The Kansas City Chiefs have 2 of Mel Kiper’s top 25 undrafted free agents on their roster, cornerback Ashton Lampkin and OL Damien Mama.
Now that the 2017 NFL Draft is over, Mel Kiper Jr. has released his list of top 25 undrafted free agents. Fortunately the Kansas City Chiefs have two of them: USC offensive lineman Damien Mama and Oklahoma State cornerback Ashton Lampkin.
Lampkin is the highest rated of the two players coming into the draft, where he landed at No. 157 overall on Kiper’s final Big Board. Lampkin landed with the Chiefs shortly after the draft as a priority free agent and Kiper writes:
"I thought Lampkin (6-0, 201) might run a little faster than his 4.54-second 40 at the combine. He had 25 career special-teams tackles at Oklahoma State, so that could be his way onto a 53-man roster."
That’s good news for the Chiefs who will need their final defensive backs on the roster to be special teams aces, a la Eric Murray last season. Given that the Chiefs play approximately half of their defensive snaps in a dime formation, Lampkin stands a decent chance of making the roster.
Mama has started 25 games at the University of Southern California as a guard these last two years, impressing with his mammoth size. Kiper ranked him at No. 229 overall on his final Big Board and wrote:
"At 6-3, 334, Mama, a former USC lineman, lacks athleticism and is strictly a guard, so he doesn’t have the versatility of other prospects."
Mama certainly looks the part with the Chiefs and even drew the praise of Andy Reid in a press conference during the team’s rookie minicamp. That’s good news for him, but it hurts that he doesn’t possess the sort of versatility that other players have. The Chiefs are known to like guys who can play multiple positions, sometimes even three or four. When it comes down to roster spots, the Chiefs might have to slip Mama through waivers in order to place him on the practice squad.