Why DJ Giddens would be ideal mid-round selection for Chiefs in 2025 NFL Draft

With the NFL scouting combine and the first wave of free agency now in the rearview mirror, the 2025 NFL Draft is rapidly approaching and the Kansas City Chiefs still have several positions they must address before training camp rolls around.

The Chiefs may have signed Elijah Mitchell and re-signed Kareem Hunt, but they could still use a young running back to add to their running back room. In fact, I would argue that none of the Chiefs' current running backs are a lock to even be on the team a year from now. This is a loaded running back class and this is a position where cheap, young talent is coveted.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the running backs that helped and hurt their stock at the combine, and one of those that helped their stock was Kansas State's DJ Giddens. Giddens ran faster than many expected, putting up a solid 4.43 forty with a 1.53 ten-yard split. Those were both the 7th fastest at the position this year at the combine.

When you combine that with the second-best vertical (39.5") and broad (10'10") jumps and a good shuttle time, Giddens walked away with one of the best all-around athletic profiles of the running backs in this class.

So let's talk about if that athletic profile shows up on his tape and if he would be a good fit for the Chiefs.

DJ Giddens - 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Age: 21 (when drafted)

Height: 6-0 (official)

Weight: 212 lbs (official)

DJ Giddens' Weaknesses

Despite Giddens' good testing numbers, his tape doesn't show an elite back when it comes to pure breakaway speed or explosiveness. I wouldn't say Giddens is slow, but he isn't going to win frequently off the edge in the NFL. He does have enough burst to get through openings and long strides to eat up space in the open field, but Giddens isn't a true speed back.

With Giddens' good size and lack of elite speed, you might think that he is a power back who wins by running over or through defenders, but that's not his game either. Again I would stop short of saying Giddens has bad power, but he isn't a traditional power/short yardage back either.

Finally, while Giddens does show decent hands and had a combined 50 receptions over his last 2 college seasons, I'd stop short of calling him a top third-down back option in this class as well. His route running is somewhat limited and his pass protection technique is going to need some work before someone like Andy Reid is going to trust him regularly on clear passing downs.

So Giddens' biggest weakness is that he doesn't have a specialized role for a job in the NFL where many teams are moving towards running back rotations that cater to backs that have one elite area. That is why (despite his great combine performance), I think Giddens could still potentially fall to the first selections on day three of the draft.

This is just a deep enough draft class at running back with backs with more clear-cut specialized roles that I think Giddens should still be available when the Chiefs pick at the end of the third round and could maybe even sneak into the fourth round if the Chiefs don't take him before that.

DJ Giddens' Strengths

If you read my draft profile on Iowa's Kaleb Johnson, I actually see a few similarities between the two backs. Both backs have good size but aren't traditional power backs. They also both have very good vision and an ability to find openings for players their size. While Johnson kind of slaloms through defenders with them bouncing off him, Giddens has more lateral elusiveness than Johnson does in terms of making defenders miss in space. While Giddens doesn't have explosive change of direction (he isn't a "jitterbug"), he has impressively smooth body control and a shiftiness to him that you don't usually see in backs his size.

As you can see in Price Carter's post above, Giddens has a real knack for making guys miss in space. It's by far his best trait. If the Chiefs wanted a guy outside the first two rounds that has the upside to be an above-average, every-down starter, Giddens would be my favorite target in that range that I've watched so far. He has the size and hands to develop as a passing-down player with time and coaching. He also has the size and proven track record to handle a featured-back workload and most importantly, he has better vision than any back Kansas City has rostered in a while.

While Giddens' combine performance doesn't guarantee any kind of NFL success, it is an added boost to his profile. When looking at backs with the frame to carry an every-down workload that also has put good vision on tape, knowing he has an above-average NFL athletic profile just makes you feel that much better about him. It makes me believe that his shiftiness and ability to make defenders miss at the second level could carry over to the NFL.

I really like DJ Giddens and think he is still an underrated prospect in this draft class despite his outstanding performance at the NFL combine. In a thinner running back class, Giddens might have gone off the board too soon for the Chiefs to get their hands on him, but in this loaded class with some bigger and flashier names, I think there is a good chance that K.C. could land Giddens in the 3rd round and that would be a home run pick in my opinion.

So what do you think Chiefs fans? Are you a fan of Giddens? Would you be thrilled with landing him in the third or even fourth round or do you think he'll go off the board before that despite how deep this running back class is? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.