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Putting Chiefs draft into the big picture

By Ben Almquist

Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the stage before the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the stage before the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Chiefs made no bones about wanting CB help. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs made no bones about wanting CB help. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

ALL THE CORNERBACKS!!!

The writing was on the wall for the most part.  We knew that Sean Smith was going to be difficult, if not impossible, to re-sign this offseason.  And despite the aforementioned efforts of John Dorsey to keep him in town, Smith followed the money, just like he basically told us he would.

Personally, I won’t hold that against him.  It’s the same reason he ended up in KC in the first place.

But that definitely left the Chiefs with some big shoes to fill.  So it was no surprise that Dorsey added a cornerback early in the draft.  And it seems he got a good one in KeiVare Russell.  Russell really wasn’t on a lot of draft target lists for the Chiefs because he comes in under the 6’0 mark.  However, the tape on him is solid and he has a lot of potential.  He’ll be a good guy to mix in there with Philip Gaines, who can hopefully stay healthy this year.

The KC front office wasn’t done though.  In the fourth round they added the hard hitting Eric Murray from Minnesota, and then went back to the well one more time with Georgia Tech’s DJ White in the sixth.  Adding the second corner was largely expected, but going for a third had a lot of Chiefs fans scratching their heads.  But to me it made a lot of sense.

A healthy Phillip Gaines remains the key to the Chiefs CB situation. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
A healthy Phillip Gaines remains the key to the Chiefs CB situation. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

The truth is that we probably aren’t going to replace Sean Smith on a one-for-one basis.  And on top of that, you have the natural fail rate that just goes with the NFL draft.  While teams have confidence in their new additions, the reality is that more often than not, guys just don’t work out.  So it’s actually a pretty good show of self-awareness that the Chiefs decided to add an extra corner to the mix.

There’s a decent chance that one of these guys doesn’t make the roster.  Don’t freak out when that happens.  Adding nine draft picks to a team that was returning nearly all of a playoff team roster, you’re bound to have a few guys who simply can’t crack the list.

But overall, I like the move of throwing numbers at this spot.  It gives the team room for error and simultaneously creates an open competition atmosphere that should get the best out of the draft picks, the UDFAs, and even the returning veterans.

Next: QB competition

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