Mock (3/9/13)

[Direckshun]

Assumptions:

1. The Chiefs let Dorsey walk and cut Cassel.

2. They get one compensatory pick, an extra third (Carr).

3. The Chiefs try furiously to trade down, but there are no takers.

On with the show:

1. DE Star Lotulelei, Utah

Andy Reid clearly came to Kansas City to win now. And you win now by making your team better. Essentially trading out Cassel for Smith is doing just that. Keeping Bowe and Albert on hand does just that. Getting a one-year plug at CB so investments can be made at other positions does just that. And I believe the Chiefs have one more big-time investment on the horizon, be it Sean Smith, Cullen Jenkins, or Greg Jennings.

Plugging the first overall away for a right tackle doesn't help your team. Neither does investing it in a QB you don't plan to start and nobody's sure if he'll even be any good.

But replacing the mere run-plug that Glenn Dorsey was with a pocket-collapsing, QB pursuing, double-team commanding talent like Lotulelei could make life very difficult for an OL that has to face him, Poe, and Tyson Jackson.

This all assumes Lotulelei's heart checks out. I see him as a clone of Marcell Darieus, who plays pissed off and is almost unstoppable when he's on.

2. QB Ryan Nassib, Syracuse

The Chiefs package their 3rd and their 4th to move up about ten or so spots when they hear some team has a hard-on for Nassib. I don't think there is much of anything in this draft to get excited about at QB. I like Geno's tools, but his inability to take over and win games spooks me if I'm at 1.1 (I still probably take him in most scenarios, though).

Nassib is one of the few QBs on this platform that has another level he plays at -- it's not an elite level, but it's better value with a 2nd than you're going to get there anywhere in this draft. He is an accurate, noodle-armed game manager at the NFL, and fits like a prototype behind Alex Smith.

3. ILB Jon Bostic, Florida

Now that everybody hates my first two picks, let's do a crowd favorite at a position of legitimate need.

5. WR Marquise Goodwin, Texas

The idea here, obviously, would be to add a ridiculous speed dimension to our offense.

6. OLB Cornelius Washington, Georgia

A huge-bodied passrusher from Georgia could be useful to provide some much-needed depth behind Hali and Houston.

7. ILB Michael Mauti, Penn State

Anything to give this defense a little more depth at the linebacking corps is welcome.