Kansas City Chiefs 2021 4-round mock draft: Attacking the trenches
Third and Fourth-round picks
After finding two additions for the offensive line, I decided to grab another player that I didn’t expect to fall to where he was selected. If you’ve kept up with this series, you know that Carlos Basham Jr. out of Wake Forest has first to second-round potential. Fitting what Spagnuolo likes at defensive end with big, long, and good against the run, this seemed perfect to pair with Frank Clark.
The 6’5″, 285-pound lineman is highly intelligent when it comes to run schemes and how to attack them to disrupt the offense. Basham does a great job of setting the edge to force ball carriers inside and consistently holds his gap. The Chiefs defense has been torched when running to the opposite side of Clark this season, so finding someone that could help on that side in the third round not only fits a need but the best player available standpoint. He also has a variety of pass rush moves already and experience rotating inside to rush the passer, another bonus for Spagnuolo.
In the fourth round, I decided to go with Michigan wide receiver Nico Collins to address the X receiver role in the Chiefs offense. Given the lack of offense at Michigan in recent years, Collins is another receiver that will need some development before becoming a starter in the NFL. However, there is plenty to covet when evaluating him.
Standing at 6’4″ and 222 pounds, Collins has excellent height, length, and size for the X receiver role. Using choppy footwork and good hand fighting skills at the line of scrimmage, he consistently wins against press-man coverage. His calling card would be his contested catch ability to high point the ball and win above the rim.
Due to his size, he doesn’t possess the quick-twitch ability to gain separation but has good speed, and with his line of scrimmage skills to beat press, he does a great job of stacking and leveraging himself downfield. Even though Michigan’s offense doesn’t ask him to run a full route tree, he flashes the ability to execute hard breaking routes as he develops early in his NFL career.
Even if the Chiefs want to bring Watkins back in 2021, Collins looks to be a nice grab on Day 3 to replace him in that position in the future possibly. There’s also a need when Watkins misses time to injury as the Chiefs lack receivers that can fill that role consistently. The only receiver on the roster that fits that X style of player is Byron Pringle, and they have yet to give him many opportunities even when Watkins is out of the lineup.