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Kansas City Chiefs: Brett Veach needs to stop trading up in drafts

By John McCarty

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 27: Brett Veach general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs is seen at the 2019 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 28, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 27: Brett Veach general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs is seen at the 2019 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 28, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach loves to trade up in the NFL Draft. Based on early returns of the 2018 draft class, he should avoid moving up in the future.

Brett Veach discussed with Soren Petro on 810 Sports Radio recently that he liked to trade up, which isn’t anything new. We’ve seen him trade up and often since he took over as the Kansas City Chiefs’ general manager.

However, as we gather a more extensive look at his drafting history, perhaps he should be more prudent in the draft. It’s early, but so far, the returns have not been promising.

Nothing highlighted the struggles of drafting for the Chiefs and Veach than the 2018 draft. We’re not even two years in, and the results are terrible.

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  • Second round pick Breeland Speaks could theoretically find himself out of a job entirely if he’s unable to beat out fellow second round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon for a backup role.
  • Dorian O’Daniel and Armani Watts names are so buried on the depth chart it’s hard to imagine either of them making the team.
  • Let’s not forget about Tremon Smith, at a position group lacking any sure things, was so bad he was moved to running back.

Going into his second season, the only player from the 2018 draft class that appears to have a roster spot for sure is third round pick Derrick Nnadi, who is likely starting opposite Chris Jones along the defensive interior.

The 2017 draft class was pretty bad too, that is after the Patrick Mahomes selection. Only Kpassagnon remains, and either he or Speaks will find themselves unemployed by the end of August.

Going forward, the Kansas City Chiefs have to be far better at drafting, both in quality and quantity, if they are going to stay competitive for the long haul.

Veach has come out and basically stated that they intend to extend Mahomes, and perhaps as early as next offsesaon. Combined with the massive deal Frank Clark signed this offseason and the contract questions surrounding wide receiver Tyreek Hill and defensive tackle Chris Jones, the Chiefs are going to be in a situation where a massive percentage of their cap could be taken up by a few players.

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When that happens, rookies and young players on rookie contracts are a must and mightily important.

If Veach and the Chiefs are going to have defensive linemen and wide receivers with cap numbers well over 20 million and perhaps a quarterback over 40 million (yes, 40 million. Get ready for it) as an organization, then they desperately need players making plays and contributing making under a million to help equal out the cap. It’s hard to build a roster of affordable depth if, as an organization, they keep trading off those assets.

The Chiefs already have moved away their fifth, sixth and seventh round selections in the upcoming 2020 draft. Not having those round picks makes it difficult to trade up in the middle rounds and those picks, while they don’t often provide big contributions, can certainly fill out the bottom of the roster and cost almost nothing.

Filling a roster in free agency is a terrible idea, as we all know. Organizations are forced into free agency when they are unable to develop players of their own through the draft.

The Chiefs must address their depth now before it’s too late. Things are not dire necessarily, but after years of bad drafting (let’s hope the 2019 class is better, the early returns from training camp are certainly promising), the Chiefs need to address a potential roster donut.

A roster donut is when, after years of bad drafting, a team has older veterans, but few young players in their in their prime and then untested and unproven rookies. It’s what sabotaged the end of the Herm Edwards run with the Chiefs and led to the disaster that was the Pioli reign of awful here in KC.

Next. Cornerback Still Lacking Depth After Claiborne Acquisition. dark

Being aggressive works at times. Moving up to find a special talent in the draft is fine. However, the Chiefs need to show they can move back in a draft and add assets and depth.

While moving up is fine, moving back can be just as good.

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