Regrading the K.C. Chiefs 2014 NFL Draft class

The 2013 NFL season saw the Kansas City Chiefs, who were just 2-14 in 2012, improve under new head coach Andy Reid to the tune of an 11-5 record and a playoff birth. Despite an epic Wild Card game loss, it was impossible not to view the year as a success.

The Chiefs entered the 2014 offseason in hopes of continuing to build on that success, and the second draft class was going to be pivotal for John Dorsey’s roster reconstruction.

A major part of the 2013 turnaround involved a 2014 draft pick, as the Chiefs traded the future pick as part of the deal for quarterback Alex Smith. While the deal has to be considered as part of any honest evaluation of the 2014 class, it is difficult to call the group as a whole a success.

So just who did the Chiefs take in the 2014 Draft; and, what do we know about the group when looking back seven years later.

Sixth Round – Pick 200 – Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, G, McGill

The Kansas City used their last selection in 2014 to make arguably its best selection of the entire weekend. With the 200th pick in the sixth round, the Chiefs selected unheralded guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif from little discussed McGill College (in part, because it’s in Canada).

Duvernay-Tardif, known in Chiefs Kingdom as the Canadian Doctor and/or LDT, is the only player from the class still with the team as of the 2021 offseason, and he’s certainly far exceeded his draft status. The doctor nickname, of course, is tied to the fact that LDT earned his M.D. and is a licensed, certified, and practicing medical doctor.

During his seven year NFL career, and after not playing the entire 2014 season, LDT has started 57 games for the Chiefs since 2015. He did enough to earn a 5 year, $42.3 million contract from Kansas City after the 2016 season.

After helping Kansas City win Super Bowl LIV, LDT opted out of the 2020 season, and instead used that medical degree to serve COVID patients in Canada amidst the pandemic. It appears that he’ll be back in the mix for the Chiefs in 2021 and he is certainly the best pick in the 2014 draft for Kansas City.