Arrowhead Pride
The Chiefs could go a lot of different directions in the first round, but these results would be unique.
There is a strong expectation that the Kansas City Chiefs will take a certain type of player with their first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The possible positions have been narrowed down to wide receiver and left tackle. History tells us the receiver would have speed in their skill set, and the tackle would have a massive frame and wingspan.
With that in mind, there are three intriguing prospects in the Chiefs’ draft range that would fill the positional need in an unorthodox way. We’ll start with a receiver whose true play speed is up for debate:
The Chiefs have never valued size and ball-winning ability highly when investing in the receiver position, and that’s what Coleman brings to the table on the surface. He scored 11 touchdowns for the Seminoles last season, plenty of them being contested completions.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Coleman posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.61 seconds, which is a 17th-percentile mark for receiver prospects historically. The 20-yard split was also negative, pointing to a lack of open-field speed. He excelled in explosive testing, profiling as quicker than he is fast.
However, NextGenStats tracked receivers' speeds throughout the combine drills. Coleman finished near the top of the charts, tracking miles per hour in many of them, including the fastest speed reached during the gauntlet drill.
This suggests Coleman is a gamer, naturally cranking up his play speed when he needs to on a given play, like Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He is also still refining his athletic profile to be a full-time football player: Coleman was a college basketball player as recently as the 2021-22 season.
He would be a strong complement to the speed and explosiveness the Chiefs already have with other receivers — but he has underrated athleticism before and after the catch as well; he could be a better fit on the field in Kansas City than he is on paper.
A very talented, experienced college left tackle is being mocked in the Chiefs’ range at the end of the first round. Morgan is entering the draft as a three-year starter at left tackle. He has clean footwork and the grip strength to control blocks as a run or pass blocker.
Yet Morgan’s measurements at the NFL Scouting Combine do not fit the Chiefs’ profile for either offensive tackle position. His arm length of just under 33 inches was a ninth-percentile mark, forcing many to project him as a guard despite only playing left tackle in college.
The Chiefs could select him with the understanding that he could be a swing-tackle option right away, then take over for a guard spot in the future. That said, Morgan compensates for the lack of length...
