KC Chiefs: Darian Kinnard carries chip on his shoulder to NFL

When you listen to Darian Kinnard speak for any length of time about his leap to the NFL, two things are readily clear: he’s ready to work and he’s coming in motivated.

When the Kansas City Chiefs submitted the draft card with Kinnard’s name on it, it was the result of a trade-up in the fifth round with the Seattle Seahawks. The cost was a fifth along with an extra seventh-round selection, but given the mammoth frame (and potential) of Kinnard, a long-time starter at right tackle for the University of Kentucky, it’s a deal that most would agree was worth making.

Coming into the draft, Kinnard told reporters following his selection that he’s anxious to prove a lot of people wrong after sitting through a much longer-than-expected draft weekend.

“All the feedback I got was all of second round, maybe at best squeezing into the bottom of the first. Then probably the lowest would be third round,” said Kinnard. “At the end of the day, it’s another Trey Smith situation. I’m gonna come in. I got a lot of stuff to prove and I’ve got a big chip on my shoulder, so I can’t wait to get to work and show these other teams they messed up bad.”

Kansas City Chiefs lineman Darian Kinnard spoke to reporters about the chip on his shoulder.

That notion of proving the doubters wrong has become a common theme for Kinnard over the last few years. On the one hand, it might feel weird to believe that a long-term starter at tackle in the most powerful conference in college football would carry some chip against those who don’t believe in him. Then again, he says it was a Kentucky thing as if the Wildcats didn’t belong in the same conversation as other schools. That had to make last season’s No. 18 final ranking and Citrus Bowl win that much more satisfying.

” think coming to Kentucky, a lot of us are looked down on, especially as o-linemen,” explained Kinnard. “But we’ve always played with a chip on our shoulder as offensive line. Our offensive power was from our run game, and a lot of teams thought that we wouldn’t be contenders for anything—that as long as they could stop the run, they’d be fine, but they couldn’t.

“I’ve always had this underdog mentality and I’ve always liked that, so I’m going to come in with that mentality right now, play my ass off for this team, and win some games for them.”

Kinnard said he was surprised that the Chiefs were the team that called his name on draft day given that he didn’t take an official visit with the team in the pre-draft process. He also said that the Indianapolis Colts showed the most interest leading up to the event. However, he’s excited to play for a contender and block for Mahomes. When asked where he’s wanting to play, he had the right answer.

“For me, it’s whatever the team needs, whatever fit is going to be best that they think I need to fulfill, I’ll do that.”