Who are analysts selecting for Chiefs at pick No. 31?
Mock draft season is upon us, Chiefs Kingdom.
The Kansas City Chiefs have made a number of moves in free agency that will impact how they attack the 2021 NFL draft. They’re still lacking a solution at the left tackle position, but they have time to rectify that ahead of the draft. Recent trades at the top of the draft could shake some things up in terms of the players available to Kansas City at pick No. 31.
Here’s a look at who the analysts have sent to the Chiefs in their latest mock drafts:
Mock draft roundup
AP Photo/Rusty Costanza
OT Dillon Radunz | NDSU | |
LB Zaven Collins | Tulsa | |
OT Liam Eichenberg | Notre Dame | |
OT Teven Jenkins | Oklahoma State | |
OT Teven Jenkins | Oklahoma State | |
CB Ifeatu Melifonwu | Syracuse | |
OT Samuel Cosmi | Texas |
Defenders in the first round?
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Some analysts seem to be warming up to the idea of the Chiefs adding to their defense in the first round of the draft. The choices are a little interesting, though. CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso sent Syracuse CB Ifeatu Melifonwu to Kansas City, citing his first-round athletic profile as his reasoning. Our friend Mark Schofield at Touchdown Wire chose Tulsa's Zaven Collins for the Chiefs because he's a bit of a hybrid defender with his ability to play off-ball and rush off the edges. Here's some of what he said:
"Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has shown a willingness to carve out different roles for different players and use them all over the field, as he has done with Tyrann Mathieu in the secondary, and he can do that up front with Collins. Kansas City could use him off the edge to attack passers, in space to handle both man and zone coverage responsibilities, and for a team that likes to blitz — something the Chiefs did on 35.7% of their snaps last year — Collins could be a force."
Could Spags and Brendan Daly use Collins in the same way that the New England Patriots use D'onta Hightower. It's certainly a fun thought.
Offensive tackle still the favorite, but arm length could be a problem
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Offensive tackle is still the favorite position for the Chiefs in the first round of the draft and it probably will be unless they address it in free agency. Analysts sent a total of four different players to Kansas City at No. 31. Oklahoma State OT Teven Jenkins was the only player sent to the team twice and they've at least shown some interest there. Something that has been coming up with the offensive tackles in this class is short arms. Jenkins, Samuel Cosmi, Rashawn Slater, and Alijah Vera-Tucker all came back with 33 inches or less in the arm length department. The Chiefs are among the teams that typically value arm length in their offensive tackles. Recently released starters Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz have 34.5-inch arms and 33.5-inch arms, respectively. Mike Remmers has 30.5-inch arms, which are actually quite small for a tackle and a bit of an outlier. Lucas Niang has 34.25-inch arms, Prince Tega Wangho has 33.5-inch arms, and Martinas Rankin has 33.75-inch arms. Other teams could be in the same boat as Kansas City. If some of the tackles yet to have their pro day measure with longer arms, well, it could move them up the draft board. It's a little crazy that such a minor difference could impact a team's evaluation of a player, but it's certainly something to consider as we get deeper into the pre-draft process.
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