Kansas City Chiefs add defensive line depth with Keondre Coburn in 6th round of 2023 NFL draft

The Kansas City Chiefs have gone all in on defense during Day 3 of the 2023 NFL draft. For the first time during the draft, though, they’ve addressed the interior of their defensive line.

Keondre Coburn is Kansas City’s newest selection, a defensive tackle from the Texas Longhorns.

Cobrun is one of the more experienced players the Chiefs have drafted this year. He played five seasons at Texas and started 45 of his 51 career games on the Longhorns’ defensive line. He tallied 5.5 sacks and 96 total tackles in his collegiate career, and in his super-senior season he recorded 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss and 28 total tackles, plus a forced fumble.

NFL.com’s prospect grade for Coburn rates him as a “good backup with the potential to develop into a starter,” while draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote that Coburn’s “blend of girth, power and agility could be coveted by teams looking for help along the interior.”

Once he signs his rookie contract, he’ll become the only interior defensive lineman on the Chiefs’ roster who’s signed beyond the 2023 season. Notably, Chris Jones has just one year left on his last deal, while Tershawn Wharton and Derrick Nnadi both returned this offseason on one-year contracts.

Cobrun is the fourth defensive player drafted by Kansas City this weekend. Edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah went off the board to end Day 1, followed by defensive back Chamarri Conner in the fourth round and another EDGE, B.J. Thompson, in the fifth.

The Chiefs had to wait a little longer than usual to make this pick after trading away their first sixth-round selection, No. 178 overall. They sent that pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft. That’s their fourth trade overall since the start of the draft and their second on Day 3.

Kansas City only owns one more pick in this year’s NFL draft. That’s the 250th-overall selection near the end of the seventh round.