For the first time since 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs are picking in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. Unlike 2017's draft though, the Chiefs earned a top 10 pick by finishing with a losing record in the previous season and are hoping to get a home run prospect with the ninth overall selection.
Brett Veach will be the one making the call there and he recently spoke with Peter Schrager about what the Chiefs might be doing when they're on the clock for the first time later this month.
"We have a lot of work to do on both sides of the football," Veach said. "We have some good core pieces on the offensive line in place but, you know, whether it be receiver or edge rusher or defensive back, I think really anything is in play... You know it's hard to say when you're at nine because, you know, you don't know how the first eight picks are gonna go... Picking nine you're kinda at the mercy of some of these other teams and their decision so I think it's just a matter of going through all of the scenarios."
Brett Veach doesn't give Chiefs fans much to work with when discussing draft plans
The "too long, didn't read" version of that quote is that the Chiefs aren't locked in at any position at nine and can go in whatever direction. As Veach said, they have eight teams picking ahead of them so those teams' selections will obviously impact what K.C. does as well.
He did make it a point to mention receiver, edge rusher, and defensive back though so it feels like a decent bet that the ninth overall pick is dedicated to beefing up one of those positions. As Chiefs fans have learned though, this team doesn't necessarily go in the direction that fans and talking heads think they should in the draft and this could be yet another example of that.
The Chiefs haven't had a top-10 selection in quite some time and the hope is that they won't "earn" another pick this high again anytime soon. They need to make sure that whoever they take with the ninth overall selection is someone who can be inserted into the lineup from Day 1 and make an immediate impact. Hopefully that's how this whole thing plays out.