Who should the KC Chiefs target with their first-round pick?

Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida

Kaiir Elam has been one of my favorite cornerbacks in the draft since the beginning of the season. If the Chiefs can find a way to add him into their secondary, I’d have absolutely no problems with it at all.

Strengths

Kaiir Elam, as I said above, has been one of my favorite cornerbacks in the draft since the beginning of the season.

Now, there isn’t a lot of concerns nor strengths to his game. Elam is one of the more versatile coverage cornerbacks in this draft, and that’s what’s going to make him a good draft pick for any team. He has the ability to fit into just about any scheme and have his good traits stand out.

When it comes to man coverage, Elam is best when he is at the line and can get his hands on the receiver early. He is an aggressive cornerback and doesn’t shy away from the physical part of the game and it shows. With his ability to be physical at the line, it’s very possible that he will start the season trying to match up with the bigger receivers at the line. Of course, that’s just speculation.

Looking at there versatile part of his game, Elam also shows very good skills in zone coverage. Elam’s length and ball skills help him make plays and makes the quarterback find tight gaps in the coverage. Also being the aggressive cornerback that he is, he doesn’t show many problems when attacking the ball in front of him.

He is a very smart football player as well which is going to be good for the Chiefs to consider. This past season, the Chiefs had a tendency to have games with lots of penalties or make hot headed choices in the moment that would cost the team greatly. However, Elam shows the cool head it takes to play smart and not draw penalties.

Weaknesses

Elam is one of the better cornerbacks in this draft, but it is definitely worth mentioning his subpar athleticism. Now, that isn’t saying that he isn’t athletic compared to most of us, but when looking at his film, the athleticism part of his game is average. He isn’t very fast which could make him a liability to cover against the opposition’s speed receivers.

Elam also has a hard time when it comes to tackling. However, that is something that can be taught and developed. Honestly, it’s not even that he can’t tackle, it’s that he has a tendency to take bad angles when attacking the runner. The angles he takes often leads to some missed tackles which is a problem, especially being in the secondary. We, as Chiefs fans, can’t afford to have missed tackles in the secondary especially given our potential safety issues.

How he Fits with the Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs have a real need for some defensive back help. With Mathieu’s future uncertain, along with Chavarius Ward and Daniel Sorensen hitting free agency, the Chiefs will be thin in the secondary.

Now, maybe you guys trust Juan Thornhill to take the necessary step up if the Chiefs are unable to re-sign Mathieu, but It doesn’t fix the fact that the Chiefs are going to be thin at the cornerback position. That’s where Elam comes into play.

Kaiir Elam’s length, versatility, and ball skills makes him a huge asset. He also gives the Chiefs a cornerback who can cover players like Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, and Bryan Edwards. L’Jarius Sneed is a good cornerback, but he has struggled guarding those receivers in the past, but those are the types of receivers that Elam can cover with ease.