Round 2 – Mitch Morse, Center, Missouri
We’ll never know if Kansas City feels re-Morse-ful (pun intended) about letting their 2015 second round draft pick go after four solid seasons with the team, but it is more than fair to say that in the two years since center Mitch Morse left the Chiefs in free agency (to sign with the Buffalo Bills), the team has certainly been worse at the position.
What makes it harder to stomach is that the Chiefs let one of the top centers in football walk right before they drafted Morse with the departure of current Arizona Cardinals center Rodney Hudson. It is tough to hit on draft picks in the NFL Draft. To hit on two consecutive selections, at the same position no less, and then to let them both walk, is heartbreaking.
Nonetheless, after four seasons and 49 starts, Kansas City chose not to bring Morse back, likely as a reaction to injuries causing him to miss 14 games across 2017-2018. Since signing with the Bills, though, he’s started 30 of 32 regular season contests, plus the playoffs, and helped give Buffalo one of the top offensive lines in the NFL. A great draft pick for Dorsey and the Chiefs, but it does sting a little to see great players leave before they hit their prime.
Round 1 – Marcus Peters, Cornerback, Washington
Not only did the Chiefs let: Nacho, O’Shaughnessy, Nelson, Conley, and Morse leave, only to see them all play better with their next teams, but the Chiefs also, very publicly, did so with their first round pick from 2015: cornerback Marcus Peters.
Kansas City took the former Washington Husky with the 18th overall selection in 2018, and while many thought it might have been a bit of a reach, Peters very quickly proved the doubters wrong. In his rookie campaign he started all 16 games, made the Pro Bowl, and led the league in passes defensed, interceptions, return yards and return touchdowns—all on the way to being named the Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. In 2016, he added First Team All-Pro to his already excellent resume and was well on his way to being one of the top shutdown corners while starring for the Chiefs.
Despite the accolades, it was not enough to overcome what the team perceived as irreconcilable temperament and personality issues, and Kansas City traded Peters during the 2018 offseason to the L.A. Rams. It still stings to watch Peters look so good on Sundays, but it stings more knowing that the team received merely a second and fourth round pick in exchange for the budding superstar.
Like almost every other pick in this draft class, Dorsey nailed this selection. The Chiefs were able to glean some of the benefits of the wise selection, but never got the ultimate payoff with Peters—to have a true shutdown cornerback on one half of the defense.