2018 NFL Draft: The Chiefs improved their defense, just not where expected
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted defense like most of us thought last weekend, but not in the positions where fans expected.
All things considered, the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2018 draft was probably fine. We don’t really know. Undrafted free agents can become stars and top-10 picks can become busts in the blink of an eye. For the most part, the best we can do is look at what a team tried to do, and then see if we like that.
I think I know what the Chiefs tried to do. I’m not a huge fan.
The Chiefs didn’t swerve into a ditch with their 2018 draft, and they didn’t go out and mortgage their future for some developmental pass-rusher. This wasn’t a disaster, it just feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Not to be a single-issue voter, but if the Chiefs would have traded up for Isaiah Oliver or had never traded away Marcus Peters, my tone around this draft would be completely different. There’s no harm in drafting a pass rusher in a league with too few of them. Perhaps Breeland Speaks wasn’t the best OLB candidate at that point in the draft, and perhaps the Chiefs shouldn’t have traded up for him there. (That’s the opinion of Kent Swanson, who’s on today’s show.) I’m not ready to call Speaks a future star any more than I’m ready to call him a definite bust. From my perspective, the entire Chiefs draft is tainted by one fact: they apparently aren’t worried about their cornerbacks, and I definitely am.
When the Chiefs traded up on Friday, I was sure it was for Isaiah Oliver. Maybe a safety. But surely Oliver. Josh Jackson had just gone, and the Chiefs pulled the trigger. It made too much sense. It was all too perfect. Then they took an all-over-the-field pass-rusher that wasn’t on anyone’s radar at pick 46.
If it would have been a trade up for Oliver or if the Chiefs had never traded away Marcus Peters, today would feel different.
People that don’t like Marcus Peters really seem to enjoy telling others to “get over it” instead of talking about the impact his absence will have on the defense. (Another topic accidentally discussed on today’s show.) But now, conversations involving Peters aren’t really about him. They’re about the void he left behind. Now, after an offseason of investment into the defense—both by way of free agency and the draft—the Chiefs have completely overhauled the middle of their defense without doing much to address the guys who can be most easily exposed.
Can the late-round draftees help? Perhaps! Is Kendall Fuller ready to be a number one NFL cornerback? Seems reasonable! Should Chiefs fans be uneasy about David Amerson getting a huge portion of the snaps at CB2 this year? No doubt about it!
Even as Breeland Speaks may be worthy of his drafting, as the rest of Day 2 intrigues me, and as Day 3 provides lots of well-thrown darts, I’m left extremely uncomfortable by what the Chiefs left the draft with. Or, more accurately, what they left the draft without.
On today’s show, I break down the draft, talk about where the defense heads from here, and Kent Swanson brings his wisdom to the table.
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