KC Chiefs: What the 2021 NFL Draft class could look like

There were many takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Most Chiefs fans probably had a difficult time finding any positives from the game, but sometimes a loss allows a team to take one step back in order to take two steps forward.

Hopefully, the result opened the eyes of people in the Chiefs’ front office that Kansas City is not in need of a flashy move or pick. Instead, the team should focus on moves that make the team fundamentally better. The Chiefs already have loads of talent on both sides of the ball, but there are glaring holes in areas of the field that give teams a chance to pull the rug out from under from the Chiefs in key moments of a game.

The Chiefs offensive line was dreadful against the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Patrick Mahomes was pressured 29 times and 27 of those times came from four-man fronts. This resulted in Mahomes running for 497 yards before being sacked or, more likely than not, throwing an incompletion.

Eric Fisher suffered a torn achilles in the AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills, and his importance was shown when he was unable to play in Super Bowl LV. The expectation for Fisher is that he will spend most of next season rehabbing the injury.

The Chiefs will have some reinforcements coming back, however. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif should be back in uniform for Kansas City next season, and Lucas Niang will make his NFL debut next season. Niang was drafted by the Chiefs in the 2020 draft, but chose to sit out the 2020 NFL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mitchell Schwartz is an unknown for next season, as he had dealt with a back injury for the majority of 2020 season. Could the injury force the 30-year-old into retirement? Could the injury cause major regression? Andrew Wylie, a restricted free agent, and Mike Remmers, an unrestricted free agent, are both uncertainties that the Chiefs may allow to hit the market.