Arrowhead Pride
Which side of the ball will Kansas City focus upon?
The NFL Draft is just under a month away — and as it draws near, how the Kansas City Chiefs will utilize their draft assets is still a bit of a mystery.
Kansas City’s offensive tackles were victimized by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, so the team could focus on the offensive line — especially at left tackle, where former Kansas City guard Joe Thuney had to pitch in to help.
Bu left tackle is just one of 22 positions on the football field — and the Chiefs now have eight picks in the draft: selections 31, 63, 66, 95, 133, 226, 251 and 257
But if history holds, the Chiefs might not make selections at all of these spots. They might trade picks away to move up — or gain additional picks by trading back.
In 2024, the Chiefs traded up to select Xavier Worthy 28th overall, exchanging a package of picks with the Buffalo Bill.
But in 2022, the Chiefs traded back in the second round, taking wide receiver Skyy Moore with the 54th pick.
Later, the Chiefs gave that 158th pick (and a seventh-rounder) to the Seattle Seahawks, moving up to draft offensive tackle Darian Kinnard.
Could Kansas City make similar moves this year — and if so, for whom?
Since March 15, the Chiefs have signed (or re-signed) four free agents — all of them on defense:
In all, a dozen of Kansas City’s free agency moves have been on defense, while 10 have been for offensive players. Could this mean the team will depend on its free-agency moves for its defensive needs?
Then there’s this: according to CBS Sports, of the Chiefs' eight confirmed top-30 visits, seven have been with offensive linemen.
There are two ways to look at this.
Except for Ersery, none of these players will probably be selected in the top 100 picks. Some of them — such as Vavao and Etienne — might end up as undrafted free agents (UDFAs) after the draft.
Are the Chiefs simply doing their due diligence — making backup plans for the event they don’t get their guy — or could this be a sign they are not prioritizing offensive tackle in the first round?
Or should we believe that Kansas City is bringing in all of these guys as a smoke screen to conceal its true intentions?
In a recent “Monday Morning Quarterback” column, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote that in a perfect scenario, the Chiefs would land an offensive tackle like Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. or...
