KC Chiefs receive help in trenches from latest 2023 mock drafts

With the NFL regular season coming to a close what have NFL draft experts from across the web projected for the KC Chiefs in the 2023 NFL Draft?

While we are beginning to approach the NFL playoffs, all teams are already busy preparing for the 2023 NFL Draft, with some focusing just a little bit more on a playoff run. Many teams send college scouts across the country to attend college football games every week to get a better understanding of young prospects they may select in the following draft.

Kansas City and the Chiefs are the hosts of the 2023 NFL Draft but what kind of players are they potentially interested in? Which positions will they target? It’s too early to know for sure but there are countless NFL mock drafts across the internet so let’s take a quick look at what a few draft analysts are projecting for Kansas City.

Pro Football Focus (Trevor Sikkema)- December 28, 2022

Cody Mauch is a tackle from North Dakota State

Here is Trevor Sikkema’s analysis:

"Chiefs offensive tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie have had a rough go of it in 2022, consistently placing in the bottom 10 for pressures allowed at their position. Mauch is an intriguing replacement for one of them. He’s a former walk-on tight end who put on 80 pounds during his early years at North Dakota State to now be one of the most athletic tackles in the class. He’s an eraser in the run game, but for as well as he moves, his pass protection does need work. He earned just an 80.6 pass-blocking grade this season against lesser competition."

I like, not love, this mock draft pick. I believe that Cody Mauch is from reaching his ceiling, due to him being relatively new to the position. But he’s still too raw as a pass-blocker, even against lesser competition, to spend a first-round pick on. I personally don’t view him as a player who is ready to be a starter in his rookie season in the NFL, similar to Darian Kinnard. I wouldn’t hate this pick, but I don’t believe they should spend a first-round pick on a player who needs a redshirt year. If this was in the second round, then I’d be 100% on board, but not at 29th overall. I love the position but am just lukewarm on the prospect.

CBS Sports (Josh Edwards)- December 29, 2022

Here is what Edwards said about this pick:

"Kansas City is looking for more dynamic traits off the edge. Anudike-Uzomah is not the most explosive, but he will upgrade the pass-rush floor."

I’m completely on board with this pick. This is not the first time I’ve analyzed a Felix Anudike-Uzomah mock draft selection in this series, but I love him as a prospect so much that I don’t really care. He’s not a perfect prospect by any stretch but I believe that he has a higher floor as a pass rusher than George Karlaftis coming out of the draft, in addition to having more potential as a rookie due to his traits. The Chiefs need all the pass rush help they can get, whether it’s on the edge or on the interior. This would also be an amazing first-round pick since the draft is in Kansas City this season and FAU is a native of Kansas City.

Sporting News (Vinnie Iyer)- December 30, 2022

Here is how Iyer defended the pick:

"The Chiefs need to get a true No. 1 wideout after getting inconsistent results with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Kadarius Toney. Johnston deliver a huge season catching passes with Max Duggan and has ideal field-stretching speed outside for Patrick Mahomes."

This is genuinely my favorite mock draft selection I’ve reviewed in the four months of doing this series. Depending on the analyst, Quentin Johnston is considered one of the premier prospects in this draft class. He’s been in the Top 15 of the majority of draft boards I’ve reviewed and he projects as a true X wide receiver in the NFL. He’s fantastic on deep routes and great on intermediate routes.

Johnston’s biggest issue, in my opinion, is that his hands have been an issue at times this past season. He dropped two passes against both SMU in Week 4 and Kansas State in Week 8. Run blocking also isn’t a strength of his, but blocking isn’t something that teams should care about when scouting wide receivers for early in the draft.

If the Chiefs can somehow land Johnston, even if he doesn’t play a position of dire need, they become a virtually impossible offense to defend, and he will also help with a potential decline of Travis Kelce.