Matt Miller’s latest mock draft meets lots of the Chiefs needs
By Matt Conner
Round One – Patrick Queen, LB
There are two linebackers at the top of everyone‘s linebacker rankings in this year’s draft: Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray and LSU’s Patrick Queen. Neither is the sort of rare, elite prospect that allows for some linebackers to be taken in the top 5 to 10, but they are the alpha dogs in this class and tha’s important.
Given that linebacker play in general isn’t all that compelling these days, both Murray and Queen are not only projected as first rounders in any mock draft but most often they’re selected before the Chiefs could even take them at the very bottom of the first. A trade could be in the works, but again, the Chiefs only have five picks to utilize over the three-day period.
The idea of Queen falling all the way to No. 32 overall would be a major get for the Chiefs and would likely be the shortest time between a franchise being on the clock and turning in the draft card (or whatever the process looks like this year).
The Chiefs were able to win a Super Bowl with the current crop of linebackers on the roster, but there’s no denying that the unit has lacked dynamism at the heart of the defense ever since Derrick Johnson left. A first-round investment of a well-rounded athletic linebacker like Queen would pay immediate dividends.
Our take: Sprint to the podium. A major get for a significant need.