Nov 9, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Jalen Whitlow (2) runs the ball agaisnt Missouri Tigers linebacker Kony Ealy (47) at Commonwealth Stadium. Missouri defeated Kentucky 47-17. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs are going to get a high quality player at #23, there’s no doubt about that. However, those “wishing” it could be a defensive lineman are probably going to be disappointed because those elite DL prospects will be off the board by then.
The most likely to fall to the Chiefs in my mind would be Kony Ealy from Missouri. However, at 6’4” and 274 he’s very close in size to Tamba Hali and since the Chiefs play a 3-4 defensive scheme it’s not unreasonable to think that is the Chiefs take him, it’s with the purpose of converting him to a 3-4 OLB. Ealy’s athletic ability makes that conversion possible and with Hali moving up in age, Ealy would be an excellent player to pair with Justin Houston for years to come.
Kony Ealy had 8 sacks and 42 tackles in 2013 so he’s got the chops. He’d be a great addition to the chop at Arrowhead too.
Now, if the Chiefs were going to take a DL then that will probably have to be either DE Dee Ford or DT RaShede Hageman. Both are very good but, considering who they might be getting compared to at other positions, these defensive linemen would likely come in second, third or fourth in the Chiefs evaluative hierarchy.
Odds the Chiefs will select an DL in the first round: 8%
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As you can see by the mock posted earlier in this post that Jace Amaro shows up as possible choice for the Chiefs at #23. In the mocks I’ve done, Amaro shows up regularly as a possible choice. The challenge is comparing jace Amaro to others who are also available at that point. As you can see from the mock chart posted earlier, WR Odell Beckham, CB Darqueze Dennard, WR Brandon Cooks and OT Zack Martin all show up as available choice too and the Chiefs might rate all of these choices above Jace Amaro, but maybe not. So, you have to give some credence to the idea that the Chiefs would go TE in round one of this draft.
There is one TE ranked higher than Amaro and that’s Eric Ebron who I’ve never seen as far as the 23rd pick in any mock simulator. So, he’s probably out.
However, Amaro is pretty much the sample size of one. There is Austin Seferian-Jenkins but he has issues and many services rate him much lower that Amaro. In other words, there are not a boat load of high value tight ends for the Chiefs to choose from at #23. Amaro could be a game changer so if he’s there, you have to consider him a great possibility.
Odds the Chiefs will select an TE in the first round: 9%
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