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2020 NFL Draft: Which positions hold best value for Kansas City Chiefs?

By Lyle Graversen

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - APRIL 25: A general view of video board signage during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft on April 25, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - APRIL 25: A general view of video board signage during the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft on April 25, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 30: Laken Tomlinson of the Duke Blue Devils holds up a jersey with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being picked #28 overall by the Detroit Lions during the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University on April 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 30: Laken Tomlinson of the Duke Blue Devils holds up a jersey with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being picked #28 overall by the Detroit Lions during the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University on April 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Interior Offensive Line

Before we get to the players drafted at interior offensive line, let me make a disclaimer. There’s a little bit of a blurred line at times between interior offensive line and offensive tackles. I started with the players that were listed in the NFL’s draft tracker as either guards or centers when they were drafted and then adjusted a couple that I knew were playing there in the NFL.

It is certainly possible that you could take issue with a lineman that I did or didn’t include as part of this count, but I feel like it is close enough to give you an accurate picture of the success rates. I probably should have put a similar disclaimer in the linebacker section with a little overlap between linebacker and edge players.

Now let’s get to the interior offensive lineman taken between picks 25-48 of the previous six drafts.

Xavier Su’a-Filo, Joel Bitonio, Weston Richburg, Laken Tomlinson, Joshua Garnett, Germain Ifedi, Forrest Lamp, Austin Corbett, Will Hernandez, Braden Smith, James Daniels, Dalton Risner, Elgton Jenkins, and Erik McCoy.

Then compare that with the group taken in the third round of those same drafts.

Marcus Martin, Travis Swanson, Spencer Long, Gabe Jackson, Chris Watt, Trai Turner, Brandon Linder, Jeremiah Poutasi, A.J. Cann, Hroniss Grasu, John Miller, Max Tuerk, Joe Thuney, Isaac Seumalo, Graham Glasgow, Rees Odhiambo, Pat Elfein, Dan Feeney, Martinas Rankin, Alex Cappa, Mason Cole, Michael Deiter, Nate Davis, and Connor McGovern.

This is another interesting group to me. The first group is really solid. There’s a few disappointments, but overall its a strong group. The third round group definitely has more misses, but you can also argue it’s strongest players are just as good as the first group’s. Here’s how the actual percentages look.

Picks 25-48:

  • 93% still in the NFL
  • 93% started at least one game in 2019
  • 7% have made a Pro Bowl (Bitonio)

Third Round:

  • 75% still in the NFL
  • 63% started at least one game in 2019
  • 4% have made a Pro Bowl (Turner)

Once again, the percentages for the 25-48 range don’t look too much different than the other positions. The interior offensive linemen have a higher percentage of players that started at least one game over the other positions, but they also have the lowest percentage of Pro Bowlers taken in that range.

The third round numbers are pretty solid. While they don’t have as high of percentage of Pro Bowlers as the running backs do, they do have the highest percentage of third round picks that started at least one game last season.

Of all the positions we’ve profiled so far, interior offensive line would probably qualify as the safest position so far to land a starting caliber player. If a person wanted to, they could certainly use that as justification for waiting on an interior lineman in the first round and taking one later.

Finally, for those wanting to load up on weapons for Patric Mahomes, let’s see what the wide receiver position looks like.

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