Chiefs mock draft: John Dorsey gets creative
By Ben Almquist
2nd Round
Cody Whitehair – OG – K State
Strengths: A wide base to wall off defenders. Strong anchor and a quick reset to keep pass rushers from pushing the pocket. Violent and active hands that will keep his opponent off balance. Tough guy mindset, able to take whatever is thrown at him.
Awareness and vision are elite level traits. Recognizes stunts, twists, and delay blitzes. Versatile enough to play guard or tackle, with experience at both.
Weaknesses: Will need to add some weight to transition back inside to guard. Can let defenders get inside his block, causing him to lose leverage or resort to holding. Doesn’t show the nastiness you’d like to see from a guard, often times not finishing off vulnerable defenders.
The Fit: To be honest, Whitehair should not be available late in the 2nd, but the Chiefs stand to benefit from the rest of the talent in this draft class. Teams won’t want to miss out on the defensive talent at the top end of this draft, so guys like Whitehair can slide when they shouldn’t.
All in all, he’s one of the best overall players in this class. Some folks will say we don’t need to get a guard this early…yeah, I heard similar arguments in 2014. We got two guards late in the draft, and here we are still needing a guard. The best chance to get this right is to do it early. You can find a guard in the 6th, but chances are you won’t.
Next: 3rd Round