ESPN’s Mel Kiper sees Kansas City Chiefs taking two defensive players in first round
We’re just a little more than a fortnight away from the NFL Draft, and that means there will be no shortage of mock drafts in the coming weeks.
The Star’s own Herbie Teope has drawn up two already and has a third coming in a couple of days.
Here is a look at some of the most recent ones to be released nationally, and what they’re saying about who the Chiefs might take with their two first-round picks (Nos. 29 and 30) in the April 28-30 draft.
ESPN
Draft guru Mel Kiper sees the Chiefs taking Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. with the 29th pick and Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis one pick later.
Here is a snippet from Kiper’s story: “No wide receiver? Let me explain. First, the Chiefs also have two second- and two third-round picks. They could take one (or two) wide receivers with those selections. This is a deep class, and they could find better value there. And second, defensive end is a need as well.”
NFL Media
Lance Zierlein sees the Chiefs making a trade to move up in the draft. This mock draft has the Chiefs sending their 29th pick to the Arizona Cardinals for the 23rd choice, which would be used on Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave.
“You didn’t think GM Brett Veach was going to just sit and wait at the back of the draft with all that capital (12 total picks, including Nos. 29 and 30 and six within the first 103), did you?” Zierlein wrote.
At No. 30, Zierlein has the Chiefs taking Minnesota Edge rusher Boye Mafe.
While it’s not a mock draft, Chad Reuter wrote about two ideal picks for every team in the draft. For the Chiefs, that’d be Georgia wide receiver George Pickens (29th pick) and Southern Cal edge rusher Drake Jackson (No. 30).
This is from Reuter’s story: “GM Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid will probably try to move into the middle part of Round 1 for receivers Jameson Williams or Chris Olave, now that they have two first-round picks (one received from Miami in the Tyreek Hill trade). If they can’t pull that off, though, Pickens will be a nice fit as an outside target for Patrick Mahomes; teams should not overlook the resiliency Pickens showed in returning from a torn ACL in the spring to contribute for the national champs.”
CBS Sports
Will Brinson also sees the Chiefs going with a pair of defensive players in the first round: Booth and Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd.
This is an excerpt from Brinson’s story: “Again, WR help is needed but the Chiefs also have a bad defense and added some guys at the position this offseason. They’re not going to win the Super Bowl without more impact defensive players.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 10:34 AM.
