Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed selected in top 10 in 2020 NFL re-draft
Knowing what the NFL does now, Kansas City Chiefs rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed wouldn’t end up a fourth-round draft pick at No. 138 overall.
Sneed was by far the most impressive rookie cornerback in the NFL last season, despite missing seven games due to a collarbone injury. He finished the regular season with 41 total tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, three interceptions and seven passes defended. He had the second-best passer rating allowed among rookie corners and the fifth-best completion percentage. He showed prowess as a boundary corner, nickel and even as a pass rusher.
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso recently sought to re-draft the 2020 NFL draft. Sneed went 130 picks earlier than his original draft slot, being selected No. 8 overall by the Carolina Panthers. It just goes to show you how highly Sneed is now regarded. Sneed was truly the steal of the draft and teams didn’t evaluate him properly given his play at safety during his senior season at Louisiana Tech.
Trapasso’s re-draft also has some more food for thought for the Chiefs Kingdom. Rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the winner of the Chiefs’ annual Rookie of the Year Award, dropped out of the first round entirely in this re-draft. Instead, at pick No. 32, Brett Veach selected Georgia OT Andrew Thomas who is currently with the New York Giants. Trapasso, of course, cited the late-season needs for an offensive tackle as the reasoning for the pick.
“Thomas’ strong play down the stretch and Kansas City’s need on the offensive line is enough for the former Georgia star to sneak into Round 1,” Trapasso wrote.
The thing is, the Chiefs did try and address the long-term need for a tackle in the 2020 NFL draft, selecting OT Lucas Niang in the third-round. Niang never allowed a sack in over 1,000 pass-blocking snaps across 27 games started at TCU. Unfortunately, Niang was one of the three Chiefs players to opt-out of the 2020 NFL season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s hardly something that the team could have known or prepared for. However, in an exercise of hindsight, you can’t help but wonder if Veach wouldn’t have done things differently in the draft.
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Chiefs add help in trenches, secondary in post-Super Bowl 2021 NFL mock draft
