Mock Draft Monday: Most popular picks for the Kansas City Chiefs
On Mock Draft Monday we take a look at the upcoming NFL draft from all angles, ranging from our own mock drafts to national perspectives to team needs and more.
This week, for our first official MDM, we’re taking a look at what national evaluators and other draft analysts think the Kansas City Chiefs need to add in the first round of this year’s draft.
Make sure you also take a look at my first mock draft of the year, as well as the most recent 580 Sports Talk composite big board.
Fansided
Fansided has the Chiefs taking what has been considered their biggest need for some time, cornerback. Specifically, TCU senior Jeff Gladney.
The Super Bowl champs can use depth a corner, and Gladney is the best corner on the board.
Short, sweet and to the point. Gladney is currently CB5 on the 580 Sports Talk composite big board.
The Draft Network
Add another vote for Gladney from The Draft Network’s Benjamin Solak, who raves about Gladney’s potential fit with Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
Imagine this: Kansas City (Super Bowl winners), but they can cover outside receivers one-on-one. Sounds good!
I like what they’ve done with the pieces they’ve had (Charvarius Ward was a favorite coming out of MTSU), but it’s time to grab a blue-chip talent at the position, and Gladney can be that dude. With quick feet, excellent vision and instincts for route combos, and great competitiveness at the catch point, Gladney helps solve the biggest weakness that remains on the top team and biggest target entering the 2020 season.
Solak also has the Chiefs taking Temple IOL Matt Hennessy in the second round.
Note: The Draft Network has a ton of mock drafts, this is just the most recent one published. That website and their writers churn out a ton of content and is worth your while).
Draft Wire
It’s more of the same from Luke Easterling of USA Today’s Draft Wire vertical, but he has Alabama’s Trevon Diggs slipping to the end of the first round.
This defense was much improved in 2019, but they could still use another top talent to boost their corner lineup. Diggs is a big, athletic cover man with fantastic ball skills, with the frame and skill set Kansas City loves in their corners. Getting Diggs this late would be a huge win for the defending champs.
Diggs is of the board at No. 25 to the Minnesota Vikings in my first mock draft this year.
Pro Football Focus
A rapid late riser and a position we haven’t touched on yet is what Mike Renner of PFF gives the Chiefs. LSU standout linebacker Patrick Queen has gotten a lot of attention lately.
Even with the defense taking a massive step forward in 2019, the linebacker position is still very much an issue. Queen showed some special playmaking ability at times this past season — most notably, in the National Championship where he collected six stops on the day.
For what it’s worth, in this two-round mock Renner has Kansas City taking Notre Dame cornerback Troy Pride Jr. in the second round.
SB Nation
SB Nation’s Dan Kadar also likes Queen to the Chiefs, but via unconventional means. He sees Kansas City moving up several spots to take him.
This trade was just as much about Seattle’s penchant for making deals than anything else. The Chiefs might want to move up to snag Queen before the Packers take him. Queen is a player I think will get hot leading up to the draft, and the Chiefs badly need linebacker help. The team’s other big need — running back — can be found at any point.
Currently, the Chiefs only have five picks in this year’s draft.
Yahoo Sports
Another cornerback is off the board to the Chiefs in Yahoo’s mock draft by Eric Edholm. He likes LSU’s Kristian Fulton as the pick (he’s currently CB2 on the 580 Sports Talk composite).
Three straight Tigers go off the board, and it would be a steal for the world champs. Fulton deserves to go higher than this and very likely could. He’s earned high marks for his play on the field, along with his work ethic and toughness.
With the Tigers’ season lasting as long as it did, and with Fulton tending to a family illness, he was forced to pull out of the Senior Bowl. But anyone reviewing last season’s tape can see just how strong Fulton is in coverage.
He has the Chiefs taking another LSU player, center Lloyd Cushenberry, in the second round.
The Athletic
Dane Brugler of The Athletic likes Fulton to the Chiefs as well in a mock draft filled with multiple trades and just three other cornerbacks.
If Bashaud Breeland ends up being one-and-done in Kansas City, the Chiefs should have several cornerback options in the late first round. Fulton didn’t have the best performance in the national title game, but his body of work shows a highly aware cover man who can stay hip-to-hip with receivers.
The only one of Brugler’s trades that affects the cornerback class is the Detroit Lions moving down to take Jeffrey Okudah at No. 5.
AtlantaFalcons.com
One of the league’s team sites is expecting Kansas City to go after its supposed biggest need as well, and it’s a pick from the other team that played in this year’s college national title game: Clemson’s AJ Terrell.
K.C. could take some hits in the secondary and Terrell has nice length and is physical.
Another team site, Jaguars.com, has the Chiefs taking another “Terrell.” Its pick for Kansas City is Alabama EDGE Terrell Lewis.
Bleacher Report
Two recent mock drafts from Bleacher Report have the Chiefs taking a running back, though neither offers an explanation for the pick. Both Zack Buckley and Kristopher Knox have the champions taking Georgia running back D’Andre Swift.
CBS Sports
In the latest mock draft from Josh Edwards of CBS Sports, he has the Chiefs addressing the interior of their offensive line with Tyler Biadasz from Wisconsin.
Kansas City’s defense grew by leaps and bounds in 2019 with key contributions from stars like Tyrann Mathieu, Chris Jones and Frank Clark. They are not perfect on that side of the ball but the growth allows them to re-direct assets back towards the interior offensive line. Biadasz remains the top center for me and an anchor of that offensive line.
Biadasz has slid on a lot of boards lately, but was considered a top IOL prospect for most of the season.
NFL.com
Chad Reuter’s latest mock draft has Kansas City going in a similar direction, taking another interior lineman. However, his choice is a late riser instead of a sliding prospect, slotting Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz at No. 32.
Protecting the league’s top player should play into the Chiefs’ draft plans every year. Ruiz possesses the strength and athleticism to play multiple positions up front.
Ruiz has experience playing both center (currently occupied by Austin Reiter) and right guard (Laurent Duvernay-Tardif).
