2023 mock draft roundup: KC Chiefs linked with surprise sliding prospects
As the 2023 NFL Draft is nearly underway, we thought we’d survey a few of the final mock drafts around to see how the Chiefs are looking.
It’s only a matter of hours until we will have the newest member of the Kansas City Chiefs in the fold. At that time, all of the hours of mock draft simulators and big boards and written rankings will be rendered useless—at least from the first round—when Roger Goodell finally announces who general manager Brett Veach has chosen to be the newest member of Chiefs Kingdom.
Before Veach makes his pick, however, we still have a few hours to kill as Chiefs fans wait for the festivities to begin (and even then, for 30 other teams to make their picks). With that in mind, we thought we’d look at the latest mock drafts to see who they are projecting for the Chiefs in the first round.
In his final mock draft, Daniel Jeremiah from NFL.com posits that the Chiefs will take some offensive tackle help in the form of Darnell Wright from the University of Tennessee.
Wright is one of the draft’s top linemen, so this would be a huge win for the Chiefs if he actually fell all the way to No. 31 overall. Given the lack of quality linemen, especially on the outside, it would be quite a shock if the Chiefs even had the chance to take a player like Wright without trading some draft assets in order to move up ahead of others who would be eyeing the same sort of surprising slide down.
Jeremiah notes that the board just happened to fall this way in this particular instance for his mock draft, and that’s the sort of random scenario that would have to happen for the Chiefs here. They would need a running back or two to go in the first round. They could also be helped by as many quarterbacks and tight ends and wide receivers as well.
As for the need, the Chiefs are crossing their fingers with Darian Kinnard, Prince Tega Wanogho, and Lucas Niang at right tackle at the present time. Niang was able to wrest away starter’s reps from the moment he first stepped onto the field, but a patellar injury cost him last season and his entire injury history just makes him a question mark. Locking up the offensive line with a cost-controlled player like Wright will help in many ways as other parts (e.g. Joe Thuney) get more expensive.
Source: Arrowhead Addict
