Kansas City Chiefs: Six roster misses by Brett Veach that are hurting the team

Not drafting talent in the secondary

I think the Chiefs have some actual talent in the secondary. Players like Deandre Baker and Mike Hughes were once considered first-round talents. While that may no longer hold quite as true as it once did those two players still have talent and have shown flashes from time to time.

Add to that diamonds in the rough like L’Jarius Sneed and Charvarius Ward and I’m not sure there is a lot to complain about. That said, the situation could absolutely be better. Why do I say that?

Since Brett Veach became the Chiefs GM the team has not drafted a single cornerback in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. The only cornerback on the team they drafted in the first five rounds is L’Jarius Sneed, and he didn’t even play cornerback his final year in college.

This type of strategy, piecing together a particular unit with journeymen and early-round castoffs needing new scenery, can absolutely work for a season or two. It cannot work long term at a position like cornerback where particular traits are highly sought after and thus either highly drafted or very expensive on the trade or free agency market.

Conclusion

This brings the point of this whole piece home. If you take out the draft pick of Patrick Mahomes, it’s likely this front office has a far different reputation than they currently have. I’m not sure there are any major draft picks or acquisitions they can really hang their hat on.

I’m not advocating the Chiefs move on, and I’m also not coming after these players personally. My point is simply that this front office may need to re-evaluate the way it approaches roster building. Especially given the price of players like Mahomes, Jones, Kelce, and Hill.

They’ve taken some massive swings in the last few years, working to rapidly fix major issues. Very few if any of them have worked out tremendously.

It’s arguably better going forward for the front office to focus on acquiring draft capital and scouting more effectively, adding pieces in Free Agency or through trade if they’re slam dunks. Mahomes is talented enough to cover up some of the team’s weaknesses, but the list may be growing too long.

When it gets to this point and you realize the way you approached a problem made things worse,  the only option is to change the way you approach that problem going forward.