Per the latest NFL Power Rankings at NFL.com, the Kansas City Chiefs remain firmly entrenched in the top 10 at No. 8 overall.
The latest set of NFL Power Rankings are out at the league’s mother ship and fans of the Kansas City Chiefs might have a hard time arguing with the results. The Chiefs remain a top 10 team despite the fact that their recent draft haul is largely about 2018 and beyond. That’s good news for the long-term competitiveness of the Chiefs, knowing they have a stacked roster that’s among the best in the NFL now while simultaneously taking on the sort of projects that could turn into elite players later.
Elliot Harrison makes a valid point when describing the Chiefs draft class. If this team has a window right now to make it to the Super Bowl or even win, then why not use the draft class to patch up troubled spots, maybe at cornerback, inside linebacker, offensive guard, defensive end. Even the choices they made at some those positions — Tanoh Kpassagnon, Ukeme Eligwe — are serious developmental projects. But it’s mostly about quarterback, where the Chiefs paid plenty to move up and take an asset that, in a best case scenario, won’t even see the field in 2017. He writes:
"Andy Reid and Co. valued Patrick Mahomes’ talent enough to pay a future first-round pick to get him. If the best time to look for a quarterback is when you don’t need one, then Kansas City was right to go after the rubber-band-armed Mahomes. On the other hand, that saying presupposes that a talented quarterback falls to a team, not that the team will move up (and pay a pretty penny) to acquire him. In essence, what the Chiefs did was no different than what the Bears did to take Mitchell Trubisky, or what the Texans did to obtain Deshaun Watson. Bad move? Nope. A little strange, given that K.C. is a Super Bowl contender with a decent quarterback already? Hmm. What do you think, #ChiefsKingdom?"
If the Chiefs can remain competitive this year and even make the playoffs and end up successfully handing off the reins to Mahomes next season, most Chiefs fans are likely to say it’s okay to not go for broke in 2017. The hunger seems almost equal for a Super Bowl title and a drafted franchise quarterback. At the very least, the team has satiated one desire in their attempts to get to the second. That should buy them some time. Hopefully it also won’t drop them in these sorts of power rankings.