Kansas City Chiefs 2020 NFL Draft Report Card

Round 4 – Pick 138 – L’Jarius Sneed – DB – Louisiana Tech

The Chiefs finally drafted a cornerback (we think) in the fourth round; it just wasn’t the one most fans were hoping for. L’Jarius Sneed wasn’t even the defensive back most fans wanted from Louisiana Tech, but that doesn’t mean that fans shouldn’t be happy with this selection. Sneed played corner up until his senior year when he was moved to safety. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before; Sneed is an athletic freak but is going to need some coaching and development to realize his upside.

Once again Ryan Tracy’s Athletic Matrix had the Chiefs pick rated at the top of his position group (safety):

Sneed is fast, running a 4.37 second time in the 40-yard dash. He has good size and wingspan and plays physical.

Dane Brugler of the Athletic had this on his ball skills in his draft guide:

"Sneed wanted to play wide receiver in college and he shows off those soft hands and ball-handling skills with eight career interceptions and three pix-sixes (no FBS player had more over the last four seasons)."

The Pro Football Focus Draft Guide had good things to say about both his coverage and run support abilities:

"(In 2019) he was particularly stingy in coverage where he gave up 30 yards or more in just two of his 13 games and allowed just a 45.2 passer rating on his targets in coverage…Sneed has always been a strong run defender…missing only 11 tackles on his 167 career tackle attempts."

Trying to grade Sneed’s value here at the back of the fourth round is tricky. He was the #229 rated prospect on the composite big board and the Chiefs took him at pick 138. There were several players much higher rated on the composite big board including center prospect Tyler Biadasz, wideout Tyler Johnson, and cornerbacks Bryce Hall and Sneed’s teammate Amik Robertson.

Oon one hand, the Chiefs got an athletic freak that fits exactly what they look for in their corners on the outside that could also fill the void left by Kendall Fuller who doubled some at safety last year and they did it at the back of the fourth round. That sounds like good value.

On the other hand, there were definitely players available that were widely seen as much more coveted prospects. At this point we should probably discuss the Bryce Hall slide. Hall was widely seen as a late round two prospect who was coming off a serious injury. Based on his fall, NFL teams were clearly scared off by his injury. Was it because they had information that made them worried he might not be the same after the injury? Or was it simply that they didn’t have enough information because of their inability to have their own team doctor look at him? We may never know. All we know is that all 32 teams were concerned enough not to take him in the first four rounds.

It wasn’t just the Chiefs that weren’t willing to pull the trigger. Maybe Hall will pan out, maybe he won’t, but I’m not sure you can tank Sneed’s value grade simply based on Hall’s fall. That having been said, I do think you can argue that there were more highly regarded prospects on the board and that it is at least possible that Sneed could have been there in the 5th round. The Chiefs just weren’t willing to risk it.

I do believe Sneed has good long-term upside because of his athletic profile and versatility. K.C. fans may not want to bank on him making a huge impact right away, but he did fill a need as depth and a long term option at corner going forward.

Draft Slot Value Grade: C+
Fit With Chiefs Grade: A-
Need/Immediate Impact Grade: B
Long Term Upside Grade: A-

Overall Pick Grade: B

Next up, the Chiefs had many fans scratching their heads with this pick.