: 2008
Tough call. Some of the NFL’s greatest players headline a handful of Chiefs drafts. But the drafts that produced linebacker Derrick Thomas from Alabama in 1989, Nebraska guard Will Shields in 1993 and California tight end Tony Gonzalez in 1997 didn’t yield another player selected to a Pro Bowl. Not many of the others even became starters.
The greatest draft led by a first-round wonder occurred in 2017, when the Chiefs traded up to grab Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The next two selections were defensive end Tanoh Kpassangnon (Villanova), who started two Super Bowl seasons, and running back Kareem Hunt (Toledo), a Pro Bowl pick as a rookie who was dismissed from the team in his second season.
Let’s go with 2008. The Chiefs made 12 selections and used the overall No. 5 spot to take LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. He didn’t live up to his draft slot, but Dorsey was one of six picks in this draft to become a multi-year starter and three of them — running back Jamaal Charles (Texas), offensive lineman Branden Albert (Virginia) and cornerback Brandon Flowers — became Pro Bowl selections. Charles is the Chiefs’ career rushing leader.
Worst draft: 1995
A few candidates here but in 1995 the Chiefs badly misfired on their first-round pick, Michigan offensive lineman Trezelle Jenkins at No. 31, and things didn’t get much better.
Jenkins played in nine games with one career start.
Of the eight players drafted, two had NFL careers of more than 17 games. Wide receiver Tamarack Vanover from Florida State was a solid return specialist with eight kick and punt return touchdowns for the Chiefs. The final draft pick, Tom Barndt from Pittsburgh, switched from defensive to offensive line and played for six seasons. From a production standpoint, that’s about it. Hey, not every draft delivers.
Best players by round, Andy Reid era
Since Andy Reid became the Chiefs’ coach for the 2013 season, there have been hits in every draft class. Here are the best of the era that’s included two general managers: John Dorsey from 2013-17, succeeded by Brett Veach.
First round: QB Patrick Mahomes (2017)
Second round: DL Chris Jones (2016)
Third round: TE Travis Kelce (2013)
Fourth round: CB L’Jarius Sneed (2020)
FIfth round: WR Tyreek Hill (2016)
Sixth round: OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (2014)
Seventh round: OL Nick Allegretti (2019)
Hall of Fame members drafted by Chiefs
The Chiefs have drafted 10 players who have become members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Three of them never played for the Chiefs.
1961 DT Bob Lilly, TCU*
1963 DT Buck Buchanan, Grambling; LB Bobby Bell, Minnesota
1964 QB Roger Staubach, Navy*
1965 RB Gale Sayers, Kansas*
1966 K Jan Stenerud, Montana State (redshirt draft)
1967 LB Willie Lanier, Morgan State
1989 LB Derrick Thomas, Alabama
1993 G Will Shields, Nebraska
1997 TE Tony Gonzalez, California
*Never played for Chiefs
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 2:56 PM.