Kansas City Chiefs rookie class from 2016 NFL Draft earns high marks

The Kansas City Chiefs 2016 draft class has earned an impressive A- score from NFL.com analysts.

Now that the NFL season is over, it’s time for NFL analysts to step back and take a look at the year in review. Over at NFL.com, several writers are taking the time to grade each crop of rookies from the 2016 NFL Draft. Fortunately, John Dorsey has earned high marks once again, tying with the San Diego Chargers atop the AFC West with an “A-“.

What’s amazing about the Chiefs draft class is that there were already several elements working against the potential impact of this draft.

1. The Chiefs ended up waiving their third round selection, Keivarae Russell, during the second week of the season.
2. The Chiefs traded out of the first round entirely, their first pick being defensive tackle Chris Jones in round two.
3. This was already an incredibly deep Chiefs team who re-signed several veteran players.

In short, this was not a team looking to very many rookies for immediate help.

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Jones seemed slotted for just a handful of snaps every game seeing as how the Chiefs already had Dontari Poe, Allen Bailey and Jaye Howard along with other bodies in the rotation. Yet his natural talent along with several key injuries brought Jones’ talent to the attention of everyone in the NFL.

Tyreek Hill, a fifth round wideout, was known more for his troubled background than his on-field speed, but one Pro Bowl nod later, his talent has been made apparent to anyone who watches the game.

Parker Ehinger was a fourth round pick out of Cincinnati who immediately took over the starting role at left guard and only let go when injuries forced him out for the season. To do so, he beat out veterans like Jah Reid and Zach Fulton.

There’s also reason to believe the futures are bright in the secondary for both Eric Murray (4th) and D.J. White (6th).

For any team to find two potential stars in the draft is a strong move, but for John Dorsey to do so in the second and fifth rounds on a team that already seemed so deep, it was a stellar draft class and gives the Chiefs plenty of reason to be hopeful about the years to come.