Jordan Davis would make an interesting first-round choice for KC Chiefs

The latest mock draft is out from Sharp Football, this time from Brendan Donahue, and it’s one we want to pay attention to as Chiefs Kingdom because of his mock draft history. What’s even more intriguing is that he has the Chiefs taking a monstrous defensive lineman in the first round with the addition of Georgia’s Jordan Davis.

To clarify what we mean by Donahue’s mock history, Huddle Report keeps track of mock draft accuracy year by year, and Donahue has been the site’s most accurate mock draft expert over the last five years. So when he speaks, we want to at least listen to what he has to say (or write in this case).

As for the Chiefs, the selection of Davis is a new name linked to the team at a position that’s also new. For that reason, we’re at least interested in exploring the idea.

A new first-round mock draft from Sharp Football has the Chiefs going with the single best run-stuffer in his class, Jordan Davis.

Most Chiefs fans would love to see Kansas City pull the trigger on an edge rusher, secondary help, or a wide receiver—likely in that order. The defensive line does need to be addressed, but grabbing a run-stuffing lineman without much in the way of disruptive ability feels like it doesn’t meet the most glaring needs on the team.

Davis is a fringe first-round talent at this position and it’s odd that the Chiefs might take him with other such needs, but Donahue brings perspective to his choice with the following:

"he Kansas City defensive line was one of their only units to have a below average grade from PFF and that was primarily due to their inability to stop the run. Although he may only be an early down player in the NFL, no player may have a bigger impact in stopping the run in the draft than Davis."

It’s true that the Chiefs could be better against the run, but some help will come from elevating linebacker Nick Bolton to a starting role next season. And again, the positional value of an edge rusher here, which the Chiefs could use in spades, would be hard to pass up. However, this is a deep edge rusher class and solid contributors or even starters could be found into Day 2.

Remember that general manager Brett Veach was also outspoken about addressing the defensive line as a primary focus. Last year, he rebuilt the offensive line left to right and the defensive front could receive the same treatment. Perhaps that means putting an elite run-stopper like Davis in on early downs next to Jones and upgrading the interior in a major way.

The Chiefs are also set to lose Derrick Nnadi in free agency and Davis would be an obvious upgrade there from day one, even despite his learning curve to the NFL. Around him, Turk Wharton and Khalen Saunders are still around, so the Chiefs have some flexibility here in case they just want to retain Nnadi or sign someone on his level for another season and upgrade elsewhere.

While this feels like a positional stretch, the truth is that Davis is at least a curious specimen at 6’6″, 340 pounds. The Chiefs haven’t had a defensive lineman like that in years. Perhaps that will change in just over a month.