The 2026 NFL Draft is only about a week away, and at this point, most NFL fans probably feel like they've looked at about 1,000 different mock drafts. Some mocks do their best to predict exactly what will happen. Some mocks are strictly a "this is what I would do" approach. Since you've already seen plenty of those at this point, I thought it would be good to give Kansas City Chiefs fans a "warning mock draft" based on picks that could easily happen, that would probably not sit well with a lot of Chiefs Kingdom.
Hate the idea of Kansas City taking an offensive tackle at #9? I've got bad news for you. Think that they absolutely have to go edge with one of their top 40 picks? Prepare yourself for disappointment. Desperately want K.C. to land a new #1 wide receiver? Sorry, not in this draft. Are you hoping they restock cornerback early to replace Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson? Yeah, about that.
Just in case you're thinking at this point that this mock draft is just rage bait, I've made a strong case for why general manager Brett Veach would consider that pick and why the prospect is a perfect fit for the Chiefs. So without further ado, here is my 2026 "Bring on the Hate" Mock Draft.
1st Round (No. 9 overall) - Spencer Fano - OT - Utah
Tired of all these idiot national media people that don't really know the Chiefs mocking them an offensive tackle in the top ten? Well, get ready for the local Chiefs writer version, but I'm coming with a little more justification than "They need a right tackle and must protect Patrick Mahomes."
The idea that the Chiefs already have invested enough in the offensive line is flawed. Offensive tackle is actually a great fallback option if the truly elite players go off the board before they pick. Their entire identity is based around Patrick Mahomes throwing the football and their current roster has ZERO reliable offensive tackles. Yes, I said zero. Josh Simmons looked great when he played last year, but his last two seasons have been cut short by injuries and he missed another month for unknown "personal reasons." If he plays all season he takes care of one tackle spot, but he still has to prove he can do that before the Chiefs can even begin to feel like they have one of the two tackle spots taken care of.
At right tackle the Chiefs have Jaylon Moore, who was significantly worse than Jawaan Taylor in pass protection last season. Don't believe me? Taylor had 517 pass blocking snaps in 2025 and allowed 3 sacks and 20 total pressures. Meanwhile, Moore played just 257 pass blocking snaps and allowed 3 sacks and 27 pressures. So Moore allowed more total pressures in half the pass blocking snaps. So your "overly invested offensive line" boasts one tackle that needs to prove himself reliable and another that allows almost three times as many pressures per pass rushing snap than Jawaan Taylor. Awesome.
Some will say that Spencer Fano is a bad pick because of his short arms, but what they fail to mention is his elite movement skills. This isn't a tackle that can "survive" on the edge—it actually allows him to showcase his greatest strength because he moves laterally and mirrors edge rushers better than anyone else in this class. Long arms are great, but they aren't some guarantee a tackle will survive on the outside. Want proof? Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, Darian Kinnard, and Lucas Niang all had 34–35" arms and guys just went flying right by them.
That brings me to my final point. The Chiefs are flat-out terrible at developing offensive tackles. Name one they've drafted and developed in the last ten years. You can't. They don't exist. That's why they had to trade a first-round pick for Orlando Brown Jr. That's why they had to overpay for Jawaan Taylor in free agency. That's why they need to draft someone with elite traits like Fano because they can't develop raw or more flawed prospects and fans really don't want them to have to trade or overpay in free agency a year from now. Instead, they can lock an elite one down on a rookie deal for the next five years.
1st Round (No. 29 overall) - Anthony Hill Jr. - LB - Texas
Linebacker is the blatant team need that the Chiefs have that nobody is talking about. They lost Leo Chenal in free agency and haven't signed anyone to replace him. Plus, Drue Tranquill is going into the last year of his contract, will turn 31 before the season, and started to see his play decline last season. The bottom line here is that linebacker is just as big of a need as any other position and the big board puts some of the best prospects (outside of Sonny Styles) right in the range of KC's late 1st-round pick.
Anthony Hill Jr. is just 21 years old and is physically gifted. He's got enough size, power, and pass rush upside to fill in for Leo Chenal as a rookie, but has the sideline-to-sideline speed and coverage upside to stay on the field on 3rd down. He has enough versatility to potentially fit in any of KC's three linebacker spots long-term and simply has more physical gifts than any linebacker KC has had since Willie Gay left town. Chiefs fans may be banging the table for more premium positions here, but the best player available and team needs could easily converge and make linebacker the pick here.
2nd Round (No. 40 overall) - Eli Stowers - TE - Vanderbilt
Fans are losing their minds that KC hasn't drafted a defensive end, cornerback, or wide receiver yet, but the Chiefs ignore all of those and draft Travis Kelce's long-term replacement instead. If it makes any of you feel better, you can make an argument that Stowers is closer to a big receiver than a true tight end. The bottom line is that Stowers is a former quarterback (sound familiar?) that has great hands and a big catch radius. He also has a knack for reading the defense and finding holes to settle into (sound familiar?).
Stowers is also an elite athlete that moves effortlessly and has big-play upside. His only real downside is that he's a terrible blocker. He only lined up inline on about 30% of his snaps last year. While that's not ideal, guess who else has only lined up inline on about 30% of his snaps the last few seasons? That's right, Travis Kelce. Stowers would be a pick for 2027 since he probably wouldn't see the field a lot as a 2nd tight end because of his blocking limitations. However, he could spell Kelce to keep him fresh and is tailor-made to run a lot of those same routes that Kelce has since he came to KC.
