Kansas City Chiefs: Building The Draft Board Part 5

1 of 11

NFL Draft. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The NFL Combine is about to get underway, so it’s time to take an updated look at our Kansas City Chiefs draft board.

The draft season is moving right along for the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as the rest of the NFL. We are now on the doorstep of one of the most misunderstood events of the draft process, the NFL Combine.

Also known as “The Underwear Olympics”, this is the event where amateur draftniks drool over numbers that really don’t mean much. Look, I’m as impressed with a fast 40-yard dash time as anyone. The issue I have is that if you have been watching tape on the player, you should already know they are fast. Same thing with the bench press.

That isn’t to say you can’t be surprised by someone doing better or worse than expected. Just know that the pure numbers don’t tell you everything. Watching how a player performs in drills, and getting that all important interview time is really what matters here. That is where you find out if a player will help your team address its needs.

Here are the #Chiefs official draft picks per the NFL pic.twitter.com/0kfFpk54gK
— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) February 25, 2017

The Chiefs are in an interesting position in regards to those team needs. For the most part, this is a very strong and complete roster. We know that simply by how this team overcame so many injuries this season. That means John Dorsey and company will largely be drafting from a position of strength and can take some risks. That, in turn, makes my job a lot more fun.

Our draft board is moving right along. We are now at the point where a solid base of prospects have been identified. Now it is all about developing the board to match what happens as the offseason progresses. You won’t see too many changes this week from my last draft board. Most of the changes will be coming after The Combine as I have a chance to expand my film review and compare it to what I’m seeing at the events.

Some notes before we get started:

This is not a mock draft. However, it is what I will be using as we move forward into mock draft season. Once our draft board is complete, we can begin to really focus on which prospects best fit the Chiefs organization.

There is no sense in including players on the draft board that the Chiefs have no realistic shot at drafting. So you won’t see big time names like Myles Garrett or Mike Williams pop up on here.

As much as I would like to prognosticate on certain deals, that would be foolish at this point. I have to take the roster for 2017 as it stands. Even though we all know there will be some changes made as we move forward, we can’t be 100% certain on what those changes are.

Players can move up and down a draft board for a whole number of reasons. I’ve done a lot of work in scouting prospects, but I am nowhere near done. I will also be re-evaluating players as we move forward. It is very easy to miss something when scouting. The pros do it all the time.

Following up on #4, it takes about two hours for me to “adequately” watch a player for one game. There are around 80 players on this board. I have tons more to watch on almost all of these guys. Things will change.

My opinion on a prospect is not infallible. I’ve been wrong many times when others were right. I’ve also been right many times when others were wrong. I am simply presenting you with my opinion based on what I have observed.

I do want your feedback. Let me know if you think I’ve missed someone. With over 2000 draft eligible players, there is a very good chance that I have.

I don’t work in the Chiefs front office. I have no idea if they’re thinking along the same lines that I am. I would like to think that I’ve got a pretty firm grasp on how John Dorsey looks at the draft, but I may not have a clue.

Ultimately, this is all just for fun…so have fun.

Home/Chiefs Draft Analysis