Power ranking the picks at 31.
 

I wanted to put together a shortlist of players who (a.) could be at the Chiefs pick and (b.) listed in order of how much I'd like the Chiefs to select them.

1. DE Nolan Smith, Georgia
2. DE Will McDonald IV, Iowa State
3. DE Keion White, Georgia Tech
4. OT Darnell Wright, Tennessee
5. OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
6. DE BJ Ojulari, LSU
7. WR Zay Flowers, Boston College
8. RB Bijan Robinson, Texas
9. WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
10. WR Rashee Rice, SMU
11. OT Anton Harrison, Oklahoma
12. DE Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame
13. DE Andre Carter II, Army
14. DT Bryan Bresee, Clemson
15. TE Luke Musgrave, Oregon State
16. DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State
17. OT Jaelyn Duncan, Maryland
18. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
19. DE Derick Hall, Auburn
20. WR Jordan Addison, USC
21. S Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M
22. DE/DT Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern

Thoughts?

I think my choice hinges on what we do with Brown up to the draft, and after that, if we decide to trade up.

Assuming we stay at 31, it HAS to be either a DE or WR, right (unless that one player that inevitably falls into our laps against all logic)? Acknowledging THAT - I'd go
- DE BJ Ojulari
- WR Jalin Hyatt
- WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- DE Keion White

I have Hall alot higher than you, but I don't think the top two DE choices you have there really fit what they want.

Let me ask you the question that I've asked several times this draft season.

Do you have any issue with JSN (or Addison) that he's not really an X, possession-type receiver, or a dynamic downfield weapon? He's essentially a separation-generating slot receiver.

Which is great, but we already have that guy twice over in Toney and Moore.

22. DE/DT Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern

local KC kid... I like those kind of story's.

Totally get it -- totally don't care.

If Smith and McDonald fall -- and I think there is a fair chance they're both gone by 31 -- than they are the guys who are most likely in our range to put QBs on their butts.

You add that guy and you tell Spags to figure it out.

Dude is not a natural for the Spags system, but his arms are barely long enough, his athleticism is elite, and he's got the ability to reduce down on passing downs if need be.

Seems like a really good fit.

Nolan Smith and/or Broderick Jones are damn near dream scenarios...

It just seems unlikely to me.

Possible. They may be flexible there.

But in a scenario where say, Ojulari was on the board along with those 2 I think they'd go with him.

I liked Reddick alot and think Smith coudl do that here.

I'm starting to fear Nolan goes Top 15.

Jones dropping is possible -- he is an incomplete player. But I do think the fact that the tackle position is skinny in this draft works in his favor.

Well I just watched a post combine mock and here are the 30 guys going in front of the Chiefs, I'm not listing teams just the players..

Young
Carter
Stroud
Levis
Anderson
Richardson
Wilson
Witherspoon
Skoronski
Gonzalez
Johnson Jr.
Van Ness
Johnston
Banks
Njiga
Torrence
Porter Jr
Bijan Robinson
Cam Smith
Nolan Smith
Brian Branch
Flowers
Bresee
Kancey
Addison
Downs
Dawand Jones
Broderick Jones
Myles Murphy
Adebawore

So if that is how it breaks out, who do you take?

Someone said it in another thread in regard to Toney (Detoxing?) - due to his injury history, you use him sparingly in the right situations for maximum return. Toney will have his role and we'll count on him, just not 100% of the time. I think Moore could be a possession type guy if not the prototypical build of an X receiver. I feel he may take a leap into his sophomore year. Plus, the thought of JSN, Moore and Toney on the field with Kelce makes me warm and fuzzy.

And honestly, my pick would be DE first the more I think about it. That's the greater need between the two positions, but we know what drafting strictly for need gets you most of the time. And honestly one more time - I think if we're planning on addressing the X through the draft, Ronnie Bell out of Michigan might be a target day two. Seems to be a prototypical Reid receiver.

I have Carter, Rice, Anudike-Uzomah and Duncan all lower.

I like Bergeron before Duncan. I think LaPorta makes my top 20 but I don't think that is good value at 31. Call me crazy but Mingo makes my Top 20 before Rice, but again not great value at 31. I like Harrison and Adebawore before Anudike-Uzomah. But again value.

McDonald if Spags checks off on the size issues. If not, Hyatt, then trade up for Hall, Ojulari, or Foskey.

What caught me off guard...is he has Michael Mayer still on the board.

