Chiefs GM Brett Veach laments one past draft miss: Receiver D.K. Metcalf
A popular pastime for some media folks is revisiting an NFL Draft and determining what players a team would have selected now that we know who was a star or a bust.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course.
While on Kevin Harvick’s “Happy Hour” podcast for Fox Sports, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was asked if there was one player that he laments not drafting.
Veach said it was wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, who was selected by Seattle with the final pick of the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs didn’t have a first-round pick that year but did select two players in the second round: wide receiver Mecole Hardman (56th overall) and safety Juan Thornhill (63rd overall). The latter was picked right before Metcalf, who is a two-time Pro Bowler and has had 900 or more receiving yards in all five NFL seasons.
“D.K. Metcalf might be a guy that stands out just because the limited pass tree. I think there were some injury concerns,” Veach told Harvick.
“Sometimes you don’t take guys and fans do the mock drafts and they go through them ... years later and say, ‘We should have taken this guy or that guy,’” Veach added. “But at the time, a player could have been off your board because you had character concerns or an injury concern. And so I think looking back on D.K., there (were) areas that we weren’t sure on, but there was none maybe that should have prompted us to bypass that.
“And I think that’s one player that sticks out. I’m sure there’s a ton other. And I think every team is probably the same way. I’m sure there’s a lot of teams that were too low on Pat Mahomes and saying that quarterbacks from the Texas Tech Air Raid style of offense don’t work out.”
That’s certainly true.
Veach isn’t alone in missing on Metcalf. Pro Football Focus’ 2019 redraft has Metcalf going ninth overall, while Bleacher Report had the Packers taking Metcalf 12th overall.
And then there’s this: The Chiefs have been to the Super Bowl four times since that draft, winning the Lombardi Trophy three times, so Veach isn’t beating himself up for not selecting Metcalf.
In fact, Veach said the misses in a draft can be a good thing.
“I think it’s useful because you’ll learn stuff from why you didn’t select the guy at the time,” Veach said. “It’s been helpful for me. Sometimes the big misses help you grow into a better GM and you’re better off for it in the long run.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2024 at 9:56 AM.
