The patellar tendon tear is the single-worst injury an athlete can suffer. NFL guys, NBA guys, no one has ever been the same. Like, ever. You can MAYBE argue that Jimmy Graham came ALL the way back (he had one more productive season after returning), but he wasn't as explosive at leaping and cutting and had lost some speed.

It's super high risk. The highest risk possible, really. The reward is high - if he is the unicorn who cruises on like the injury never happened.

"This one is ****ed" - FYP.

I think that's one of the more depressing mocks for the Chiefs that I have seen.

Simmons - huge risk
Norman-Lott - so many other guys with similar floors and more upside. His size is a limiting factor.
Stanford WR - not a fit in KC's offense
Jaydon Blue - too early, likely taking him over more proven guys who are better fits for KC
Day 3 picks - whatever. Though I think the track record for Day 3 DEs is probably one of the lowest for success, especially for guys who were not at small schools.

Josh Simmons is likely the first tackle taken if he doesn’t get injured. He’s a top 10 pick at worst. Cannot see the Patriots or Bears passing on him if he was healthy. He’s undoubtedly a favorite for this franchise based purely on his traits and film. Gonna come down to Burkholder, who has probably spent 2 months on this kid. If Burkholder signs off you make him a priority.

Farmer is who I think the Chiefs really want in rd 2. They’ve spoken to him daily per Farmer himself. He’s not tall but he’s he’s got 35 arms, big hands, is strong as hell and has a really good first step.
Omar Norman-Lott is contingency IMO. Still love the kid. Enormous hands (11+!!!) long enough arms, highest pass rush win rate. His value on passing downs alone would be great.

Jaydon Blue is the best receiving back in this class and it isn’t close. The production and fluidity there is elite. He’d be an excellent 3rd down back with time (most of these kids need to get better at blocking). He’s gonna go in rd 4 bc of that and his speed. Of course Etienne, Smith, Etc are options there too. The Chiefs had zero explosion or playmaking from their backs which is why Andy utilized Worthy there so often.

Not big on the Ayomanor kid. I’d take Royals but I don’t hate him. Roberts is one my favorite Spags edges.

And goddamn do I love Buchanan and Crawford. They’re really good for day 3 IMO. Love their fit here.

The funny thing about Simmons is if the Chiefs are ok with his medicals, you can bet your ass other teams are too…and that’s exactly why I think he goes way earlier.

I’m convinced he’s in play for SF at #11, actually a really good landing spot for him,

I just don’t see any way a good medical staff CAN sign off on Simmons.


The historical precedent is so bad, I don’t see a way you can ignore the data.

This is patently false Run. He was never considered the top tackle nor a top 15 pick. He had the potential to be in that conversation had he not gotten injured and had he finished the year with great results against the top-tier competition on their schedule. He didn't and therefore never was. He has his warts, and whether or not he would have run that gauntlet that he missed unscathed and looked like a top tackle is debatable.

The player who was in that conversation was Banks. He's inexplicably been overanalyzed, and not a single reason seems to be legitimate for his stock tanking. Meanwhile, Campbell has maintained #1 status with a legitimate reason not to.

Conerly was beginning to get that talk, and then the Mike Green thing happened at the Senior Bowl, and he went from top-20 rankings (13 on McShay's board) to dropping out of round 1 on some, all for 1 meaningless practice snap.

The only question I would also consider is, have there been any offensive linemen that suffered this injury? The guys that I mentioned (Cruz, Johnson, and Mayo) were skill players.

Offensive linemen normally do not require speed. Quickness, yes and that may be the risk there, but it's not like we're asking him to go run down the field and catch footballs or chase down a QB, you know?

Lucas Niang…

It ended LeCharles Bentley’s career. He was all-pro before. Jack Conklin had it recently and has been an injured, diminished broke dick since. Niang also. It does not matter if you are a wide receiver, cornerback, offensive lineman, running back, shooting guard, point guard, safety, whatever. Regardless of position, the best recovery examples you can find are Morris Claiborne returning to be a first round bust and below average CB, and Jimmy Graham coming back to have one season of production before hitting the cliff, hard.

Valid points, thank you for explaining it. That's why I was asking the questions because I do not know the whole picture and thought I would provide a different perspective.

But yours also is valid too, and true. And some of us would know some of the answers like I mentioned on skill players, I am not well rehearsed on linemen, hence why I was asking. And Jerm also mentioned Niang as well as yourself, which I remembered we thought we got a good steal out of him, but was not at the end due to that injury.

So given what we all know and the evidence that supports this theory, it supports my own concerns that it would be too risky to consider him at 31 then.

No one cares but I'm all the way out on Simmons. I started googling it. I respect Duncan and Crow as much as anyone on this board, so when they bring it up I listen. Holy hell you'd be drafting a guy in the first round whose upside is about 80% of what he was IF recovery goes VERY well. That's a nasty injury and it really sucks for the kid. I hope someone, not the chiefs drafts him and he gets a rookie contract somewhere just for his troubles.

Been out. I don't know if I'd burn any 1-3 choices on OL in this draft.

Strength is along the DL and early at WR and corner.

If one of the OL slips, sure. I feel like Veach will play to the board. If the DT class pushes someone down I could definitely see a DE/WR or secondary player. I just dont see them taking whats likely a guard at 1.31. The medias be lazy with a lot of those mocks.

Which one? Wouldn't touch the Simmons situation (don't think he was that great pre injury from my limited viewing) and I'm not seeing it with Conley.

I know the Super Bowl shell shocked some folks but this just isn't a LT kind of draft.

This is EXACTLY the case, IMO.

I mean just read the "Trade Whatever for a LT thread" and you can see the initial insanity followed by the slow return to normalcy for some of them.

But not all.

A handful of dudes are still stuck on the idea that we were an LT away from winning that game.

We were not.

Right. There were so many issues in that game. The Eagles did score on them basically at will.