Which quarterback from 2021 NFL Draft best fits KC Chiefs’ offense?
The KC Chiefs don’t need to draft a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft, but if they were going to, who would best fit their offense?
Once an NFL team finds its franchise quarterback, they can breathe a sigh of relief and start working on building around him. Five NFL teams will be looking to find their franchise starter in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and fortunately, the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t one of those teams.
The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes as their starting quarterback for at least the next decade, meaning they won’t have to draft a quarterback before Day 3 for quite some time and even when they do, it’ll be to find a suitable backup.
Let’s say they were interested in drafting a quarterback this year though. Who out of this group would be the best fit for this offense?
For those who might not be reading up on draft content that doesn’t concern the Chiefs, the five likely first-round quarterback prospects are (in alphabetical order) Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Trey Lance, Trevor Lawrence, and Zach Wilson. Lawrence and Wilson are likely going to be the top two players taken in this draft with another guy going No. 3 to San Francisco. The other two could go anywhere from No. 4 to the middle of the first round.
Which quarterback from this year’s draft class would fit in with the KC Chiefs’ offense?
Obviously, Lawrence is the most talented name in this bunch. We’ve all known that he’s going No. 1 since he led Clemson to a National Championship as a freshman and now that moment has arrived. The Chiefs wouldn’t be bad enough to land the No. 1 overall pick (even if we’re assuming Mahomes isn’t the quarterback here) so Lawrence probably wouldn’t be an option here.
Wilson also might not be an option if he does indeed go No. 2, but he’d probably fit this offense the best. You’d have to wonder if the Chiefs were in a spot where they needed a quarterback if they’d have offered the Jets whatever it took to move up to the No. 2 spot and taken the gunslinging BYU product.
It’s also worth mentioning that if the Chiefs didn’t have Mahomes (or if they were looking to replace him), they might want to get away from the gunslinging/air raid mentality, which would deter them from taking Wilson.
Out of the remaining three names, Fields is the only one I could see fitting into KC’s system. He was a stellar athlete at both Ohio State and Georgia, capable of making plays both on the ground and through the air. He’s been leapfrogged by Wilson recently due to Wilson’s air raid abilities, but Fields is someone who would excel with Andy Reid as his head coach.
Jones is probably someone who would have fit the Chiefs’ old scheme (when Alex Smith was the quarterback), as he doesn’t make unnecessary throws and is very good at holding onto the football. He could also potentially be available outside of the top 10, which could make trading up for him less risky.
Of course, this is all just speculation and for fun, as the Chiefs don’t need to trade up for any of these guys. They have their quarterback and he’s the best in the league. The Broncos might be adding one of these players, however, and that’d mean the AFC West would get a little bit tougher.
Next. Mock Draft: Chiefs Get a First-Round Steal. dark
What do you think though? Who out of this group could have made the biggest splash for the Chiefs moving forward?