Kansas City Chiefs: Ranking every first round pick in franchise history

RANKING EVERY FIRST ROUND PICK IN CHIEFS HISTORY

NUMBER 49 – ROD WALTERS

In the 1976 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Rod Walters with the 14th overall pick. Walters played at Iowa for college, but his success at the college level didn’t show much in the pros. He spent three years with the Chiefs and also played for the Lions and Dolphins before being out of the league after 1980.

NUMBER 48 – PERCY SNOW (Cullen)

In 1989, Michigan State linebacker Percy Snow accomplished something very few people have ever done: he won college football’s Dick Butkus Award (for Most Outstanding Linebacker) as well as the Vince Lombardi Award (for Lineman of the Year). After that incredible performance, the Chiefs nabbed Snow with the 13th pick in the 1990 NFL Draft.

Snow played well in 1990, earning the team’s Mack Lee Hill Award (the team’s Rookie of the Year). Under Marty Schottenheimer‘s tutelage, Snow appeared in 15 games while starting 14 for a Chiefs team that went 11-5 and whose defense ranked fifth in points allowed and first in takeaways per game.

Things went quickly downhill after that, though. This from The New York Times’ Ken Belson’s 2015 look back at the 1990 draft class:

"“But in the off-season, according to news reports, he broke his ankle in a scooter accident and was never the same. He spent the 1991 season recuperating, and when he returned, he failed to win back his starting spot. After run-ins with Coach Marty Schottenheimer, he was traded to the Bears in Chicago, where he broke protocol by publicly criticizing his old coach.”"

In 2013, Snow was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

**Two players who casual fans likely don’t remember, hence why they’re ranked this low.**