2014 NFL Mock Draft: Analyst Says Chiefs Take Tight End Jace Amaro

The Kansas City Chiefs’ 2013 season is officially over, which means it’s officially NFL draft season.

The way Kansas City fished the season was abrupt and it was disappointing, allowing the Colts to come back from down 28 in the third quarter; but we saw a ton of positive from the Chiefs in 2013 as well.

Don’t let the lasting image of Kansas City’s playoff failure distort what the Chiefs did in 2013.

Under new management and leadership, Kansas City went from a 2-14 organization to a Wild Card playoff team. For quite some time during the season; many though that Kansas City was among the best teams in the league. The defense was borderline elite—well at least until injuries exposed some flaws—special teams was explosive, and the offense got better as the year goes on. Kansas City truly has a lot to build on.

You don’t (usually) win the Super Bowl in one season. Generally it’s a building process, and the argument could be made that the Chiefs took a huge first step to contention this season.

Moves this offseason will be crucial. Free agency will be important, but the draft is crucial. If Kansas City can get a playmaker and fill a need in round one, and then supplement needs and find a gem or two in the later rounds; next season could be huge for the Chiefs.

There are a lot of mock drafts and mock drafters out there, but I trust few more than my good friend Matt Miller over at Bleacher Report. I took a look at his latest 7-round mock draft to see what he had going on for the Chiefs. In the first round, he has Kansas City taking tight end Jace Amaro from Texas Tech. Here’s what he had to say about the pick:

"Amaro is an athletic, moving tight end perfect for today’s game. He can play flexed out in the slot, almost like an oversized wide receiver with the speed to beat defenses and the size to box out coverage. Amaro would be perfect for a passing attack like the one in Kansas City."

We’ve discussed Amaro here at Addict before, and I wasn’t crazy about the pick. That’s mainly because I like what Anthony Fasano brings to the table and I also think Travis Kelce has great upside.

With that said, it’s hard to deny that Amaro has been productive for Texas Tech. He’s 6’5”, 260 pounds and caught 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns in 2013.

Here are the rest of Miller’s picks for the Kansas City Chiefs:

Round 3: Kasen Williams, WR from Washington.

Round 4: Taylor Hart, DE from Oregon

Round 5: Nickoe Whitley FS from Mississippi State

Round 6: Rashad Greene WR from FSU

Round 6: Jeff Mathews QB from Cornell

Overall, I like the rest of Miller’s choices. I’m fine with adding more wideouts and Taylor Hart can fit the 3-4 at 6’6”, 287 pounds. Free safety is an area where the Chiefs can improve and why not take a quarterback from Cornell in the sixth round?

I’ll leave it up for debate with all of you though. What do you think of this mock? Who would you target in the first round and what need would you fill?