KC Chiefs surprisingly focus on offense in four-round mock draft
The KC Chiefs need more help on defense than on offense, but three of their four picks in this four-round mock draft were offensive players.
When people think of the Kansas City Chiefs, the first thing to come to mind is Patrick Mahomes and how explosive he makes that offense. The defense has been decent the past two years, but we saw that come to a head in the Super Bowl when they got owned by the Buccaneers’ offense.
Even with the holes on defense, Chad Reuter of NFL.com had the Chiefs mostly making selections on offense in his recent four-round mock draft. The only defensive player he had Kansas City taking in this mock was Jaelan Phillips, an EDGE defender out of Miami, who I wrote more about on Friday.
The next three players were all on the offensive side of the ball. They were:
- Round 2: Pick 63 – Dillon Radunz, OT (North Dakota State)
- Round 3: Pick 94 – Kenny Gainwell, RB (Memphis)
- Round 4: Pick 146 – Austin Watkins Jr., WR (UAB)
The KC Chiefs spent three of their first four picks on offense in this mock draft.
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Radunz would be a nice pick in the second round (and I actually had the Chiefs drafting him in my first mock draft of the offseason) and would fill a position of need. The Chiefs could potentially be searching for two new tackles in 2021 so Radunz filling one of those spots makes a lot of sense.
Not much surprises me when it comes to mock drafts, but drafting a running back in the third round definitely was a shock. This team might not be great at running the ball, but they took Clyde Edwards-Helaire with their first-round pick just last year and have Damien Williams coming back in 2021. Plus, Darrel Williams looked good in the opportunities he had this past season.
This isn’t a knock on Gainwell by any means, but I just can’t see KC spending a third round pick on a running back. Gainwell also didn’t play in 2020, as he opted out of the season, and that was coming off of a huge 2019 campaign where he rushed for 1,459 yards and 13 touchdowns for Memphis.
Reuter had the Chiefs waiting until Day 3 to draft a wide receiver, selecting Austin Watkins to replace Sammy Watkins (a Watkins for a Watkins). The UAB wideout had a phenomenal 2019 season, grabbing 57 receptions for 1,092 yards and six touchdowns through 14 games. He played in seven less games in 2020 and had 468 yards and three touchdowns in UAB’s shortened season.
If the Chiefs are officially going to move on from Sammy Watkins (and they should), why not replace him with someone who has the same last name? Obviously, I’m kidding there, but Austin Watkins has shown he can be a good player and he’d be a lot of fun to watch in this Chiefs offense. If the Chiefs can find a value pick at wide receiver in the fourth round, that’d set them up well for the rest of the draft.
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How would you feel about the Chiefs drafting any of these players in the 2021 NFL Draft?