Kansas City Chiefs make first draft-weekend trade, move up to pick Duke tight end
The Chiefs are adding some depth behind tight end Travis Kelce.
And they made a move to do it.
The Chiefs traded up to No. 162 overall to select Duke tight end Noah Gray in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
Gray (6-3, 244) had 29 catches for 285 yards and two touchdowns last season, his senior year at Duke. He had 51 catches one year earlier and 105 for his college career.
“What Noah does best is his receiving skills,” Chiefs area scout David Hinson said. “He knows how to set defenders up and create separation. He has really good hands. He can extend and catch the ball, adjust to the ball — all those things you want to see from a tight end.”
The Chiefs moved picks No. 175 and 207 overall to the Jets in exchange for the selection. They also received No. 226 overall in return.
The Chiefs bypassed Gray in the fourth round, selecting Florida State edge rusher Joshua Kaindoh, but as the fifth round unfolded, they eyed a move up.
It wouldn’t be a Brett Veach draft without one, right?
“The kid really stood out when you looked at the board,” said Mike Bradway, Chiefs assistant director of player personnel. “I think even at the start of today, I thought he was one of the guys we really wanted to target. As he started to fall, we didn’t want to wait and take a chance of him falling to the end of the fifth round.
“We just thought with his versatility (and) his receiving skills, he’s kind of a hybrid receiver/tight end. He can play in the slot. He can play on special teams. So he brings a lot to the table as a tight end, as a receiver. We thought it was just great value to get him where we did.”
Earlier this offseason, the Chiefs added tight end Blake Bell back to the mix after he spent 2020 in Dallas. Nick Keizer, who served as the No. 2 tight end last season, is also back.
They’ll all slide behind Kelce in some order on the depth chart.
“I’m extremely excited. It’s not every day that you get to learn from one of the best tight ends in the league,” Gray said. “It’s truly an honor. I’m excited to get there and just be a sponge and gather as much information as possible, see everything that he does on the field (and) off the field.”
Gray, to state the obvious, won’t unseat Kelce as the team’s top pass-catching tight end. But he does have a quick path to see the field nonetheless: special teams.
He began playing that phase early in his Duke career and requested to stay on, even as his offensive snaps increased.
“I’ve played a multitude of positions when I was at Duke,” Gray said. “I also played a lot of special teams, which is something I know I’m going to have to excel at and be really good at moving forward, especially with the Kansas City Chiefs.”
