No NFL team is immune from making a bad draft pick. Even the best teams in the league at drafting still make mistakes there and the Kansas City Chiefs aren't immune from that.
Recently, CBS Sports' Bryan DeArdo went through every single team's best and worst draft pick of the 21st century. For the Chiefs, it's probably not someone fans will even really remember. DeArdo ultimately settled on former 2018 second-round pick Breeland Speaks.
"Speaks played his entire rookie season before a violation of the league's substance abuse policy (which occurred while he was on injured reserve) sent his career into a tailspin. The Chiefs released Speaks after the 2019 season. He hasn't played in a regular-season game since his rookie year."
Breeland Speaks crowned as Chiefs' worst draft pick of 21st century
Casual Chiefs fans certainly won't remember Speaks. After all, the guy played just one year in the NFL before, as DeArdo noted, he was suspended by the league. He was waived by Kansas City after just two years with the Chiefs and then tried (and failed) to make it with the Raiders, Cowboys, Giants, Bills, 49ers, and Jaguars. He has spent time with the Michigan Panthers in the UFL though so he's not completely out of the sport.
While Speaks was largely forgettable and definitely undeserving of being a second-round pick, crowning him as the Chiefs' worst draft pick of the 21st century feels like a stretch. The Chiefs had far worse picks in the first round such as Jonathan Baldwin in 2011, Tyson Jackson in 2009, and Ryan Sims in 2002. Those guys were all taken earlier in the draft than Speaks and that alone should put them higher on the worst draft pick of the century list than him.
This isn't to defend Speaks at all. He didn't play particularly well as a rookie in 2018 and anyone hoping to see improvement from him were let down when he never played another snap not just for the Chiefs but for anyone in the NFL. It was a bust of a career for sure but second-rounders can usually get away with that type of career more so than first-rounders can.
It was a huge swing and miss from Brett Veach for sure as Speaks never panned out. The even worst part for Speaks though is that, unlike the other three guys I mentioned, fans might not even remember the guy due to how underwhelming he was... so maybe he earned that title after all.
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