Behold! Mock draft season is here!
Fearsome ESPN duo Todd McShay and Mel Kiper released their first mock draft of the offseason today, which included whom they think the Kansas City Chiefs will draft four months from now. To no one’s surprise, wide receiver is at the top of both men’s minds when it comes to the Chiefs.
Let’s start with McShay’s pick.
With the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Todd McShay projects the Kansas City Chiefs will select Kevin White — wide receiver from West Virginia.
"It’s Week 16, and the Chiefs still haven’t had a wide receiver record a touchdown catch this season. White would upgrade the receiving corps with his excellent size-and-speed combo. He still needs to develop as a route runner but is a natural when it comes to separating from coverage when the ball is in the air. White is also dangerous after the catch, which adds to his value for a team in need of perimeter playmakers."
White has been a fan favorite for many so I’d assume this would be a popular pick for Chiefs fans on draft day. As McShay mentions, White has excellent potential on the outside as a both a deep threat and a playmaker in the more traditional routes we’ve seen from Reid’s offense. His size and his speed should would as an excellent target for Alex Smith for the next few years.
Kiper also thinks the Chiefs will go wide receiver, but the name may surprise you.
With the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Mel Kiper projects the Kansas City Chiefs will select Dorial Green-Beckham — wide receiver from Missouri/Oklahoma.
"We all know about the Chiefs’ singular lack of ability to generate touchdowns from their wide receivers, and that makes Green-Beckham a potential risk worth taking. The physical book on Green-Beckham is a good read: He’s got great length and can take the top off the secondary as a straight-line runner but also creates an impressive amount of space with quickness on short routes. He’s a red zone fear-factor player because he can just go up higher than anybody on the field to get the ball. The off-field book, however, is a major question. He was booted from one program because of off-field transgressions, and he’ll have no fun with the interview process as teams get answers about his past and maturity. But talent like this is hard to pass on."
Whoa boy, here we go.
It would seem like a reach for the Chiefs to select DGB in the first round as his background would suggest he’d be available in the second or possibly third round. He’s been out of football for a year too because of his transfer to Oklahoma, so we don’t particularly know where he is as a player right now. It could take him a year or two before he starts building on his significantly high potential as a receiver.
And the physical tools are insane. He’s 6-4, 225 pounds with 4.4 speed and great hands. His ability to leap and make plays over the top plus his speed to run after the catch make him one of the more athletically gifted receivers in the draft. The question becomes about his off-field behavior and whether or not he has to route running ability to be successful in Reid’s offense.
If you believe you have a great teaching coaching staff then taking a risk on DGB would be worth it — but maybe not in the first round.