Chiefs are getting better but still need help at defensive back as NFL Draft continues
A day after essentially maxing out on the legal limit of offensive talent, the Chiefs got faster and better on defense.
A day ago, the talent and background of LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was an immaculate fit for the Chiefs in the 2020 NFL Draft. The question was whether the Chiefs would’ve been better going with defense than continuing to pad a spaceship offense that would score points with a tree stump in the backfield.
On the draft’s second day, the Chiefs used their second-round pick (64th overall) on Mississippi State linebacker Willie Gay Jr. Here, the positional value is obvious: Gay runs a 4.46 and the Chiefs have needed a linebacker with speed since Derrick Johnson stopped being Derrick Johnson.
The question is in drafting a guy who only started five games last fall because of a suspension for academic misconduct and reportedly broke a teammate’s jaw in a fight during practice.
“He was a first-round value player that had a couple issues in college,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Friday night. “One of which I think got blown out of perspective. But we did our homework with all of that.”
Reid was, presumably, referring to the fight being “blown out of perspective.” Either way, the risk here would seem to be relatively minimal.
Gay is said to have passed the character tests of most if not all of the teams he met with virtually during this time of national quarantine amid the ongoing pandemic. The Chiefs’ record with players who’ve had previous issues is not perfect, but it is star-studded, most notably with the progression of receiver Tyreek Hill.
Gay is also entering a linebacker room with personalities like defensive end Frank Clark (who had his own issue in college) and Anthony Hitchens and position coach Matt House, whom Reid said had Gay noted as his top target in the draft.
It’s easy to see the logic, in other words. The Chiefs needed speed at the position, and they selected one of the fastest players possible.
One interesting development from the draft’s first two days is that the Chiefs have turned down a defensive back with every pick.
They could have had their choice of safeties at the end of the first round: Alabama’s Xavier McKinney was the first safety selected (35th overall) and Antoine Winfield Jr. was the fourth (45th overall). The latter, especially, looked to be a good fit for the Chiefs given his ability to play slot corner.
They could have had Utah’s Jaylon Johnson or Alabama’s Trevon Diggs.
The Chiefs took Gay one pick before the Carolina Panthers selected Jeremy Chinn, a Southern Illinois safety with size, athleticism and versatility.
In the third round (96th overall), the Chiefs took Lucas Niang, a tackle from TCU with a potentially bright future who may move inside in the short-term.
They could have had Louisiana Tech’s Amik Robertson, an undersized but tough corner, or Virginia’s Bryce Hall, a flawed but intriguing prospect who presumably dropped because of questions surrounding a severe ankle injury he’d suffered last October.
The best thing the Chiefs did this offseason was maintain a roster strong enough to avoid the temptation of reaching for any particular position in this draft. That includes defensive back, but the Chiefs were relatively short there last year and lost Kendall Fuller in free agency.
The front office and coaching staff believe in Rashad Fenton, who performed well when given a chance last year. But if there’s a position of relative need for the Super Bowl champs, it’s one they haven’t addressed on either of the draft’s first two days.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 11:43 PM.