Looking at KC Chiefs draft grades from Day 2 of 2022 NFL Draft
By Matt Conner
Brett Veach has to be feeling pretty good about his fortunes over the 2022 NFL Draft weekend. Not only have the Kansas City Chiefs picked up excellent players but they’ve added those guys at positions of great need at ideal slots in the draft order. Veach didn’t even have to reach up at great cost in order to land his guys. Instead, the hard work put in by the front office has landed them a draft class that could rival (or even surpass) last season’s.
Chiefs Kingdom, if you’re feeling good about the team’s draft class, just know you’re not alone. NFL analysts from every outlet are praising the Chiefs left and right for their ability to bring in good players with great value in each round.
On the first day of the draft, the Chiefs earned high marks for their ability to add playmakers to the front and back of the defense in Washington Huskies cornerback Trent McDuffie and Purdue Boilermakers pass rusher George Karlaftis. On Friday, the defensive theme remained largely in place with the team’s decision to add Cincinnati Bearcats safety Bryan Cook in the second round and Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Leo Chenal in the third round.
Let’s take a closer look at what NFL analysts are saying about the Kansas City Chiefs’ haul of players from Day 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft.
For those who were clamoring for some help at wide receiver, those fans got their answer in the second round with the selection of Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore after sliding back four picks to land an extra fifth round pick from the New England Patriots.
On the day, the trio of Moore, Cook, and Chenal earned the Chiefs a robust “A+” grade from Chad Reuter of the NFL’s official site, who already gave the Chiefs an “A” grade for the first round. Reuter praised the value of picks one after the other, which bodes well for the Chiefs’ ability to earn long-term impact from this class.
Over at The Athletic, the Chiefs earned their highest grade on the night of day two for their final pick with Chenal given the value he provided at No. 103 overall. They also gave “B” grades for the picks of Moore and Cook as well and liked the fits of both.
Some draft analysts do have questions for the Chiefs with some picks, however, once the draft got past Moore. Without exception, analysts liked or even loved the pick of Moore and feel like he will be of great use to Andy Reid’s offense going forward and will help fill the void after trading Tyreek Hill. Chris Trapasso even gave him an “A+” grade and said, “Will be an instant star with Patrick Mahomes.”
Eric Edholm of Yahoo! Sports did have some questions for the Chiefs with their last two picks, wondering about the limitations of Cook as a box safety and the overlap with Nick Bolton for Chenal. Trapasso asked the same of Chenal wondering about the team’s investments at linebacker already on the roster in Bolton and Willie Gay Jr.
The Chiefs have six more scheduled picks on the way on Saturday in the final four rounds.