Believe it or not, the 2024 NFL Draft is just a handful of days away. It will not only provide teams with chances to get younger with roster construction, but it also serves as a milestone for the NFL offseason.
Fresh off another Super Bowl win, the Kansas City Chiefs have their eyes set on capturing an ever-elusive three-peat this coming season. Securing quality draft prospects would be a significant help as that journey continues. General manager Brett Veach has done a nice job in recent drafts, thus helping Kansas City get solid baselines and upside on affordable contracts.
With that in mind, many are declaring that nailing pick No. 32 is critical for the reigning champs. How much weight does that carry for the franchise, though? This week, head coach Andy Reid said Veach is partaking in a “lockdown” session with scouts and will be prepared when the draft rolls around.
Kansas City knows having a deep, complete draft board is also quite important.
“I’m not sure that I’ve seen as many mock drafts going on as there are right now,” Reid said. “It’s an amazing amount of mock drafts out there. I’ve got to give the guys credit, they’re all a little different, some guys are on to their third first-round mock draft doing that. Brett’s had this whole thing up and does a nice job of making sure he’s got all the rounds covered. There is a tremendous amount of input that goes into this first-round pick. However, there’s like a 50% success rate over a period for these first-round picks, it’s a bit crazy for all the time that’s spent doing them.
“You’ve got to make sure you cover the other parts of the draft and you’re right, all the way to the point where your college free agents almost become your second highest percentage that make it on these teams over a five-year span so you’ve really got to stay intact with the whole board. How you layer the board is so important and stack it ends up being so important and that order can be — I mean you’re one guy off, that can be your Pro Bowl player just by one guy.”
Reid’s point about covering bases is a valid one; the first round isn’t the only section of the draft that deserves love. After all, multiple key Chiefs free agents retained this offseason were taken outside of the top 32. All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones (second round), linebacker Drue Tranquill (fourth round by the Los Angeles Chargers) and defensive end Mike Danna (fifth round) are examples. Danna and re-signed nose tackle Derrick Nnadi (third round) are Veach draft picks.
In recent years, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has played a role in influencing draft selections. Back in 2020, he pushed for running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to have his name called in the first round. Last April, it was Rashee Rice who made an impression on Mahomes and later wound up being a Chiefs second-rounder. As the multi-time MVP winner’s meteoric rise has reached its peak, the team values his input now more than ever.
What’s Mahomes’s take on this year’s class? He’s gotten into the weeds a bit, although he trusts the team to make its own decisions.
“I’ve looked at some of the stuff,” Mahomes said. “It’s cool that Veach and Coach Reid kind of let me in on all of the conversations that they have about players, and I like that stuff. I like watching film and watching other guys from college and stuff like that. At the end of the day, we have the greatest of the greatest as far as GMs and head coach and the staffs that they build, so I know they’re going to get great players in here and I’ll give my input but I trust that they’re going to do the work to get the great players in. You’ve seen our team, it seems like we get younger and younger every single year and that comes from drafting.”
Mahomes credits Reid and Veach, and Reid passes that on up the organizational hierarchy. Reid tipped his cap to Veach and VP of football operations/team counsel Chris Shea for their work retaining free agents, in addition to Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt for giving the club opportunities to win. By bolstering the roster with veterans, Kansas City can enter the draft with only a few clear needs.
While it remains unclear which need will be addressed in the first round, it’s evident that homework has and will continue to be done. The pillars of the Chiefs are all on the same page, setting the table for what should be an interesting event in Detroit very soon.