KC Chiefs: Don’t overreact to dumpster fire performance from offensive line
By John McCarty
COVID-19 protocol restrictions could lead toward targeting ‘safe’ picks in early rounds.
Recently, the NFL basically nuked much, if not all, of the draft evaluation process, at least the in-person portions. There are no private workouts and everything is done virtually.
While that sounds very similar, it’s important to remember teams had a lot of the pre-draft process evaluation period normal — at least the early to mid portions — already done when the pandemic hit.
Now, teams have gone an entire season without personal visits to schools and will have very limited evaluation opportunities. When that happens, teams get scared, and when teams get scared, they often go for ‘safe picks’ and no position is viewed as safer than the offensive line.
So as teams overdraft offensive linemen, that will create value for the Chiefs at pick No. 31 and will create value with the next tier of linemen in the middle rounds.
The Chiefs have already shown they are good at drafting and have a type they are looking for, so they don’t need to get desperate. If they can be patient, look for what they want, help should be on the way.