The 2021 NFL Draft has featured a lot of waiting for the K.C. Chiefs, who were forced to watch the entire first round and third round pass without any scheduled activity. Even in the fourth round, the team had to wait until the very end as they held a late compensatory pick, but the Chiefs finally grabbed their third pick with the selection of Florida State defensive end Joshua Kaindoh.
Kaindoh was more potential than production during his days at Florida State, but he’s the sort of flyer a team should take late in the fourth round, especially given the overall weak nature of the pass rusher in this particular draft class. Kaindoh has length for days with good quickness and strength. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to put it all together while playing for the Seminoles, as a leg injury ruined his junior year after a few games and he returned in 2020 to provide middling production.
The Chiefs certainly came into the draft with a need for a developmental defensive end given the departures of veterans like Alex Okafor and Tanoh Kpassagnon in free agency. The team did re-sign Taco Charlton and Mike Danna might be ready for a slightly larger role in his second season, but the Chiefs are going to need a couple more imports even beyond those figures—both to spell Frank Clark and play opposite him along the defensive line.
With their first two selections, the Chiefs grabbed linebacker Nick Bolton from Missouri and center Creed Humphrey out of Oklahoma—both in the second round. The Chiefs now have three remaining picks in the ’21 draft, including two in the fifth round and one in the sixth.