[RunKC]

Some thoughts on the draft:

We all knew this draft was critical for Veach to hit on bc of the issues at LT, Kelce leaving soon, Chris leaving his prime soon and the 2022 draft window being in its last year.

Think we can all agree that the Chiefs had 4 major issues last year: LT, offensive explosive playmakers, corner and pass rush.
The first 3 were obvious but the pass rush felt important not just bc of the strength of the draft. Spags can’t keep relying solely on blitzes. Only so many you can put on tape before teams can learn to defend it.

Josh Simmons-Not gonna go into depth here as we all have been and will be. He’s a very good LT prospect without the injury. If the injury heals and he’s back to normal it’s the best pick of the Veach era mostly due to value and position. This will be an A+ if the injury goes heals the way we think it will. But for now..

Grade B- (mostly due to the knee)

Omar Norman-Lott-this was a bit of a reach but I think the board fell apart which is why the Bills trade up go Sanders. It was ONM, Alexander and Broughton. Think the NYG take ONM if we don’t. He’s clearly a Wharton replacement but with a higher ceiling. Yes he was a specialist mostly, but he had the highest pass rush win rate in the SEC and looked awesome on at the Senior Bowl. Speaking of Wharton…he was a try hard player that didn’t have important traits. He had 31 inch arms and it showed. He was lean for his size and it showed. OL with thicker bodies and longer arms seemed to beat him more often.
ONM has nearly 34 inch arms, enormous hands and a thicker build. This helped him win more. He also had more pass rush moves and hand usage that Wharton was still a little raw in. He may be a passing down player to start but those are money downs. he’ll put stress on OL on 3rd down.

Grade B

Ashton Gilotte-The pass rusher was lackluster most of the year bc our only talented traits guys were Chris and Omenihu and sometimes Karlaftis. Danna is a try hard player who can do well at certain things and Felix has struggled to say the least. Malik Herring is…yeah. We didn’t have a good outside rush. How do I know? Bc we brought in Uche and it didn’t work.
Gilotte may have smaller arms and hands, but goddamn is he strong. He’s better at converting speed-to-power than any DE outside of maybe Omenihu. He’s fast as hell on the outside and has real rush moves. Cross chop, inside counter. Hand technique and overall technique looks more natural than Karlaftis. He’s got more juice on the edge than Karlaftis too. This kid looks like what they were looking for all last year: technique, speed and size to not be a true 3 down DL which they tried to piece together from multiple players last year.

Grade B+

Nohl Williams-dream fit. He will jam the shit out of you at the LOS and he’s got ball skills. Finally a Spags DB with ball skills! Doesn’t have great long speed but has everything else. Ideal fit. Universally liked by draft folks for press man and we do a hell of a lot of it.

Grade B+

Jalen Royals-there wasn’t a single mock or top 100/150 that had this kid past 85. He was universally graded as a possible 2nd but likely early-to-mid 3rd rd value. This was a huge steal. All of us draft guys loved him since February.
The Chiefs lost Rice and replaced him with Juju and Hopkins who were about as explosive as Mike Pennel last year (no I am not kidding). They had to be schemed open to make an impact.
Why do we like this kid? Size. 6 ft 205 lbs. elite explosion that was same as Rice (same 10 split). Elite YAC and 4.42 outside speed with good hands. I’ve said it for months: this kid is Khalil Shakir. He’s so similar to him and it’s great for us. Shakir was 3rd in YAC in the entire NFL last year. Great value for us.

Grade A+

Jeff Basa-Converted safety that had a nice role at Oregon. He’s tough and can play 3 downs. He’s also very good in coverage. Love his flexibility and value. He’ll play ST’s this year but will take Tranquil’s job in 2026.

Grade B

Brashard Smith-THE guy that most posters loved in the draft forum. Him converting from WR was why we liked him. Can line up anywhere. Can literally play WR if needed and was one of the best receiving backs in the draft. 4.39 long speed and the best start/stop explosion I’ve seen since Tyreek. He’s everything we wanted Clyde to be. Love this pick.

Grade A+

Think the final draft grade would be a B+. Simmons greatly determines this. He’s the anchor of the draft. If he works out everything changes. It’s an instant A+ if he’s who we hope he is. Veach do a great job, especially today. I think he’s set us up nicely.