Chiefs High On Alex Smith, Luke Joeckel, According To Report

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Kansas City Chiefs are high on both 49ers QB Alex Smith and Texas A&M LT prospect Luke Joeckel.

Reporting from the NFL Combine, Rapoport said details of the Chiefs’ thinking are beginign to leak out.

"1) The Kansas City Chiefs like Alex Smith, Luke Joeckel. The Chiefs are in the full evaluation mode of the entire organization, with general manager John Dorsey still in the process of figuring out the team he has. But word is starting to leak of their interest in the San Francisco 49ers’ backup quarterback. At this point, based on what I’m hearing, Kansas City has shown more interest than anyone else in dealing for a quarterback who could step in and start from Day 1 while the rest of the franchise is rebuilt."

"Apparently, the Chiefs are also high on Joeckel, the Texas A&M offensive tackle. If they’re planning to take him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, they could let Branden Albert — their own stellar left tackle — walk in free agency, where he’ll get a ton of interest. We’ll know all of this before April’s draft. If Albert becomes available, the Chiefs will have tipped their hand."

This fits the narrative that we have been hearing for a while now. The Chiefs have seemed to shy away from talking about selecting a QB #1 and have been beating the “best player available” drum. If KC leaves the Combine still high on Joeckel then LT Branden Albert could be on his way out of town.

If Rapoport’s report is true and the Chiefs don’t change their thinking soon, we may get a pretty clear idea of the team’s 2013 plans long before the NFL Draft. If the Chiefs trade a high pick for Smith and allow Albert to leave in free agency then the chances of the team selecting anyone other than Joeckel with the No.1 pick will be extremely low.

What do you think of all this, Addicts?