With the 2023 NFL Draft scheduled to commence on Thursday at 7 PM Arrowhead Time, the Kansas City Chiefs are projected to have ten picks, but that figure could very well change if Brett Veach decides to make any trades.
The NFL Draft is a prime opportunity for teams to add young as well as cost-effective talent to their roster. Some teams, such as the Chiefs, are better at utilizing the draft than others. Front offices and coaching staff are regularly fired due to lackluster or worse draft classes. Teams that struggle to draft will (almost) always struggle to be contenders.
As teams add new players, they have some serious decisions to make as there are only 53 available roster spots for every team. Teams will have to decide which positions they want to stock up on and which they want to have fewer bodies at.
With the premium event of the NFL offseason right in front of us, let’s go ahead make way-too-early 53-man roster projections for the Kansas City Chiefs prior to the 2023 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks (2): Patrick Mahomes, Shane Buechele
One of the more difficult decisions was whether the Chiefs would carry two or three quarterbacks on its active roster. Traditionally, Kansas City has only had two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster in the regular season, but last year was an exception. The Arizona Cardinals reportedly attempted to sign Shane Buechele off KC’s practice squad in November of 2021, but the team decided to promote him to the active roster to avoid losing him.
Buechele did not dress for a game last season (or in 2021) as Chad Henne was the #2 behind Patrick Mahomes. The team recently brought in Blaine Gabbert, Tom Brady’s backup in Tampa Bay for three seasons, which threw a wrench into these predictions. Gabbert’s contract proved that he’s not guaranteed to serve as Patrick Mahomes backup this season.
It goes without saying that Shane Buechele’s preseason performance this year will determine whether Andy Reid decides to roster one or two depth quarterbacks behind Mahomes. If Buechele takes that next step, Gabbert will likely be cut and the team may attempt to retain him on the practice squad. If not, then the Chiefs will have some difficult decisions. Do they keep three quarterbacks on the roster or cut Buechele and risk losing him to another franchise? The team clearly has faith in him, so I decided to keep only #15 and Buechele on the roster at quarterback.