NFL Supplemental Draft brings opportunity for Kansas City Chiefs

This year’s NFL Supplemental Draft brings a new opportunity for Chiefs GM Brett Veach to add talent before training camp if he desires.

The middle of July brings a new opportunity to every NFL general manager each year to bring in new talent at yet another point in the long offseason: the NFL’s supplemental draft.

Each year, a number of college football players learn that they are no longer eligible to compete for the upcoming season as planned. Most of the time, academics are to blame, but situations vary from player to player. The end result in every case is a sudden stop in a player’s football career—unless they are able to find a team interested in them at the NFL level.

Unlike the typical track to the NFL, the players in mid-summer don’t have agents who prep them for months to look their best in Combine drills, all-star exhibitions and their own pro day. Oftentimes, the details are all thrown together. Scouts search for quick interview subjects to find out as much as they can about a prospect in a short window of time. The players themselves are forced to become quick masters at the 40-yard dash and broad jump. Teams scramble to find quality video of each prospect, especially those in the lower ranks.

With the official NFL Draft in the books two months ago and the bulk of free agency’s big moves concluded, the supplemental draft is a final way for teams to bring in new talent for this year’s roster before rookies and vets alike are scheduled to come to training camp.

This year, Kansas City Chiefs general manager has a few prospects to consider at key positions of long-term need as he thinks about the supplemental draft class of 2019.

The Chiefs have worked hard to completely remake the linebacker and safety positions, and Shyheim Cullen of Syracuse and Jalen Thompson of Washington State are potential players of interest at each position, respectively. In addition, the Chiefs have churned the fringes of the roster looking for a tight end prospect they like. Will JuCo product Devonaire Clarington draw Veach’s interest? And what about promising wide receiver Marcus Simms for an already prolific offense?

As the four primary prospects available, each of them could potentially fit within the Chiefs long-term plans given the positions they play. None of them should be expected to make any sort of immediate impact or any team, but it will be interesting to see if Veach wants to add another player to the mix of competition before camp starts.