NFL Mock Draft: Predicting Round 1 surprises for KC Chiefs

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TEMPE, ARIZONA – SEPTEMBER 24: Tight end Dalton Kincaid #86 of the Utah Utes catches a six-yard touchdown reception against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first half of the NCAAF game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 24, 2022 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

A top tight end is taken

Some might not term this a real surprise considering the strength of the tight end position, but for a team with significant needs at very important positions, it would be at least a mild surprise for most people (and a greater surprise for some of us) if the Chiefs really did believe that taking a tight end was the best use of a first-round pick at this point.

Yes, there are talented tight ends here, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single team who was happy with such an investment in recent years. Here’s every first-round tight from the last 15 years. Is there a single team from that group that would remake that pick?

Dustin Keller
Brandon Pettigrew
Jermaine Gresham
Tyler Eifert
Eric Ebron
David Njoku
Evan Engram
O.J. Howard
Hayden Hurst
Noah Fant
T.J. Hockenson
Kyle Pitts

You’d have to go back 16 years to find Greg Olsen and the Carolina Panthers as the last team to likely be pleased with their choice to take a TE so early in the draft.

For the Chiefs, it sounds great to come up with Travis Kelce’s successor just in case, but when you have very real roster holes (e.g. right tackle, edge rusher, wide receiver), and your All-Pro tight end is setting personal highs, you can bump that choice for a year (or down a round) and take care of a bigger issue—no matter how talented someone like Dalton Kincaid might be.

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