What are your feelings about taking someone like Deuce Vaughn as an eventualy replacement for McKinnon?

DE Will McDonald IV, Iowa State

I think we have a good conception of DC Steve Spagnuolo at this point; what he needs out of his edge rushers, and what he tends to gravitate away from. And at the end of the day, it's best if you have a defense (and defensive line) that all "sing out of the same hymnal," as Mike DeVito so regularly says on his podcast. But the game of football is like gravity; some things are immutable. One of those things is that you have to get sacks off the edge, an area the Chiefs' DL has been middling at for the entirety of Spags' run. Strapped for cash, there is no solution other than just drafting your way out of it.

The Chiefs went a long, long way towards doing that this past offseason by obtaining a picture perfect LDE in George Karlaftis. The RDE position, typically thought of as lightning fast and bendier, remains open, and Will McDonald is a case study in what that position looks like on most defenses. McDonald has a lightning first step, threatens every tackle's outside shoulder, and shows surprisingly good technique against the run and the pass for someone out of Iowa State. When Iowa State wasn't trying to get cute and kept him wide, he racked up double digits sacks multiple years. He's a passrush specialist and that's how he needs to be used.

His biggest whammo is that he's too small to be a prototypical Spags DE. He's either 6'3" or 6'4", 245 lbs or 235 lbs, and the Combine will have to solve that mystery. Drafting him is redshirting him for a year while you put him through an NFL strength & conditioning program. As a result, he can't really solve your passrush until year 2. His technique and abilities flash a ton, however. I'd absolutely take him in the 2nd.

S Sydney Brown, Illinois

The Chiefs tend to flex their safeties around and play them everywhere nowadays, as seen by the fact that they've put Thornhill/Reid/Cook in all kinds of different spots on the field. If they continue doing that, they're going to need jacks-of-all-trades types of safeties in the draft. And my guess is that Juan Thornhill is moving on to another team for a big payday, so they'll be in the market for at least a third safety, if not a starting safety if you're not a big believer in Bryan Cook.

Sydney Brown (brother of Chase Brown!) is not that guy. Brown does not have the size or the attitude to play up in the box, and he lacks the physicality to man up on tight ends. What Brown has, is loads and loads of elite athleticism and fantastic ball skills.

If the Chiefs decide to slot guys into roles again at safety, then Sydney Brown is an ideal cover-1 deep safety in the mold of Rookie Year Juan Thornhill. He can cover gigantic tracts of land against the typically-smaller receivers that run those routes. There aren't many WRs who can beat him in a straight line race and if the ball is up for grabs, he can make a superior effort for it.

It's a limited role in a Spags defense, but one he could deploy effectively if called upon. He makes sense to me as an early pick on day three.

OG Steve Avila, TCU

A sneaky position the Chiefs will be considering in this draft will be guard; LG Joe Thuney is not really cuttable for two more years, but the team is going to be making business decisions with C Creed Humphrey and RG Trey Smith as early as next offseason. OG/T Andrew Wylie is probably walking in free agency, and I would bet that OG/C Nick Allegretti does as well. OT/G Darian Kinnard remains underwhelming, and who knows where he stands in 2023.

But Kinnard was drafted, in part, due to his proficiency with power and his sheer aggressive attitude. Well Steve Avila rings that same bell. Also not much of an athlete, Avila never pretended to be a tackle, instead funneling his 335 lbs into pure hatred of all defensive lines. He's a joy to watch in the power run, and was one of the reasons TCU was so hard to rein in even when they couldn't pass the ball. If Andy Reid wants to lean in on angry power running, Avila is a decent switchblade to have on the bench with starter upside in the next couple seasons if contracts don't work out the way they want them to.

That being said, again, he's a one-dimensional power guard, and isn't useful for much else. While he's really, really good at that role, this may not be a guy that appeals as much to the Chiefs as he does to other teams. He may make the most sense as a late round pick for Kansas City.

S Brandon Joseph, Notre Dame

Against the Bengals in the AFCCG, S Juan Thornhill played 100% of the snaps, S Justin Reid played 98% of the snaps, and S Bryan Cook played 41% of the snaps. The Chiefs play with three safeties, and they do it about a third of the time. With Thornhill likely walking in free agency, and questions that I personally have surrounding Cook, it might not be a bad idea to draft a third safety high to fortify the position. And with the questions I might have with Cook, I might be targeting a "safe bet" prospect who can get slotted in immediately as a starter, with a high floor.

Brandon Joseph, by all appearances and tape, seems to be the "George Karlaftis"-type for this draft at the safety position. Having played in not one but two D1 systems very well in college, Joseph has gone through trial by fire and looked outstanding with his intelligence in zone, and his propensity to generate turnovers. If Spags is going to be increasingly committed to zone, this is a guy who has CB Trent McDuffie degrees of intelligence of how to handle it.

That being said, there are other safeties in this draft (Jordan Battle, JL Skinner) that have higher ceilings, but the Chiefs want to get back to the Super Bowl next year, and they're going to need reliable safeties to do it. Drafting Joseph would be a fascinating reveal of how the team feels about Cook, but mostly it would just provide the back of the defense with a reliable player with a high ceiling. That's worth a 2nd rounder to me.

C Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia

What's a backup utility offensive lineman worth to you? Because the three starters the Chiefs have along the interior are going nowhere, and they've shown the ability to sub in at those spots at any moment with 7th rounders and UDFA. Is there any chance the Chiefs like someone at that spot so much they get him in the 4th round?