3rd Round (No. 74 Overall) - Dani Dennis-Sutton - DE - Penn State
Even in an attempt to do a mock where fans need to prepare for things to not go as they want, I couldn't put off taking an edge player any longer. Dani Dennis-Sutton may not be as flashy as some of the round-one edge players, but he's a good fit for Steve Spagnuolo's defense and would instantly compete to be KC's starting defensive end opposite George Karlaftis. He has good length and power and plays with a non-stop motor (sound familiar?).
The reason Dennis-Sutton could still be on the board at this point is because he doesn't have much, if any, bend around the outside (sound familiar?). He's more of a guy that wins through effort and pushes the tackle back into the pocket. However, he did test really well so there may be some athletic upside there that KC could unlock with coaching and some improved pass rush moves. Overall he feels like a player the Chiefs would be excited to draft and definitely has more physical upside than Ashton Gillotte.
4th Round (No. 109 overall) - Jonah Coleman - RB - Washington
A running back before a cornerback, wide receiver, or defensive tackle? If Jonah Coleman is still on the board here, absolutely. I actually think Coleman should go early in the 3rd round, but consensus big boards continue to put him outside the top 100 picks. Coleman is one of two backs that would pair really well with Kenneth Walker.
Coleman is a human bowling ball that doesn't have much explosion, but that is what Kenneth Walker is for. Coleman has great vision and contact balance between the tackles. That combined with his powerful, stocky frame makes him a good short-yardage option and someone that could eat carries throughout the game to keep Walker fresh. Then you mix in that he's the best pass-protecting back in this class and has decent hands out of the backfield and you have a match made in heaven.
5th Round (No. 148 overall) - Charles Demmings - CB - Stephen F. Austin
The Chiefs finally draft a cornerback and it's an underrated one. Charles Demmings is 6'1" with long arms and ran a 4.41 forty-yard dash. He's feisty in coverage and more than comfortable playing press-man coverage, but he is seen as someone that needs some development as a former zero-star recruit and coming from Stephen F. Austin. He did receive multiple transfer portal offers from D1 schools, but opted to finish out at SFA instead. Demmings did look like he belonged at the Senior Bowl playing against major conference competition.
Demmings is the kind of prospect that Steve Spagnuolo and Dave Merritt could really help flourish. A raw player with all the physical tools to succeed is exactly the kind of player that KC has proven they can turn into a high-quality starter. Landing someone like Demmings in the 5th round is exactly why KC can wait on corner and draft other positions early.
5th Round (No. 169 overall) - Jeff Caldwell - WR - Cincinnati
With Rashee Rice cleared of facing any suspension for his off-the-field drama and maybe even a Tyreek Hill reunion waiting in the wings, the Chiefs opt to wait on wide receiver early and take a flier on an outside receiver in Jeff Caldwell from Cincinnati. The case for Caldwell is that he's 6'5" and runs a 4.31 forty and has one of the best athletic profiles of a WR his size, maybe ever. That size/speed combo gives him an NFL-caliber skill to build off of, but Caldwell hasn't really put it all together yet.
Caldwell isn't a good route runner and doesn't maximize his size/athleticism to beat corners. However, if the Chiefs think their new wide receiver coach can unlock something in Caldwell that he wasn't able to in college, his physical upside is certainly worthy of a 5th-round pick. It wouldn't take a lot of development for Caldwell to become a Marquez Valdes-Scantling-type player for the Chiefs.
5th Round (No. 176 overall) - Thaddeous Dixon - CB - North Carolina
After passing on corner early in the draft the Chiefs double down in the 5th round and pair Thaddeous Dixon with Demmings a few picks earlier. His profile is actually kind of the opposite of Demmings, but may be equally appealing to the Chiefs. Whereas Demmings is a raw prospect from a small school, Dixon has plenty of experience starting for major D1 schools with stops in Washington and North Carolina.
Dixon is just all-around solid, but doesn't really have an elite characteristic that will get him drafted higher. He's also an older prospect at 24 years old. While other teams may choose to target younger players with more elite upside, Dixon would give KC a mature prospect with few weaknesses that would likely be able to get on the field earlier than other prospects taken in this range. Jaylen Watson is a great example of a prospect that didn't have elite traits that KC turned into a top corner and Dixon is probably ahead of where Watson was coming out of college.
6th Round (No. 210 overall) - Jordan van den Berg - DT - Georgia Tech
The Chiefs may have waited on defensive tackle, but they get a fun developmental one here in Jordan van den Berg. Van den Berg was born in South Africa and has a freakish athletic profile. He's 6'3" and 310 pounds and ran a 4.94 forty with amazing all-around athletic testing. He's already 24 so he isn't going to improve physically at this point, but he doesn't need to. What he needs is some coaching to help his technique and play recognition.
Van den Berg reportedly has an amazing work ethic and that combined with his physical tools makes him well worth a 6th-round flier despite his limited production and older age. While he may not have racked up a ton of stats in college, he did have 11 tackles for loss playing nose tackle last season. This is a person and physical profile worth taking a chance on.
So there you have it, Chiefs fans, a mock draft with an offensive tackle at pick #9, a linebacker in the 1st round, no edge rusher in the top 3 picks, and no cornerbacks or wide receivers until the 5th round. While I'm certainly not claiming this is exactly how the draft will play out for the Chiefs, I think you can justify every single one of these picks, and fans should be prepared for Brett Veach and company to not do exactly what you are expecting.
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