The 2025 NFL regular season has come to a close. Playoff matchups are set. Teams that missed the postseason dance are quickly looking to readjust for next year. With the regular season completed, the draft order is officially set for teams that failed to reach the playoffs.
After a year of underperformance and injuries, the Kansas City Chiefs finished in a rare spot. They are going to have a top-10 draft pick. After appearing in seven consecutive AFC Championship Games and making five of the last six Super Bowls—while winning three Lombardi Trophies—Kansas City is set for a reset.
Specifically, the Chiefs are set to pick ninth in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. We cannot rule out the possibility that K.C. moves out of that draft position come April. But if they do stay and pick in that spot, it will be the first time the Chiefs have ever selected ninth overall.
Top-10 selections are few and far between under Andy Reid
Assuming they still make a selection within the top 10, it would be just the third time Kansas City has made a top-10 pick under Andy Reid. He inherited the first overall pick from the previous regime after becoming Chiefs head coach in 2013. Of course, Kansas City used that pick on offensive tackle Eric Fisher.
Then in 2017, the Chiefs were not slated to pick until 27th overall. Obviously, all of Chiefs Kingdom fondly remembers the franchise-changing trade that year to move up 17 spots to 10th overall. After swapping picks with the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City selected Patrick Mahomes. The rest was history.
With Fisher and Mahomes being previous top-10 selections under Coach Reid, could this be the first time Kansas City takes a defender in the top 10 during his tenure?
Going back to his days as Eagles head coach, Reid had only two top-10 picks with Philadelphia. Just like his first year in Kansas City, Reid inherited the second overall pick in 1999 due to the previous regime’s struggles. That pick was used to select quarterback Donovan McNabb. The Eagles made multiple conference championship game appearances and a Super Bowl appearance with McNabb.
After going 5–11 in Reid’s debut season leading Philly, the Eagles selected defensive tackle Corey Simon sixth overall in 2000. Simon spent five total seasons with the Eagles. Following his playing career, he entered politics.
Recent players to go No. 9 overall
While the Chiefs have never selected ninth overall in franchise history, here is a look at the last 10 players taken at that spot in the NFL Draft. Five offensive players and five defensive players have gone ninth overall in the past 10 drafts. Six of those 10 names were trench players. Two were wide receivers, and the other two were cornerbacks.
- 2016: Leonard Floyd, EDGE, Chicago Bears
- 2017: John Ross, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
- 2018: Mike McGlinchey, OT, San Francisco 49ers
- 2019: Ed Oliver, DT, Buffalo Bills
- 2020: C.J. Henderson, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars
- 2021: Patrick Surtain II, CB, Denver Broncos
- 2022: Charles Cross, OT, Seattle Seahawks
- 2023: Jalen Carter, DT, Philadelphia Eagles
- 2024: Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears
- 2025: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, New Orleans Saints
Kansas City will have many positions to address this offseason and during the draft. It would not be surprising if they added to the list of recent trench players selected ninth overall.