Kansas City Chiefs select Juan Thornhill with 63rd pick in 2019 NFL Draft

With the team’s second pick of Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs select safety Juan Thornhill out of Virginia. This comes after the team earlier traded up five spots to select wide receiver Mecole Hardman with the 56th overall draft pick.

By selecting Juan Thornhill, the Kansas City Chiefs add another safety to a mix that already includes the recently signed Tyrann Mathieu, Armani Watts, Jordan Lucas, and Daniel Sorensen. He will immediately compete for a starting role alongside Mathieu.

The former Cavalier racked up 98 combined tackles last season, four-and-a-half for loss, to go along with six interceptions and seven passes defended. He intercepted two passes against the Miami Hurricanes in an October win and collected a season-high 14 tackles in a November loss against in-state rival Virginia Tech.

CBS Sports ranked Thornhill as the draft’s 49th draft prospect and fifth ranked safety. He’s the seventh safety taken in the draft and the fifth in the second round.

The Chiefs added wide receiver Mecole Hardman with the 56th pick (and traded up to do so) and decided to address the secondary with their second draft pick. Thornhill should immediately play a role in the Chiefs secondary, a unit that struggled last year, especially in the AFC Championship Game.

The Chiefs needed to focus on the defense in this draft, but with some unfortunate news regarding Tyreek Hill surfacing this week, wide receiver suddenly became a bigger need than even the defense. Offense wins in the NFL now, but defense needs to be able to make plays.

Thornhill should be able to make some plays for his new team and this should be a pick that excites Chiefs Kingdom.

What do you think of this pick, Chiefs fans?