Kansas City Chiefs: Re-Drafting biggest misses of past decade

Draft Class: 2017

Player Drafted: Tanoh Kpassagnon, Defensive End, Villanova, Round 2, Pick 59

Re-Draft: Alvin Kamara, Running Back, Tennessee, Round 3, Pick 67

There’s not much to say about Tanoh Kpassagnon, except: what the heck were the Chiefs thinking? This experiment has gone off the rails, and it looks like Kpassagnon needs a change of scenery. In a draft where the Chiefs absolutely nailed their first selection (See: Mahomes, Patrick), they totally missed on their second choice.

It may surprise you to know that Kpassagnon has two career sacks. (At least, it surprises me.) Overall, he has 17 tackles. That’s not much production from a second-round pick through his first two seasons, but hey, it’s more than Russell provided.

Meanwhile, eight picks later, the Saints selected running back Alvin Kamara out of Tennessee. While Kamara’s not rushed for 1,000 in a season yet, he does have back-to-back seasons of at least 1,554 total yards from scrimmage.

In both 2017 and 2018, he caught 81 passes from quarterback Drew Brees. In his rookie season, he actually had more receiving yards (826) than rushing yards (728). In total, he’s scored 31 touchdowns in two seasons.

Now, yes, it should be noted that in the third round this year, the Chiefs selected running back Kareem Hunt out of Toledo. Hunt led the league in rushing his rookie season and looked to be a burgeoning star alongside Mahomes and wide receiver Tyreek Hill until TMZ released a video of him shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel. Hours later, the Chiefs cut him for being untruthful, and he’s now a member of the Cleveland Browns.

Kamara, meanwhile, remains a Saint.

Some notes:

• Two picks after Kpassagnon’s selection, the Packers took hybrid safety Josh Jones out of North Carolina State.
• If the Chiefs had taken Kamara and passed on Hunt in the third, they had their pick of the likes of Central Florida defensive back Shaquill Griffin (taken by Seattle four picks after Hunt) or Boston College safety John Johnson, now a starting safety for the Rams (taken a pick after Griffin, five after Hunt).
• In the fourth round, the Chiefs took wide receiver Jehu Chesson out of Michigan, who’s done squat in the pros. Ten picks later, the Falcons took safety Damontae Kazee out of San Diego State, who tied for the league lead in interceptions in 2018 with seven.

At this point, there isn’t much to say about the Chiefs 2018 draft class, led by linebacker Breeland Speaks.

While the class didn’t provide much production in its inaugural season, neither did the players selected around them. Taking a look at the ten players drafted after each Chiefs’ selection (for the team had no first-rounder), I only found one potential re-draft candidate. Upon further research, it felt more like nitpicking than anything else, so I’m choosing not to include it.

Undoubtedly, in several years–heck, maybe even this time next season–there will be at least one, probably more, candidates for re-drafting. But right now, nothing stands out.

Here’s to Speaks and the rest of the 2018 draft class paving the way in 2019 when they will get more playing time and more opportunities to make an impact. Right now, none of them look like misses. Right now, they all have a shot at proving general manager Brett Veach a genius.