Brett Veach says Kahlil McKenzie has a chance to be a “special offensive lineman”

The Kansas City Chiefs could have a “special” project on their hands with the addition of former Tennessee defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie.

Perhaps you’ve already watched/heard all of this, but for us, some interesting draft nuggets slipped through our radar in the frenzy of finding as much as we could about all of the Kansas City Chiefs draft picks earlier this offseason.

We are aware, of course, that the Chiefs took a chance in the sixth round when Brett Veach decided to flip two seventh round selections to move up into the sixth for the sake of taking Kahlil McKenzie. At the time, there were two primary points being made about the pick:

1. The Chiefs had just picked the son of Reggie McKenzie, the Oakland Raiders general manager. All kinds of anecdotes and quotes began to swirl about one team taking someone from a rival or some other such sentiment. It was something like, “Chiefs! Raiders! McKenzie!”
2. The selection was also an interesting experiment, likely the first draft pick to be asked to change positions before he would ever take the field. At the University of Tennessee, McKenzie lined up along the defensive line, but word quickly got out that the Chiefs (and other teams) were interested in the Volunteer as an offensive lineman.

Both of these anecdotes were quickly attached to McKenzie (with maybe further distraction about what first name to use: Kahlil or Reginald). All of this to say that very few people were actually talking about his physical talents and what he would bring to the field. He was a “project” to “develop” who was a “rival’s son.” Story filed.

Honestly there’s no need for much more than that considering he’s a sixth round choice overall. Most sixth round prospects from this draft will not be on an active roster in one or two years (or even this fall, perhaps), so if you can find some applicable anecdotes that make someone stand out from the pack, then you should certainly use them. But McKenzie isn’t just a depth pick along one line or another. Instead, Veach traded up because he thinks he can be “special.”

Earlier when I described that something has slipped through, specifically there’s a short video clip of Brett Veach discussing what a few prospects bring to the table. And when he gets to McKenzie, this is what he says:

"With Kahlil, we certainly knew of him. He’s one of those guys who is a talented enough player to be a very productive member on any team as a defensive lineman. But every now and then a pro day will catch your attention. This was a pro day that caught our attention, because they worked Kahlil out on the offensive line. So we came back and watched this work out, and when you see a 350 lb. guy move like this, just on a simple pull draw. I mean, this is stuff you’d see from a guard that was taken in the top 20 picks of the NFL Draft … This isn’t a guy who failed at defensive line and wants to be an offensive guard. This guy has a chance to maybe be a special offensive lineman."

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The Chiefs moved up because the way that McKenzie moves puts him on par with the best available interior offensive linemen in the entire draft class. If a guard is to be taken in the Top 20, that makes him a Zack Martin or a Frank Ragnow or a Kyle Long.

Veach’s summary wraps this up very well: that you shouldn’t think of McKenzie as a cute anecdote or far-out developmental player and certainly not an attempt to jab a rival. Right now, McKenzie could probably join the likes of Dee Liner, Justin Hamilton, Stefan Charles and other hopefuls along the defensive front. Maybe he’d even win a spot on the active roster and provide rotational reps. That’s all well and good.

Instead, Veach saw a true chance for an upside play, a guy who is already a positive force who has quickly shown that he “gets it”, as Veach says in the video, and already looks the part. Reps and technique and experience are all certainly important so no one should slot McKenzie into the line-up for some time but he’s also likely not light years away like some people are thinking.

The book on Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was the same in the sixth round four years ago—that this guy looked the part if he was properly coached. For LDT, it was the frame, experience and intelligence that was there. For McKenzie, he’s already been facing SEC competition on the opposite and knows best how to work around a defensive lineman’s moves. LDT wasn’t as far out as many believed and now he’s got the right side locked down. McKenzie might just be the long-term answer at left guard despite not even being in the competition now.

Veach certainly believes he has the potential to be truly special. You take that chance every time.