The top 15 greatest draft picks in Kansas City Chiefs history
By Matt Conner
7. Buck Buchanan
Draft Details: 1st round, 1963
Key Stat: 182 games
From the moment, he stepped onto the field, Junious “Buck” Buchanan was a man among boys. At 6’7″, 270 lbs., he had an imposing frame with the speed and strength to make him twice as scary (he ran the 40-yard dash at Grambling in 4.9 seconds in the days when prospects didn’t train for such things).
The Chiefs took him with their first overall selection in the 1963 AFL Draft, and Buchanan became the dominant defender up front on a team that would eventually win a Super Bowl title. It’s unfortunate that he played in an era where many defensive stats weren’t tracked at all, but he’s unofficially credited with 70.5 sacks in his incredibly long 13-year career. The Pro Football Hall of Fame says he deflected 16 passes at the line of scrimmage in 1967 alone, showing just how much he could affect the game in various ways.
Buchanan made eight consecutive appearances in the Pro Bowl or the AFL equivalent from 1964-72 and was finally elected into Canton in 1990.