The Kansas City Chiefs earned one of the 2017 NFL Draft’s worst grades from ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. for relying so much on future potential.
The very act of making or even reading grades immediately after the 2017 NFL Draft is a fruitless exercise. Players have had literally zero time to even meet their new teammates, let alone make an impact, but that doesn’t stop analysts like ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. from doing his part and chiming in with an instant grade based how teams performed in their player acquisitions over the three-day draft event.
For a few paragraphs, Kiper ends up chastising the Chiefs for going all in on the future when they’re built to win now. After all, first round pick Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes won’t start while Alex Smith remains in place for at least another season. Second round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon is a raw, developmental talent. The same can be said of fifth round pick Ukeme Eligwe. Jehu Chesson is coming off of a very disappointing year for Michigan and wide receiver wasn’t even close to a need.
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The only value for a win-now team in this year’s draft can be found in running back Kareem Hunt. Kiper liked the pick, but other than some quick praise, he was right back to pointing to Mahomes. He writes:
"It really all comes down to Mahomes. You’d prefer not to give up so much draft value for a quarterback who shouldn’t be in the immediate plans. In this case, the Chiefs felt they had no choice."
Kiper is right when he says his opening phrase posted above. This is and will always be the Patrick Mahomes draft. However his career goes, that’s how this draft class will be remembered. And given that Mahomes won’t even be in the mix to start until 2018, barring injury, it’s silly to make any sort of grades at this point.