Kansas City Chiefs select Doug Baldwin in 2011 NFL Draft re-do
The Kansas City Chiefs’ first round selection of Jonathan Baldwin in 2011 did not go well at all, but in this re-draft scenario, they go with another Baldwin – Doug Baldwin out of Stanford.
The 2011 NFL Draft was a bizarre one and had a run on what turned out to mediocre quarterbacks. The Kansas City Chiefs went with a different route, opting to draft a wide receiver to add to what had been an explosive offense in the 2010 season.
Jonathan Baldwin was the pick and the Chiefs actually got to move up a spot on the draft board due to the Ravens not submitting their selection in time.
The Baldwin pick did not go well at all, to say the least. He was suspended for the first few games of his rookie season due to getting into a fight with then-Chiefs running back Thomas Jones (and Jones whooped his butt too) and ended up with just 41 receptions for 579 yards and two touchdowns during his two seasons with the Chiefs.
Yes, after spending a first round pick on Baldwin, the Chiefs ended up giving up on him after just two years and sent him to San Francisco where he spent just one season and was out of the league for good.
In this re-draft, the Kansas City Chiefs still took a Baldwin, but this time it was Doug Baldwin.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report had this to say about why he had the Chiefs go with Doug Baldwin this time around,
"Undrafted former Seahawks star Doug Baldwin didn’t have a long NFL career, but he was a key starter when Seattle went to back-to-back Super Bowls early in his career (he scored in both games), he led the NFL with 14 touchdown grabs in 2015 and he made the Pro Bowl in 2016 and 2017.This would make too much sense for a team that lacked support for Dwayne Bowe in 2013 and 2014 and lacked top-end talent beyond Tyreek Hill for several years after that."
Baldwin went undrafted, but spent eight years in the NFL, all with the Seahawks. As Gagnon noted, he was a huge part of the Seahawks’ dominance when they went to the Super Bowl in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons and was one of the top receivers in the league during that time.
Baldwin finished his eight-year career with 493 receptions for 6,563 yards and 49 touchdowns. That’s 452 more receptions, 5,984 more yards, and 47 more touchdowns than Jonathan Baldwin had during his career for those who don’t feel like doing the math.
More from Chiefs Draft Analysis
- Will Chiefs Draft Western Kentucky Hilltopper DeAngelo Malone?
- The Kansas City Chiefs Address Defense with This Mock Draft
- Will Chiefs Take Boston College Cornerback?
- The Kansas City Chiefs 2022 Mock Draft Roundup 1.0
- Why The Chiefs Should Draft Wide Receiver Christian Watson
Who knows if Doug Baldwin ends up being the same caliber player that he was in Seattle if the Chiefs draft him 21st overall, but it’d be really hard to be worse than Jonathan Baldwin was.
As for the rest of this re-draft, there were some interesting choices here by Gagnon. One of which was the Broncos – who held the second overall pick that year – going with J.J. Watt out of Wisconsin over Von Miller, who was their actual pick.
I figured they’d stick with Miller considering just how dominant he’s been over the past decade, but Gagnon mentioned that they’d probably have won another Super Bowl if Watt had been on their defense.
Gagnon also had the Bengals taking Colin Kaepernick fourth overall, the Texans going with Andy Dalton 11th overall (since Watt was off the board), and Justin Houston being the 14th overall pick by the then-St. Louis Rams. Houston didn’t go until the third round in the actual 2011 draft and it was the Chiefs who were fortunate to land him that deep in the draft.
Must Read. Best First Round Picks in Chiefs History. light
How do you think Doug Baldwin would have done in Kansas City?