Daniel Jeremiah has released his third mock draft for NFL.com. Sitting just over a month away from the 2026 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs are stocked with more picks. Trading Trent McDuffie nets Kansas City an extra first-round pick. This allows the Chiefs to attack the first round in a multitude of ways.
Jeremiah gave the Chiefs one offensive player and one defensive player in his latest rundown of the first round. Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano was the pick at nine overall. Then, at pick 29, Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood was selected.
Board leads to somewhat forced pick at 9
An interesting scenario unfolded for the Chiefs at nine in this mock draft. One offensive lineman (Francis Mauigoa) was already off the board. All of Arvell Reese, Jeremiyah Love, and Sonny Styles went in the top five, as expected, following the Scouting Combine results. Wide receiver Carnell Tate and pass rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and David Bailey all went from picks six through eight.
Safety Caleb Downs was still available. The top two cornerbacks, Mansoor Delane and Jermod McCoy, also went off the board not long after the Chiefs selection.
To see Fano as the pick is exhausting. Many national media members have been saying the Chiefs are in need of a major offensive line reshuffle. But if Josh Simmons remains healthy, Kansas City really only has one spot to monitor for competition. Right tackle is between Jaylon Moore and an incoming draft pick.
The Moore deal suggests that Kansas City generally planned on the former San Francisco 49ers blocker landing in that spot. Taking an offensive tackle at nine overall is still possible, but the description of the pick leaves a bland taste in one's mouth.
"Fano can start immediately at right tackle and eventually kick inside to guard if necessary," Jeremiah says. With how much K.C. likes its interior trio, combined with the size, length, and play strength questions surrounding Fano, this just feels like a shaky gamble. The Chiefs have to maximize this pick if they are not going to pick this high again for a while. Fano just does not feel like a Kansas City offensive line selection based on the team's history and thresholds.
Colton Hood would fit Chiefs' man coverage principles perfectly
In terms of the Hood pick, the fanbase will probably react with less ire. Whether they like the player or not, pick 29 is just not going to be viewed as highly as pick nine. However, does Kansas City force a cornerback selection in the first round?
Right after trading McDuffie and losing Jaylen Watson, the Chiefs need reinforcements in the secondary. Patience largely exists with this regime when selecting cornerbacks in the draft, though. McDuffie was a different trend. Even his draft class included five total defensive backs.
If you compare Fano and Hood, I like the Hood selection more from a player-team fit perspective. Hood is spectacular in man coverage and can press at the line of scrimmage like Steve Spagnuolo enjoys. He also produced some incredibly explosive results in athletic testing at the Scouting Combine. Jeremiah described Hood as "one of the most complete cornerbacks in the draft."
It would be a mixed bag for most of Chiefs Kingdom if these two selections were paired together in round one. Some may agree that Hood is the better team fit than Fano. Others may just be relieved that the offensive line is solidified while not holding a high opinion of the Tennessee cornerback. In the end, this feels like an incomplete pairing in the first round for Kansas City. The opportunity with two first-round picks would not be fully realized with Fano and Hood.