We’ve learned a lot about the Kansas City Chiefs’ future strategy in this NFL Draft
.jpg "Here are three faces of the new-look Chiefs, part of the five new players the organization gained in the 2022 NFL Draft’s first three rounds: cornerback Trent McDuffie, from left, safety Bryan Cook and receiver Skyy Moore.")
The jobs are the same in title, and the end objective is identical too, for that matter, but a Chiefs front office that turned over its lead man four years ago renovated just about everything in between this offseason.
By necessity. The Chiefs have little choice but to overhaul the manner in which they arrive at that end goal — trying to build a Super Bowl contender with key pieces of their roster acquired in the NFL Draft for the foreseeable future. Little choice but to fill primary holes, not only secondary needs, in late April rather than mid-March.
It’s not ideal. But it got a bit more comfortable after the first swing. And in the process, we got a peek into how they plan to operate in the era of the Patrick Mahomes mega-contract.
The NFL Draft is the great unknown, where there are projections and hopes rather than guarantees, but it certainly appears the Chiefs have gotten everything they could have possibly wanted from this draft. Talent has unexpectedly fallen into their lap in some instances, and it just so happens to align with their primary positions of need. Add to that, and this is where they have telegraphed their blueprint in the years of Mahomes’ ballooning salary cap charge, they have plucked NFL-ready players.
It won’t always work out this way. Those three items — talent, ideal positions and players ready to play now — will probably rarely unite.
But it sure seems like it has come together in the first go of it.
The Chiefs entered this draft with four primary needs — cornerback, defensive end, wide receiver and safety.
Their first four picks? Cornerback, defensive end, wide receiver and safety. All came in the initial 62 selections of the class.
“We’re always looking at the value of the board and trying to marry up the need,” Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi said. “It actually fell to us this year again. We were able to fill some needs as well as where they sat on the board — we weren’t reaching for these players. So we feel really good about the last four picks that we’ve been able to not only get value for where we’re at on the board but also fill the need as well.”
Teams wouldn’t admit when they do make a reach, of course, but the Chiefs’ initial two rounds don’t qualify, and there’s some evidence to back it up.
The Chiefs began the draft by plucking Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie 21st overall. They had not even run through pre-draft scenarios that accounted for McDuffie falling that late. NFL Mock Draft Database, a compilation of more than 600 mock drafts, averaged his selection at 17. He fills a need, to be sure, but that’s not a reach. It’s a gift.
Nine picks later, they added Purdue edge rusher George Karlaftis — another player whose availability caught them by at least mild surprise. The mock database had his average slot at No. 20. A need, but not a reach.
Moving to the second round Friday, they actually traded back for the first the first time in general manager Brett Veach’s tenure, moving from No. 50 to 54 and acquiring a fifth-round pick in the process, and yet still got the player Borgonzi said they were targeting at 50 — Western Michigan wide receiver Skyy Moore. His average draft slot on the database: 42, which is 12 picks earlier.
Finally, at No. 62, they selected Cincinnati safety Bryan Cook, a versatile player who has a similar attribute to his three predecessors in this draft.
He’s ready now. That’s what the Chiefs believe, anyway, a conclusion based as much on pre-draft interviews as the tape itself.
The Chiefs are not opposed to drafting project-type players — those who might require more coaching and therefore more time to develop. But this is part of the new phase of this enterprise.
As Mahomes’ contract occupies more and more of the salary cap — it will be at 17.1% in 2022 after never topping 4% in any previous season — the Chiefs must view the draft as an opportunity to fill immediate holes, not just a chance to develop talent to eventually replace players already on the roster. Think more Nick Bolton than Willie Gay, for example.
Both contributors, but one with an accelerated path.
“It goes back to the mindset of we have Pat Mahomes, and we’re geared to go after this (Super Bowl) every year,” Veach said. “Certainly you want guys that have upside, but you also want to win now. We don’t want to spend too much of these resources into waiting and developing. We want guys to come in here and play right away.”
That’s a preference. The positions were a preference. These particular players were a preference.
All in one swoop.
Don’t take it for granted, because it might not unfold this way often.