At this point in the Andy Reid era, the Kansas City Chiefs have to be used to this draft position by now. In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Chiefs are slotted to pick at No. 30 overall in the first round and every subsequent round which means a lot of sitting and waiting for Brett Veach and the rest of his staff.
Even if it’s become the norm, it doesn’t mean it has to be any easier as the Chiefs executives wait to see how the actual draft will fall in comparison to their best projections and mock draft efforts. With each passing pick, the team could see another name fall off of their big board, which can make for a very, very long opening night of the draft.
Coming into this year, the Chiefs are once again near the bottom but their security at quarterback has helped them in years past. Since they have Patrick Mahomes under center, the Chiefs have zero need for an early investment at quarterback. Other teams who aren’t so fortunate at quarterback are then often vying at or near the top of the draft order in order to try to change their predicament and find a franchise face.
The Kansas City Chiefs can only sit back and hope quarterback stocks get hot as the 2022 NFL Draft approaches in April.
This year, however, things are much different. Unfortunately for quarterback-needy teams, there are no obvious candidates to turn around a team’s fortunes. There are some moderately intriguing prospects, a group led by the likes of Liberty’s Malik Willis or Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett or Ole Miss’s Matt Corral, but those guys are far from sure bets. In fact, some teams might have them below other prospects like Desmond Ridder of Cincinnati or Carson Strong of Nevada.
The downside here is that a quarterback being taken in the first round meant that every other position player would get knocked down a single spot, which is one more step closer to the Chiefs at the bottom of the round. A run on quarterbacks meant that a solid 3-5 elite players at other positions were now available to K.C. This year that might not happen.
What might be more helpful for the Chiefs given the quarterback rankings this year in the draft class could be a chance to trade back. If Veach and company wanted to pick up additional Day 2 picks, they might want to slide back out of the first round in order for another team to secure that fifth-round option year by trading up and then claiming a quarterback late.
Of course, that doesn’t help the Chiefs on the opening night, but if the team likes a lot of guys around the same area of the draft, then picking up an additional pick or two might be the way to go. That’s certainly the only way this year’s quarterbacks are going to help the Chiefs—that is, unless the draft stock starts to heat up as the event gets closer.