Mock Draft: Bucky Brooks Has Chiefs Landing A Quarterback
By Ben Nielsen
It wouldn’t be mock draft season without a little bit of silliness and fun. Let’s thank NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks to make us all laugh just a little bit.
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In his most recent mock draft Brooks bucks the trend of the Chiefs taking wide receivers in the first round and instead throws a bit of a curve ball about where the Chiefs will go in the first round. No, not offensive line. No, not defensive front seven. No, not cornerback. So what’s left?
With the 18th pick in 2015 NFL Draft, Bucky Brooks of NFL.com projects the Kansas City Chiefs will take Marcus Mariota — a quarterback from Oregon.
Marcus Mariota. 18. player. 124. Given Andy Reid’s reputation for developing quarterbacks, Kansas City would be the ideal spot for Mariota to grow into a franchise player.. Quarterback. Oregon
This is not a drill. Someone actually mocked a quarterback to the Chiefs in the first round of a real life NFL draft.
Few pipe dreams are greater than the one that sees the Chiefs landing Mariota with the 18th overall pick. Finding a scenario where Mariota falls outside of the top FIVE let alone the top 17 is difficult to conjure. St. Louis, New York Jets, and Tennessee Titans are all quarterback hungry teams who may be more willing to take a chance on Mariota with a high pick than with the red flag riddled Jameis Winston.
Kansas City hasn’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since Todd Blackledge in 1983 but that streak will most definitely end if Mariota managed to fall to 18th overall. There’s little question Mariota is at least the second best quarterback in this draft and he has the superior off-field resume to Winston. His game fits what the Chiefs like to do on offense, and because the Chiefs have Alex Smith under contract they won’t have to rush Mariota into a starting role. Absolutely the Chiefs take him if he is there when they pick.
The problem is simply that he will not be there when KC picks. It does pose an interesting question about what the Chiefs should do if Mariota falls out of the top 10. The Chiefs should have 11 draft picks to work with which would be helpful in trying to trade up in the first round should there be a guy the absolutely want. Moving up six or seven picks to draft Mariota may be a thing they seriously have to consider if Mariota were to find his way out of the top 10.
But, again, that’s a pipe dream. Mariota is clear top five pick, and the only top quarterback in this draft with the chance to slip down in the draft to Kansas City’s range is Winston. But, hey, I like the effort from Mr. Brooks. If you can’t dream in the offseason then when can you dream?