What would you have done?

[Couch-Potato]

What would you have done differently in the draft? If you were against Simmons due to injury, who would you have taken instead? Would you have taken a weapon earlier? Share your thoughts here...

[Bowser]

Luther Burden guy here, checking in. I really don't have much of a gripe since they nabbed Royals later who looks like he could fill the role and be a Burden Lite. Add that to if Simmons can return to 90-95% of what he was pre-injury, that ends up being the hands down steal of the draft and Verch is a certified genious.

I really don't have much to complain about down draft, and I'm really pretty stoked for Brashard Smith in this offense. Hoping Nohl Williams can be our next LJ Sneed, as well.

[Sassy Squatch]

Henderson or Burden personally. Don't know enough about the rest of the board to get too upset that we picked x instead of y or z.

[TomBarndtsTwin]

In a vacuum, there are individual picks I might have preferred differently, especially the first couple rounds, but looking at the draft as a whole and how it all unfolded, it's pretty damn hard to argue with overall result.

Would have loved to have had Harmon (would have cost a LOT to move up that far), would have loved Henderson in this offense (but Smith was my second choice if we didn't get Henderson and we got him in the freaking 7TH round!), so as a whole I can't imagine it going any better than it did, considering where we pick (end of rounds).

[Sassy Squatch]

Really? What's wrong with the second and third round picks?

[TomBarndtsTwin]

Originally Posted by Sassy Squatch

Really? What's wrong with the second and third round picks?

There's nothing wrong with them. You have to go with how the board unfolds.

I would have preferred Henderson or Tuimoleau or Sanders in the first, maybe Thomas or Burch or Milum in the second, but, again, every pick differently affects another pick going forward, and this is 'in the moment' reaction, not knowing how the rest of the draft played out.

An ideal draft (for me) would have been grabbing Harmon, Henderson, and J.T. or T.J., but I realize that's not realistic.

But if you had told me going into the draft the Chiefs have 8 picks (3 in the 7th round) and we were going to end up with:

Simmons (1st to 2nd round grade)
Lott (2nd to 3rd round grade)
Gillote (3rd round grade)
Williams (3rd to 4th round grade)
Royals (2nd to 3rd round grade)
Bassa (4th round grade)
Smith (4th to 5th round grade)

I'd have said 'heck yeah, sign me up'

Was a BIG fan of the last 5 picks a lot more than the first 2, but I get the fit and the need on the first 2. Fingers crossed on Simmons recovery.

[DJ's left nut]

So I'll just go with what I'd have ended up doing with the board being what it was at the time the pick was made. At least I think I'd have gone this route....

32: Burden
63: ONL
66: Darien Porter, CB
95: (probably don't trade up): Charles Grant, OT
133: Jalen Royals -- I wouldn't have expected to get him after I took Burden. I'd have had him with a 2nd round rank but passed for other positions. But at 133 I'd have taken him.
156: Smael Mondon, LB (but I like Bassa a lot on further review)
228: Brashard Smith

So my overall haul if I'm being honest about what I'd have done with the board as it was sitting there would've ended up being:

Burden
ONL
Porter
Grant
Royals
JJ Pegues (with the 5th rounder I get for the Thuney pick that I didn't use to trade up for Williams)
Mondon
Smith

So I don't think my draft would've been WAY different than Veach's. The biggest distinctions would've been that I'd have Burden, Porter and Grant where he has Simmons, Williams and Gillotte

Not hard to say that his trio is better than mine. For me the biggest frustration would've been gambling and losing on Gillotte and that's really where we can't touch what these guys can do. We just don't have the intel they have.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Luther Burden guy here, checking in. I really don't have much of a gripe since they nabbed Royals later who looks like he could fill the role and be a Burden Lite. Add that to if Simmons can return to 90-95% of what he was pre-injury, that ends up being the hands down steal of the draft and Verch is a certified genious.

I really don't have much to complain about down draft, and I'm really pretty stoked for Brashard Smith in this offense. Hoping Nohl Williams can be our next LJ Sneed, as well.

yeah - it's just a little hard to really figure out what you'd have done, isn't it?

Because if you pause the draft after the Simmons pick and THEN put me in charge, I'm 'reaching' on Royals and taking him with the Titans 3rd. But I can honestly say I wouldn't have done that had I taken Burden in the 1st.

But I'd have ABSOLUTELY taken him had he still been there at 133 and I'd used 95 to grab Charles Grant after attacking DT and CB with ONL and Porter.

But I always enjoy the exercise.

[DJ's left nut]

And if I'm allowed to use a little more hindsight, I'd have given up 99 to move up and take Conerly. Might have had to use the 2026 Thuney 4th to finish that deal off but based on what the Giants gave to get 24, that's a fair possibility.

Then it probably ends up ends up:

25: Conerly
63: ONL
66: Royals
133: Bradyn Swinson
156: Mondon
228: Smith

But that's silly use of selective hindsight (afterall, I didn't hindsight there to leave Royals on the board, take Gillotte at 66 and then Royals at 133) so it doesn't really work terribly well.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

yeah - it's just a little hard to really figure out what you'd have done, isn't it?

Because if you pause the draft after the Simmons pick and THEN put me in charge, I'm 'reaching' on Royals and taking him with the Titans 3rd. But I can honestly say I wouldn't have done that had I taken Burden in the 1st.

