It's official: There will be no playoff games for the Kansas City Chiefs this year. With the Chiefs out of playoff contention, the only meaningful thing to keep an eye on will be where K.C. ends up in the 2026 NFL Draft order.
This is a very strange thing for Chiefs fans to be experiencing, considering the team normally drafts either last or second to last in the first round. That won’t be the case this year, as they’ll own at least a top-18 pick (assuming they don’t trade it away).
What pick would the Chiefs have in first round of 2026 NFL Draft?
Number | Team | Record | Strength of Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York Giants | 2-12 | .536 |
2 | Las Vegas Raiders | 2-12 | .548 |
3 | Tennessee Titans | 2-12 | .576 |
4 | Cleveland Browns | 3-11 | .483 |
5 | New York Jets | 3-11 | .538 |
6 | Arizona Cardinals | 3-11 | .571 |
7 | New Orleans Saints | 4-10 | .494 |
8 | Washington Commanders | 4-10 | .508 |
9 | Cincinnati Bengals | 4-10 | .521 |
10 | Los Angeles Rams (via Atlanta Falcons) | 5-9 | .502 |
11 | Kansas City Chiefs | 6-8 | .519 |
12 | Minnesota Vikings | 6-8 | .521 |
13 | Miami Dolphins | 6-7 | .481 |
14 | Dallas Cowboys | 6-7-1 | .447 |
15 | Baltimore Ravens | 7-7 | .500 |
16 | Carolina Panthers | 7-7 | .519 |
17 | Detroit Lions | 8-6 | .496 |
18 | New York Jets (via Indianapolis Colts) | 8-6 | .530 |
To go from being a Super Bowl contender to holding the 11th pick in the draft is quite shocking, but it’s been that kind of year for Kansas City. This will be a great time for Brett Veach to add a game-changer to a roster that desperately needs one, as it was clear this year that the roster just wasn’t getting it done.
Now the question becomes how much the Chiefs can move up or down in the draft order. Can this team end up with a top-10 pick? That’s something they haven’t had by record alone since 2012, when they went 2-14 the previous year and held the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft. They moved up to the 10th pick in 2017 to draft Patrick Mahomes, so now it’s time for them to make the most of this rare opportunity they’re going to find themselves in.
Right now, the Chiefs could go in a number of different directions when it comes to what they want to do with that first-round pick. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is going to be a name linked to Kansas City often, considering the team’s need at that position and the potential he has. He’d be a lot of fun on this Chiefs team, that’s for sure.
It’s weird to be in a situation where Chiefs fans can say “mock draft season,” but the team has only itself to blame for being in this spot. Fans can shift their attention to the draft, and at this point, it wouldn’t be too crazy for the fan base to be rooting for more losses, because that means K.C. would have a better draft pick come April.