Chiefs draft: Five fan-favorite picks that I am against

Cameron Erving – C – Florida State – First Round:

Cam Erving has all the tools to develop into a quality player, but he still has too much to learn to be the immediate answer the Chiefs need at C. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

I will start by saying this: I believe Cam Erving is going to be an excellent player in the NFL in a year or two. So what’s the problem? Well, the problem is that fans want the Chiefs to draft Erving to be our starting center right away. The logic behind this is that the Chiefs need a center and he’s the best one in the draft. I can’t argue with those two individual points.

However, Cam Erving does not look like an immediate starter at center to me. That means he won’t fix the hole at C that everyone is worried about for the upcoming season. Remember, for as good as Rodney Hudson turned out, it took him a couple of years to get there. Whenever you’re talking about moving a player, that has to come into play.

Yes, Erving did play a few games at C, but he doesn’t even have an entire season there. That is important. It means he still has a lot to learn, which then means he probably doesn’t fill that hole with the immediacy fans are hoping he will. And when you’re taking a project player, you want that project to be the best one you can find. At #18 overall, that is not Cam Erving.  Now, if the Chiefs decide to trade back to the mid or late 20s and get Erving, I’ll be fully in support of that.

Breshad Perriman – WR – Central Florida – First Round:

Speed alone doesn’t make a good football player. Breshad Perriman is more bust than boom. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

I get it, he’s fast. He ran an incredible 40 time. But here’s the problem…he’s always been fast. He was fast all season long. There is absolutely nothing about that 40 time that changes any of that. It just means that, yes, he is fast. He is what we already knew he was. There is absolutely no reason why anybody’s opinion of the guy should change just because he has confirmed what we knew.

The whole reason he was a borderline first round pick in the first place was because he was fast.  But his speed doesn’t cover up the very concerning flags that he has shown on his tape.    He still doesn’t catch the ball well, runs a limited route tree, and is suspect in his route running as a whole. As the son of an NFL wide receiver, those are three things he should be doing better than anyone. Take a pass, folks, that train is headed to Bustville.

It’s not that any of these prospects are terrible or are guaranteed to be busts (though I do believe that’s the case with Perriman).  It’s more about ensuring we are using our picks to get the best prospects we can.  That’s often hard to do when your first consideration is drafting for need instead of talent.  Drafting a WR just because we need a WR, well, that’s how we ended up with Jon Baldwin.  The focus should remain on the talent of the player, not the need of the position.

Mock drafts are meant to be enjoyable, first and foremost.  It’s sheer entertainment value.  So don’t get too wrapped up in any one player or scenario.  One of the most important things to remember when building your mock draft is that there are 32 different draft philosophies in the NFL…and none of them are yours.