Kansas City Chiefs look to complete defensive renovation
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs have completely remade the defense this offseason, and a loaded draft class should help them finish what they’ve started.
The Kansas City Chiefs were only a play or two away from postseason glory, a real chance at the Lombardi Trophy and their first appearance in a Super Bowl since Jan. 1970.
Heading into the 2019 season, it’s clear the offense is ready. Unfortunately, the defense is miles behind. A complete renovation from top to bottom has brought up several questions for the Chiefs as they look to reassemble the defense under Steve Spagnuolo.
State Of The Team
Contending. The Kansas City Chiefs were an offsides penalty away from making their first Super Bowl appearance since 1970 in a season that was largely supposed to be about making sure Patrick Mahomes felt comfortable as a starting quarterback. Winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award answered any doubts about moving on from Alex Smith, and now the Chiefs have the biggest Super Bowl window of any team in the league. Even if they stood still this offseason, they’d still return one of the NFL’s most talented rosters top to bottom.
Total Draft Picks
The Chiefs have a total of seven picks entering the draft after trading a first-rounder to Seattle for Frank Clark:
- Second round (29) – 61st overall
- Second round (31) – 63rd overall
- Third round (29) – 84th overall (from Seattle)
- Fifth round (29) – 167th overall
- Sixth round (29) – 201st overall
- Sixth round (42) – 214th overall
- Seventh round (2) – 216th overall
Top 3 Draft Needs
Cornerback: A perilously thin group was helped by the addition of Bashaud Breeland, but for the short and long-term, this group could use more than one draft pick at the position.
Running Back: The Chiefs can get by this year with Damien Williams and Carlos Hyde, to be clear, but there’s a level of dynamism that Kareem Hunt gave this offense that went missing down the stretch.
Offensive Interior: The Chiefs haven’t invested much in the last few drafts along the offensive line and they also lost Mitch Morse to the Buffalo Bills. A decent investment in someone versatile could help keep this from becoming a real problem.
Top 3 Draft Targets
Decision Maker (Or Who To Blame If Things Go Wrong)
Brett Veach. Veach has proven himself to be a very aggressive general manager, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone is Veach moves all around the draft to make sure he gets his man in more than one round.
Best/Worst Pick In Current Draft Slot
Historically, who was the best pick and the worst pick based on where the team is currently picking.
Best Pick: Otis Taylor, Wide Receiver – No. 29 overall in 1965 NFL Draft
Back in ’65, the Chiefs used the No. 29 overall pick to select Prairie View wide receiver Otis Taylor, a man who would play just over 10 full seasons in K.C. and would leave as the franchise’s all-time receiving leader. Among wideouts, he still holds the team record well over 40 years after he retired. Taylor would go on to lead the league in receiving yards in 1971 and earned 3 Pro Bowl nods in his illustrious career.
Worst Pick: Spencer Hicks, defensive end – No. 29 overall in 1978 NFL Draft
Three years after Taylor would retire, the Chiefs once again held the No. 29 pick in the draft and selected Spencer Hicks, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive end out of Tennessee State. Hicks would go on to start every game during his rookie season and another 13 games the following year. From there, however, Hicks was relegated to a backup role shortly thereafter and was out of the league entirely within four years of being drafted.”
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