Because Sedrick Van Pran is the kind of lineman the Chiefs have long drafted in the midrounds and turned into multi-year viable starters under Andy Reid. He is a hyperactive, athletic zone blocking lineman with a nasty attitude and plenty of experience in Georgia's pro-style offense. In Georgia's scheme, he's frequently executing combo blocks and picking up blitzes and pulling out into space. These are all things that are built to excel in the Andy Reid scheme. He's a slam dunk.

But.... the position's filled, for at least two more years. But I don't think I'd mind if the Chiefs pulled the trigger in the 5th round if all the other major needs this team has haven't already been served some.

LB Ventrell Miller, Florida

The Chiefs finally seem to be getting the linebacker position correct. There were a handful of games this year where the #1 and #2 tacklers on the team were LB Nick Bolton and LB Willie Gay. They've finally invested at the linebacker position (and maybe over-invested with LB Leo Chenal as a third round investment) and it's allowing the team to be more flexible against more dynamic offenses. And it may finally open up an opportunity for them to take one of my favorite linebackers of the past couple years, Ventrell Miller.

Miller is a whip-smart, tough nosed linebacker who reads routes well, hits the hole aggressively, and is always around the ball. At Florida, he faced every variety of offense you could throw at him for four years and rarely seemed to be lost against an opponent. He's a locker room leader, high quality human, and a guy you can rely on to show up 17 games a season well prepared and able to take snaps at any time.

But the Combine is going to be critical for him. He's only listed at just over 220, and he doesn't show as if he's some great athlete. If he can answer questions about his size, strength, and athleticism at the Combine, he should be on this team's draft radar at linebacker depth. Assuming he answers those questions adequately, I'll sniff him out in the 6th.

WR Jordan Addison, USC

Perhaps my favorite WR prospect in this draft that the Chiefs have a realistic shot to add, Addison is a perfect addition to a team that needs to gather man-beaters at the WR position. Addison is a certified man-beater. He runs clean routes. He's great after the catch. He can run a full route tree and gain separation at every level except the deepest.

There are no weaknesses to his game, but because he doesn't have elite size (but not undersized), or elite speed (but not slow), he's not going to get the top of the 1st projection that he otherwise deserves. He is a bigger Jerry Jeudy, as failsafe a prospect as there is at the bottom of the 1st round, at any position. He has so many subtleties to his route-running and great hands and a huge catching radius. He really is a complete receiver, even if he isn't elite in size or speed.

It's not enough to call him a jack of all trades. This is a guy who is going to have a starting WR base and has Pro Bowl potential as almost any receiver position you could slot him into. He may not make it to the bottom of the first, but if he does, they should strongly consider jumping on him.

Wouldn't surprise me if Addison was the first receiver off the board, I'd be shocked if he was available near or around the bottom half of the draft for the Chiefs to move up.

Agreed. I do think it's conceivable he drops to a trade-uppable spot, however.

OT Peter Skoronski, Northwestern

I need to be very careful here, and recognize my own biases. I'm a fan of offensive lineman that come from highly proven systems with high floors that look like plug-and-play left tackles. I was pounding the table for Notre Dame's Liam Eichenberg back in 2021. At the Combine, he showed some physical limitations in horizonal movement as well as less-than-ideal arm length, fell to the 2nd round, and now he's a guard for the Dolphins. (Meanwhile, the Chiefs traded their 1st away for LT Orlando Brown.)

As a result, I will be watching Skoronski like a hawk at the Combine this year. How fluid does he look going side to side, how smooth is his kickslide, what are his physical dimensions. Because he is coming from the same Northwestern program that just churned out Rashawn Slater, locked left tackle down for three years at All America levels, and shows a polish that a prospect usually exhibits from a top level coaching staff. Skoronski sure looks like a guy you bring in at right tackle for 2023 while Brown plays out a franchise tag, then you slide him over. That's what he looks like. But my biases may be lying to me.

That said, the Chiefs need to upgrade right tackle right now, and this is ostensibly a guy you can put in. He is the more athletic, technique-mastery tackle that Andy Reid covets over the ground & pounders that otherwise populate the Chiefs' line. For now, I'm going to hang a 2nd round grade on him, but the Combine will be critical.

TE Darnell Washington, Georgia

The Chiefs are blessed at the tight end position right now, with a GOAT starting and solid backups behind him in Noah Gray, Jody Fortson, and Blake Bell. Bell, the best blocker of the bunch, is a free agent, and Fortson is a restricted free agent on a Chiefs team with a slate of promising RFAs: QB Shane Buechele, OT Prince Tega Wenogho, DT Tershawn Wharton, P Tommy Townsend. The Chiefs aren't bringing all of them back, so with Noah Gray and 34-year-old Travis Kelce, it's possible the Chiefs might shop for top-end talent here, because Andy Reid loves tight ends.

One of the best in the bunch in this draft is Darnell Washington, a 6'7" behemoth who is a true tight end in that he blocks as often as he receives. He's a smooth athlete in the right routes, making plays all over the field, including on deep routes (!!) rather than just the intermediate routes normally associated with the position. He's got some technique work to do in the blocking area but the Chiefs need to keep adding red zone threats, and it's hard to imagine a better one.

That being said, on physical promise alone, it's hard to see him falling all the way to the bottom of the 2nd, but if he does, he becomes an intriguing luxury pick for a team looking to keep Mahomes' weaponry cabinet stocked.

It's interesting that you're hanging a 2nd round grade (even if you're calling it temporary) on the top tackle prospect in the draft.

What do you see that inhibits him that others aren't seeing?

Lol my first thought as well. No chance I'd pass on him in the 1st, but also no chance he'd actually be there.

He played with Trey Smith at college so that could be a good fit at right tackle. Would be great that they already know each others game.

Having an elite right side would be great and especially if you can get Orlando Brown to play on the tag and see how his season goes.