Kansas City Chiefs: Assessing 2019 Offseason

Good Move: Strong Draft Class

This is the first Brett Veach draft class that I have fallen in love with. Every year fans get excited about what their teams do in the draft. The sad reality is a majority of those players won’t pan out at the NFL level.

The Chiefs got almost no contribution from their 2018 draft class.

• Breeland Speaks couldn’t buy playing time.
• Armani Watts was a part of the group of safeties that rented an apartment on the IR.
• Derrick Nnadi showed brief flashes of being a dominant run defender.
• Dorian O’Daniel made a play almost every time he saw the field, which was a total of about four times.
• Kahlil McKenzie basically took a redshirt season, as he was a healthy scratch for every game last year while he took the time to switch from defensive line in college to guard at the NFL level.
• Andrew Wylie (who wasn’t drafted) won the Chiefs Mack Lee Hill Award, which is given to the teams most outstanding rookie. He only appeared in ten games.

This year will be drastically different. Four Chiefs rookies will contribute in a big way in 2019.

Juan Thornhill projects to start next to Tyrann Mathieu at the safety position. Mecole Hardman is going to be used as a gadget player and kick returner. Darwin Thompson has a chance to sneak up and steal snaps from Damien Williams. Khalen Saunders has the athleticism and size to be a rotational piece along the defensive line.

All in all, Veach did a good job bringing in talent that could contribute right away.

The best part about this draft class is that it is a blend of pure talent and fit. Mecole Hardman may have been asked to do to much to early in another situation. Instead, he can now learn in year one with minimal pressure off the field, and execute what is asked of him without major attention from the defense on the field.

When a receiver is surrounded by Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Sammy Watkins, the defense has other fish to fry, so to speak. With Hardman’s game breaking speed, he can make defenses pay for having that mentality.

The same can be said for rookie Khalen Sanders on the defensive side of the ball. A lot of attention needs to be given to Chris Jones and Frank Clark. Even second year player Derrick Nnadi can be a handful for just one offensive lineman to stifle.

This will allow Sanders to, again, contribute with his immediate strengths without a ton of pressure put on him to perform right away. Most, if not all, of these rookie landed in perfect situations to learn from elite players in front of them and still have a chance to see the field and gain experiences as soon as Week One.

The only rookie to may be put into the spotlight right away is Juan Thornhill. The Chiefs were abysmal at safety last year, and Thornhill projects as maybe the only day one rookie starter. Still, his situation isn’t without its perks. He gets the privilege of playing next to Tyrann Mathieu.

Not only is Mathieuy an elite safety, but he also projects as a great example for Thornhill to learn from. They both have roots playing cornerback, and Mathieu can show Thornhill the ends and outs of being a versatile safety.

Once again, the pressure is also off here. Like I said, the Chiefs 2018 safeties were terrible. Even a slight upgrade next to Mathieu will add a huge boost to this secondary, one Chiefs fans will be grateful for.