Kansas City Chiefs, as usual, appear stuck between a rock and a hard place

The Kansas City Chiefs are stuck with poor placement in the 2017 NFL Draft when it comes to QB needy teams.

In a report that was released April 25th by Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (@nfldraftscout) indicated the Chiefs intended to select a passer in one of the first two rounds of the draft on April 27th. And while an indication of selecting a quarterback at any point in the draft is welcome news to a degree, the logic appears flawed.

"“Kansas City Chiefs: QB or bust? Not quite, but a source with the Chiefs scouting department does expect they’ll add a passer in the first two rounds. I’ve also been told by another source that inside linebacker is high on the team’s wish list. “"

While I certainly am against reaching at any position simply to select that position (Trezelle Jenkins and Christian Ponder with the Vikings) the Chiefs have to not only stay as true to their evaluation and their board as possible, but also be aware of what the board may look like come their next selection, currently set at 59th in round two. If you are going to reach at any level at any position in the draft, wouldn’t you prefer to reach on the better talent?

The following teams have been linked to quarterbacks, and are mentioned as possible to likely select one in the first two rounds of the 2017 draft. Cleveland picks twice ahead of the Chiefs first selection obviously.

Cleveland Browns
San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears
Jacksonville Jaguars
New York Jets
Buffalo Bills
New Orleans Saints
Arizona Cardinals
Washington Redskins
New York Giants
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
Pittsburgh Steelers

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Now, if form holds true and the top three signal callers are off the board by the time pick 27 rolls around (Trubisky (CLE), Watson (HOU), Mahomes (ARI)) and the Chiefs opt not to select a quarterback (next on the list is likely Notre Dame’s Deshone Kizer). Pittsburgh has been rumored to have been hot after Kizer, as have the Saints at 32. Assuming Kizer goes to 30 (similarities to Rothlisberger) we’ll look at the list of teams in need possible of a quarterback ahead of the Chiefs.

New Orleans has two picks (32, 42) before KC will be picking again.
San Fran (have been tied to Kizer is he falls to round 2)
Chicago (have been linked to Kizer as well as Brad Kaaya, as well as possibly Watson in rd 1)
New York Jets (linked to Trubisky in rd 1 as possible trade bait, Webb has heavy interest)
Jacksonville (have been linked heavily to Pitt’s Nathan Peterman at this spot
Buffalo (linked to Watson in rd 1, rumored to like Peterman, Kizer and Cal’s Davis Webb)
New Orleans (have been linked to Davis Webb and Brad Kaaya)
Washington (Linked to Peterman and Kaaya to varying degrees)
New York Giants (Media driven perhaps more then real, but long term need exist)
Cleveland (Reportedly high on Kizer and Webb if they pass on a round 1 QB)
Arizona (If Cardinals pass on Mahomes, viewed as the floor of Davis Webb)
Houston (Like Chiefs, linked to everyone if they pass on a QB in rd 1)

And now the Chiefs. As you can see, that’s 8 teams at 9 slots that have interest in the quarterback position. If only four of those teams selects a QB, that still means a total of seven QB’s will have been selected……SEVEN!!!!! And this doesn’t include a surprise team (Perhaps Baltimore wants to plan for the future or the Bengals want to add depth)

Yes, by math, that means the Chiefs are drafting the eighth QB in round two, the guy they intend to be their guy in 2018. By Matt Miller’s most recent big board, that’s Josh Dobbs of Tennessee, his 124th overall player. CBS Sports list Dobbs as their 8th QB, but ranks him 195th overall. Eric Galko, in his draft guide (great read) list his 8th as Davis Webb of California. Walter Football lists Josh Dobbs as 8th best QB avail.

There’s a lot of love out there for Dobbs, but if the Chiefs are true to their mantra of selecting the best player available, or remotely close to the best player available, they are not selecting a quarterback here. But this goes to my point made earlier. If you are backing yourself into a corner of selecting a quarterback early, why not select the better talent and a player that is much likelier closer in valuation to your pick?

I’m certainly not advocating for the Chiefs to select a quarterback simply for the sake of doing so. What I’m saying is that if there is a quarterback on the board in round 1 they like, they need to take him there, because of the fact of just how many teams are likely selecting signal callers ahead of them, they are faced with an extreme reach later on.

In a deep draft, they can address areas such as middle linebacker depth (which round 2 will have), running back (round 2 and 3 will have a plentiful selection of) and pass rusher (draft is deep in pass rushers). Dorsey and company, a ‘victim’ of their own success, draft later then they’d prefer to land the signal caller, will have to make some hard decisions at the position, and we will have to wait to see what happens.

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