Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Not really.
People just overestimate the contributions of your average 2nd and 3rd round picks.
The Chiefs have gotten more out of Hardman and Thornhill than most teams got out of the players they took instead.
Since the end of the Pioli era, there haven't really been that many true misses in the first 3 rounds.
1st rounders: Fisher, Ford, Peters, Mahomes, CEH
2nd rounders: Morse, Jones, K-Pass, Speaks, Hardman, Thornhill, Gay, Bolton, Humphrey
3rd: Kelce, Knile Davis, Phillip Gaines, Chris Conley, Steven Nelson, KeiVarae Russell, Hunt, Nnadi, DoD, Saunders, Niang
Ford was disappointing for who he wasn't but really no worse than average for a 1st round pick. Dude made a pro bowl and had 2 seasons with double digit sacks before being traded away for a 2nd. That's a fine pick. Fisher, Peters and Mahomes are also good to historically great.
Morse, Jones and amazing 2nd round picks, Creed is likely to join that list and Thornhill already would have but/for the injury. Hardman was instrumental in a championship. K-Pass got a 2nd contract in the NFL and MOST 2nd rounders don't. Speaks sucks. Gay's and Bolton are still INCs. That's one genuine bust.
Kelce is a Hall of Famer, Hunt was a great pick until he got caught kicking a drunk girl. Nnadi is a great 3rd, Niang is already a starting NFL tackle. Steven Nelson has now gotten 3 NFL contracts and made a shitload of money as a quality, if flawed, NFL corner. Conley is a similar story. Saunders is about par for a 3rd round pick at this rate - developing into a decent situational interior lineman. DoD was taken a round too early but he'll probably have a 6-8 year NFL career - that's again about par for a 3rd rounder. Russell sucked, Davis sucked, Gaines got hurt.
No, this team does not struggle on the first couple days of the draft. It's done FAR better than most, in fact.
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