The Kansas City Chiefs will leave the first round with Mel Kiper’s highest rated safety if his latest mock draft holds true.
If you ask Mel Kiper, Jr., the top safety in the 2019 NFL Draft class is Johnathan Abram out of Mississippi State, and he has the Kansas City Chiefs being lucky enough to grab such a prospect at the very end of round one in his latest mock draft.
Kiper believes Abram is better than Deionte Thompson and other heralded safeties who might lay claim to the top spot on other lists. Despite being the best, however, Abram will have to wait to hear his name called for quite some time even as the best overall safety if the draft falls how Kiper sees it. While it’s obvious that edge rushers and the best linemen will go early, it’s also interesting to see several corners projected to be taken before any safety goes off the board.
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If the Chiefs take a polished SEC product as the draft’s top rated safety with their first round pick, it will be a similar story to the last time they did so when they grabbed Eric Berry. In fact, it’s the mystery around Berry’s future that makes Abram such a needed pick. Kiper writes:
"I’m sticking with a safety for Kansas City, because it was a clear weakness in 2018. Will we ever see Eric Berry return to his level of play from 2013 to ’16? Abram is my new No. 1-ranked safety, a tone-setter who is physical in the run game and can flip his hips and run in pass coverage."
The Chiefs could most certainly use a pro-ready safety with such a high ceiling at this point for their roster. Eric Berry played in only a couple games last year and didn’t look the part after trying to play through a painful heel injury. He was also attempting to come back from an Achilles injury that kept him out for every game in 2017 after going down in Week 1. Given the price tag and the question marks, Berry’s future is a complete unknown at this point.
Abram would then give the Chiefs an impact starter at a position without one for most of last season. The team released but then re-signed Ron Parker as free safety and he started most of the season. Jordan Lucas was a pleasant surprise after coming over in a trade with Miami, but he’s a special teams ace and depth play. Dan Sorensen and Eric Murray also around but the cap hit on both players feels a bit north of what they actually bring to the roster.