Making 2020 NFL Draft predictions based on KC Chiefs prospect visits
By Thomas Welte
After evaluating the needs of the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s time to look at the prospects the Chiefs have reportedly been looking at for the 2020 NFL Draft.
Last week, we took a look at the team needs for the Kansas City Chiefs in part 1 of our 3 part guide to the 2020 NFL Draft.
Before we begin this second part, it is important to note that as the draft process has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it makes it even more difficult to track and read between the lines of prospect visits for NFL teams. The travel restrictions have caused a lot of visits to be canceled, and we do not have as much information as we have had in years past.
However, it is still worth looking at the positional breakdown of visits for Kansas City. Last year, the Chiefs visits by position looked like this:
- DE (15)
- CB (11)
- RB (10)
- OL (10)
- S (8)
- DT (5)
- TE (5)
- WR (4)
This was of course before the Chiefs traded for Frank Clark. The Chiefs then proceeded to draft a CB, S, WR, OL, and DT in 2019. Several of those players had a visit with the Chiefs either at the combine or a private workout.
There have been a handful of various reports of prospects, and thanks to the lovely folks at Arrowhead Pride, there’s a nice organized list here. There have been reports of other visits as well, but this was the primary source for the following data on the 2020 NFL Draft.
- OL (14)
- CB (9)
- WR (8)
- DE (5)
- DT (4)
- RB (4)
- LB (2)
- S (2)
- TE (1)
A couple of things stand out here. First, we only have approximately 49 reports of visits for the 2020 NFL Draft compared to 68 from last year. This is likely due to visits being canceled, and reporters having less access to teams and prospects this year.
Secondly, the Chiefs have done a lot of work on offensive line prospects. The Chiefs have looked at a lot of college offensive tackles that project as guards at the next level, something Andy Reid seems to do often. The Chiefs are also doing their due diligence on the cornerbacks and wide receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft, despite recently re-signing Demarcus Robinson and bringing back Sammy Watkins.