1. DE Nolan Smith, Georgia
2. DE Will McDonald IV, Iowa State
3. DE Keion White, Georgia Tech
4. OT Darnell Wright, Tennessee
5. OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
6. DE BJ Ojulari, LSU
7. WR Zay Flowers, Boston College
8. RB Bijan Robinson, Texas
9. WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
10. WR Rashee Rice, SMU
11. OT Anton Harrison, Oklahoma
12. DE Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame
13. DE Andre Carter II, Army
14. DT Bryan Bresee, Clemson
15. TE Luke Musgrave, Oregon State
16. DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State
17. OT Jaelyn Duncan, Maryland
18. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
19. DE Derick Hall, Auburn
20. WR Jordan Addison, USC
21. S Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M
22. DE/DT Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern

I would take McDonald or White, as I have them about even. I think really hard about Wright, however. He's about equal value but the depth behind him is far worse than the positional depth behind McDonald/White.

Honestly, my favored course of action here would be to trade down -- entirely for 2024 picks.

That way I still have my 11 or 12 picks this year, ostensibly with a player of equivalent value to the slot I traded out of. And I'm still investing in Veach's hot streak.

But if I have to take a player, I take one of those three.

Who do you take?

Oh shizz I didn't even notice that.

I'd take Mayer, right? We're right at the time, literally right now, where we need to start Kelce-proofing the roster.

Keep the GOAT healthy for January/February.

I think that's perfectly reasonable.

If Toney is the ace in the hole, like Hardman's been for years, who can break out great plays on occasion and otherwise he's a "bonus" type talent, than JSN makes a ton of sense.

Draft is so deep around that level of player that I just don't see someone so clearly above the rest that I'm willing to trade up when it gets to around pick 22.

This feels like one of those times when, after we took McDuffie, there was Johnson, Wyatt, Karlaftis, Hall, Ojabo, Ebiketie, Mathis; just a sew of guys who teams could pick from that would all but ensure one of them fell to us.

And yeah, I got a little nervous after Wyatt went to GB and suddenly the need/talent dynamic got pretty tight for us, but I also felt like we had fewer position groups to pull from having taken McDuffie already. DL seemed a no-doubter.

This time at 31 we can go DL, OL or WR. There WILL be a talent we like that's similar to the talent probably anywhere from 18 back, IMO.

That would certainly make for a tough decision.

Who are you taking in that scenario DJ?

{Returns from the main forum}

Um...a left tackle, I guess.

That kinda changes some shit, don't it?

I think I'd take Darnell Wright and sign Jawaan Taylor at this point.

With both of those guys I think ONE of them proves capable of playing LT well. If you can't get Taylor signed, I think you go with Anton Harrison as he seems the most likely to be a LT in the nearer term.

He gave the Chiefs Darnell Wright for the record.

Man - a bunch of folks will HATE him.

Because he's another guy who wins with size. He's fairly athletic (especially for his size) but he'll need to work on his feet in a big way. There are gonna be substantial bumps in the road to get him over to LT, IMO.

But I think he has the most upside at the position of anyone reasonably likely to be available to us. He has the size and the baseline athleticism to be a top 5(ish) LT long-term.

Have to trade up surely to get a decent LT. Theres nothing at 31 at that position worth drafting.

Unless you're a Harrison guy.

Bump those tackles up the list. LOL.

I like Keion White a bunch at DE. Probably my top guy because I don't believe KC would draft Will McDonald.

I like Anton Harrison.

Shrug.

Good list! I'd say mine's the same give or take a couple guys and in a different order.

Personally, I think there's alot of wishful thinking on some of these guys being around and others I don't think should be in there. Too much to list and you'll see why when I post my 2.0 mock soon.

But, I do think there are just way too many guys being labeled as 1st round right now that probably aren't and that just means KC is going to have the pick of some pretty good players.

I’d take Darnell Wright and put him at LT and be done with it

I see a lot of people saying Wright really struggled at LT. I don't know how I feel about it. Going to have to watch some 2021 stuff.

I think Jaxon Smith-Njigba needs to be a lot higher on your list- biggest knock with him is that he doesn't have elite athleticism but with him posting an unreal 3 cone time/shuttle time, it shows that his agility and the way he changes direction is top of the class.

I would take JSN way before I would take Zay Flowers (I'm a big Zay Flowers fan) and Hyatt comfortably. JSN will be a difference maker.

This would be exciting but if Broderick Jones falls to the low 20s, I’d move up and get him. He’s a better fit at LT.