There's no debating that the 2025 regular season was a crappy one for the Kansas City Chiefs and far from what this fanbase has grown accustomed to. That being said, there is a massive silver lining after suffering through a miserable year such as this one.
That silver lining is that, if the season ended today and the 2026 NFL Draft order was locked in for April, the Chiefs would hold a top-10 pick. This would be the rest of the NFL's worst nightmare, as the Chiefs have been a Super Bowl contender since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback.
Here's what the top-10 of the draft would look like if the season ended today, according to Tankathon:
Number | Team | Record | Strength of Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Las Vegas Raiders | 2-14 | .544 |
2 | New York Giants | 3-13 | .531 |
3 | New York Jets | 3-13 | .552 |
4 | Tennessee Titans | 3-13 | .576 |
5 | Arizona Cardinals | 3-13 | .577 |
6 | Cleveland Browns | 4-12 | .494 |
7 | Washington Commanders | 4-12 | .504 |
8 | New Orleans Saints | 6-10 | .491 |
9 | Kansas City Chiefs | 6-10 | .511 |
10 | Cincinnati Bengals | 6-10 | .520 |
Chiefs down season still leaves NFL staring at scary draft reality
As you can see, the Chiefs would hold the ninth pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, something that the other 31 NFL fanbases would hate to see. It'd give the Chiefs a chance to add a serious playmaker either on offense or defense and get them right back into the Super Bowl conversation for 2026 and beyond.
The Chiefs' biggest draft needs would be at offensive line, running back, tight end, and wide receiver on the offensive side of the ball and pass-rushing help on the defensive side of the ball. They'll have a chance to bolster those areas in a big way if they remain in the top 10 of the 2026 draft.
It's also possible that Brett Veach takes an even bigger swing by trading the Chiefs' first-round pick to acquire an already-proven player in the offseason. Depending on who it is, Chiefs fans probably wouldn't be mad about that move.
This is unchartered territory for the Chiefs though, as they have not had a top-10 pick since they moved into the 10 spot to draft Mahomes in 2017 but that was after a good year in 2016. The last time they were bad enough to have a high draft pick was in 2012 when they had the NFL's worst record and got the number one pick in the 2013 draft.
K.C. closes out the season against the Raiders, who could be playing for the number one pick in April's draft. So not only could the Chiefs move further up on the draft board but they could hurt the Raiders' chances at getting a franchise quarterback if they lose to Las Vegas in that game. A lot at stake in Week 18, just not the kind of stakes we might have previously thought.