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By Pete Sweeney
We’re just eight days from the start of the NFL Draft, with the Kansas City Chiefs holding the No. 31 overall pick. As a fan, that is a long time to wait, but don’t be surprised if general manager Brett Veach pulls the trigger on a trade-up in the first round.
The sweet spot – where the club could move up without sacrificing an overwhelming amount of future draft capital – begins around pick 20, so that is when you should really start paying attention. Based upon Kansas City’s immediate needs, they will be watching for an offensive tackle, defensive lineman or cornerback they covet to fall into that range.
Of course, there is also a world where none of those players fall, leading to the dreaded trade-down, which will mean waiting until Day 2 for the first selection of the weekend. That scenario may not sound appealing, but many draftniks seem to believe the second and third rounds form this draft’s “hot zone” – where teams can do the most damage by collecting picks in that range.
Below, our Jared Sapp has specific names to watch for on each draft day. In this section, I’ll run through the current position odds for the Chiefs’ initial pick (the odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook).
Offensive lineman (+105)
Despite signing free-agent offensive tackle Jaylon Moore in free agency, Veach may opt to throw some more competition at the position in the form of Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons (Jared has more on him below) or Oregon left tackle Josh Cornerly Jr. ESPN’s Field Yates recently mocked Conerly to the Chiefs even though Simmons was still on the board.
Conerly is 21, presumably entering the NFL healthier than Simmons, and he’s an athletic lineman Andy Reid might covet. Regardless of his 33.5-inch arms (a theme of this draft), he earned first-team All-Big 10 honors and performed well at the Senior Bowl, which has traditionally held significant weight with Kansas City’s talent evaluators.
If the Chiefs do take a tackle in the first round, it will more than likely be one of these two players, as Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr., LSU’s Will Campbell and Missouri’s Armand Membou are projected to be gone by the reasonable trade range.
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