KC Chiefs 7-round mock draft: Fixing Kansas City’s defense

7.248: Peyton Hendershot, TE, Indiana

Last season the Kansas City Chiefs were mocked a tight end in just about every mock draft out there. This season, well it shouldn’t be much different.

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Noah Gray out of Duke last year. This year I have them selecting Peyton Hendershot from Indiana.

Measurables

Height: 6’4″

Weight: 215 lbs.

Strengths

The Kansas City Chiefs have been known to utilize their tight ends a lot. With Tony Gonzalez, and now with Travis Kelce, tight ends go to Kansas City to make themselves known. Yes, that’s probably an exaggeration but you know what I mean.

This year the Chiefs had Travis Kelce, Blake Bell, Noah Gray, and for a small portion of this year, they had Jody Fortson. Looking ahead to next season, their tight end room could look different, but maybe not.

Peyton Hendershot was one of the most mentioned players on the Indiana offense and always caught my eye on the screen. Rather it was him blocking on a run or becoming a quick off block option, Hendershot was always making an impact for the Hoosiers’ offense.

Now, did I make this pick in the mock draft to take over for Travis Kelce? No. I did it because I think having Hendershot learning at this point in time could eventually lead to him becoming a reliable option at a cheap cost for the Chiefs.

Weaknesses

Henderson doesn’t have many concerns but only because he wasn’t doing anything outrageous. Most of his film showed him blocking, and if he wasn’t blocking he’d just do a quick screen, or maybe run a slant, drag, or a hitch route. He just wasn’t used any other way. Which, maybe that’s because he can’t do anything else or maybe because they didn’t need him to. It’s hard to tell.

How He Fits with the Kansas City Chiefs

Henderson fits with the Chiefs under the assumption that the Chiefs won’t bring Blake Bell back. With Bell gone, the Chiefs could look to replace him with Noah Gray, but then it becomes a thing for the coaches. Do they truly believe that Jody Fortson can play tight end? Or should they work him back into their receiving rotation? Personally, I think Fortson will work his way back as a receiver which is why I made this pick.