Arrowhead Pride
They don’t make many linemen who are as athletic as C.J. Hanson.
When the Kansas City Chiefs made the phone call to let former Holy Cross right guard CJ Hanson know that he would be the newest and final member of the Chiefs 2024 draft class with the 248th overall pick, he didn’t hold back.
Hanson immediately told head coach Andy Reid that he wanted to be part of this organization and was ready to fight for his roster spot.
“I’m so excited, coach,” said Hanson. “I’m so excited. I couldn’t be happier. I’m going to give you my all, and show you how great I am.”
You can find the exchange toward the end of the video below. In it, the passion of the moment is evident in his voice. It’s the exact sort of thing you want to hear from a Day 3 underdog like Hanson.
The thing to know about Hanson is that he’s not the sort of guy who talks a big game but doesn’t have the athletic profile to back it up. Hanson blew up the combine earlier this offseason, running a 5-second 40-yard dash at 6’5” and 300 lbs. He also had a verticle of 33.5 inches, with a 9’07 broad jump.
According to Ken Lee Platt’s Relative Athletic Scoring (RAS) system, Hanson ranked as the 21st most athletic offensive guard at the combine since 1987.
Hanson mentioned this in his post-draft video conference with reporters, saying that he considers himself an athlete and that it was nice to showcase himself at the combine to show teams what he can do.
“I had incredibly good training the prior months leading up to it, and I had some guys that I knew going into it, so I was confident and comfortable and ready to rip it. So I think I just went out there and just was myself and just gave it all I had, and it worked out.”
The day you are drafted is a time of celebration.
Hanson told reporters that he had about 120 people at the watch party his family threw him. He is very close to his mother and described her as the team mom while he was at Holy Cross, and he doesn’t expect that to change now that he’s a pro.
“Kansas City landed another mom. I’ll tell you that. That’s a guarantee. So she’ll be there every weekend, and she’ll be tailgating her hoochy off and having fun.”
But if he wants to get to that point, he knows that soon he will have to switch gears from celebrating to getting back to work and preparing to prove to the coaching staff and his teammates that he belongs on this roster.
“I’m coming to a back-to-back Super Bowl-winning team. So, you know there’s a standard there. And I’m going to have to definitely get to that standard and excel past that standard,” explained Hanson.
There is no guarantee that a seventh-round pick will make the roster,...