But I'd have ABSOLUTELY taken him had he still been there at 133 and I'd used 95 to grab Charles Grant after attacking DT and CB with ONL and Porter.

But I always enjoy the exercise.

You talked about Veach being so good at knowing where and when guys could realistically go and that factors in here for me.

I was legitimately pissed off to holy hell at the end of day 2 despite liking the 2 DL.

It was hard enough seeing us pass on Burden. I knew we needed a DE and DT as well as a WR at the start of day 2, o I thought we had to get Royals at 63 or 66. We didn’t.

Then the Chiefs traded up in the 3rd rd. Hallelujah! Jalen Royals was universally a top 85 projects player that was mocked in the early-to-mid 3rd rd. We were moving up to get our guy! I like this kid and think he fits us well but boy I wasn’t happy that the Chiefs traded up for Nohl Williams. I was legitimately pissed off yet again. This team was gonna miss out on helping Mahomes at WR and have Juju be the only guy with no competition.

Day 3 was just a masterclass. No panic. Completely calm and collected. Boy the collective sigh me, my brother and dad took when they got Royals. Getting Smith was just the cherry on top.

In the benefit of hindsight, I would have probably taken Simmons bc of the talent and getting Royals. Burden is the only other option for me and I don’t think think there’s some huge disparity between him and Burden tbh.

I will say that I would have probably tried to trade up for Shemar Turner or just taken Vernon Broughton at 63. They seemed hellbent on finding a Wharton replacement and were too literal. I don’t hate the pick but I think he’s being a little overrated by his pass rush win rate and he seemed to struggle a bit the more he was on the field.

Broughton gave me legitimate flashes of Chris Jones on his tape. He could have been a nice fill in for him at 3 with Chris moving to the edge. I also think Ty Robinson is a better option too and would have just taken Royals at 66 and Robinson at 95.

People will chap my ass about this but the more I watch ONM the more underwhelmed I am by the pick.

[kccrow]

I think any excercise like this, you have to be reasonable in assuming that trade ups probably weren't possible if they weren't made in that round.

So for me, I can't say with certainty I'd have traded up to take Conerly if I simply couldn't have, though I would have tried my ass off to do so.

With that...

1-32: RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
I would have absolutely taken the trade down presented to the Chiefs by Philly. I am convinced that no singular offensive skill player would have made a greater impact on the Chiefs than taking Henderson. It doesn't help the LT situation but the options available here weren't enticing. Jayden Higgins would be awfully tempting but I just don't think the Chiefs would pull the trigger on his type.

2-63: DE Ashton Gillotte, Louisville
I really liked Gillotte and with the knowledge post-draft about how we nearly didn't get him because of attempted trades up, I would have felt really good about taking him at the end of day 2 and letting some other guys slide to me at 66 that maybe didn't go quite so high.

3-66: WR Jaylin Noel, Iowa State
I felt like Jaylin Noel was the best possible WR for the Chiefs offense in this draft after Matthew Golden went off the board. Call me crazy. He's electric. So smooth in his routes, great hands, can line up anywhere and win. He'd have fit well in the role Hollywood will play and been a big piece for us with is speed.

3-95: LT Charles Grant, William & Mary
As much as I'd have been chomping at the bit to take Xavier Watts here, I wouldn't have went that route. Grant was kind of the "last man standing" at LT as a prospect before I'd have got into 6th rounders. No way would I feel good coming out of the draft with no plan at LT outside of Moore. Grant has really great tools to work with and a level-of-competition deficiency.

4-133: DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State
A little benefit of hindsight here right, but I really liked Farmer. Getting him in the 4th instead of the 2nd would have been enormous value. He's a really good all-around player who was as much a steal at this point maybe as Royals was.

5-156: LB Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon
Definitely loved this pick and getting him this late was an incredible steal. I'd have made that move to get him too.

7-228: CB Korie Black, Oklahoma State
I'd have had a RB by this juncture no matter what. I like Smith as a KR and receiving option but I felt like there were a couple of CBs that could be true steals here in Donte Kent and Korie Black. I would have opted for Black with his length, speed, and tackling skills and I thought this kid was a 5th round prospect.

[DJ's left nut]

Didn't you prefer Landon Jackson to Gillotte, though? Both would've been on the board at 63.

That's what makes it hard for me to say that I'd be able to snag Gillotte. I'm elated that Veach did -- point Burt, for sure. But I just don't think I'm grabbing him at 63 in any scenario because I just didn't think other teams had him that high and would've been content to let him slide into the late 3rd.

If not - my bad. It's hard to keep track of who ranks who where...

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Didn't you prefer Landon Jackson to Gillotte, though? Both would've been on the board at 63.

That's what makes it hard for me to say that I'd be able to snag Gillotte. I'm elated that Veach did -- point Burt, for sure. But I just don't think I'm grabbing him at 63 in any scenario because I just didn't think other teams had him that high and would've been content to let him slide into the late 3rd.

If not - my bad. It's hard to keep track of who ranks who where...

No, I didn't. I think Staylor did but I could be wrong as well.

I'd have been hung up on Sawyer over him and trying my ass off to trade up for Mike Green at that point.