Kansas City Chiefs: Revisiting the 2020 NFL Draft

With the 2021 NFL Draft just days away, let’s take a look back at how the Kansas City Chiefs did in the 2020 NFL Draft.

It might be too soon to know how the draft class of 2020 will pan out, but we can still look back and evaluate how their rookie seasons went and if the Kansas City Chiefs got much use out of them. The 2020 NFL Draft was held virtually due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Chiefs held the final pick in the first round.

There were a few different directions fans expected the Chiefs to go in and they definitely surprised us with their first-round selection of Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The shock wasn’t a knock on Edwards-Helaire, but rather his position, as running back isn’t a popular position to address in the first round.

Here were all of the Kansas City Chiefs’ picks from the 2020 NFL Draft.

• No. 32 – Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB (LSU)
• No. 63 – Willie Gay, LB (Mississippi State)
• No. 96 – Lucas Niang, OT (TCU)
• No. 138 – L’Jarius Sneed, DB (Louisiana Tech)
• No. 177 – Mike Danna, DE (Michigan)
• No. 237 – BoPete Keyes, CB (Tulane)

The Chiefs added just two offensive players, but both were added in the first two days of action. Edwards-Helaire had a respectable rookie season, but it definitely wasn’t the sensational season fans were hoping for. He dashed for 803 yards and four touchdowns while grabbing 297 yards and another touchdown through the air.

Edwards-Helaire did miss two regular-season games, however, and had he played in those, he might have been closer to the 1,000-yard rushing mark (then again, with how bad the run game was last season, maybe not). He was a good player but probably could have been taken in the second round.

Gay was next off the board and he didn’t get a ton of playing time until midway through the year. He finished his rookie season by appearing in all 16 games and starting eight of them while collecting 39 tackles, three defended passes, and a sack. Unfortunately, Gay was injured in the meaningless Week 17 game against the Chargers and didn’t play in the postseason.

The jury is still out on Gay and what he can provide for this team. The Chiefs need more out of their linebackers and we were starting to see Gay round the corner before he got hurt. Hopefully, he can become the shutdown linebacker the Chiefs have been seeking for years now.

Niang was a sneaky good pick in the third round, but he opted out of his rookie year. He’ll be returning in 2021 in what will now be his rookie year and the Chiefs have big plans for him. We can’t really say much else on Niang, as we haven’t seen him play a down in the NFL.

Sneed was the Chiefs’ best pick from last year’s draft and could go down as one of the biggest steals of the entire 2020 NFL Draft. He was fantastic for the Chiefs, playing in nine games and starting six of them. He finished his rookie campaign with 41 tackles, seven defended passes, three interceptions, and two sacks.

The Chiefs’ cornerback position is in a much better spot than it was a year ago and that’s because of Sneed. He could truly be the next lockdown cornerback in the NFL and the Chiefs are lucky to have found him in the fourth round.

Danna was a surprising pick, mostly because no one had ever really heard of him. I remember when I was writing up the post of the Chiefs taking Danna, I couldn’t find much information on him at all other than that he originally played at Central Michigan and then transferred to Michigan.

Danna proved us all wrong though, recording 2.5 sacks as a rookie. He looks to be a nice rotational piece for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Danna is another example of the Chiefs crushing it in the later rounds of the draft.

At the time, Danna was the Chiefs’ final selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, but they made one last unexpected selection by trading into the seventh round and nabbing BoPete Keyes out of Tulane. It was known that Keyes was a developmental player at cornerback and the Chiefs didn’t use him much in 2020 except for on special teams. He appeared in eight games and only started one, which was the season finale against Los Angeles.

How does the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2020 draft class look after one year?

Obviously it’s too early to put too much into these evaluations, as it’s only been one year, but this draft class impressed in year one. Sneed and Danna were terrific Day 3 additions and were the biggest stars in last year’s draft class. Edwards-Helaire should hopefully have a flashier sophomore season and it’d be nice to see Gay in more games this year.

Niang has yet to take the field as an NFL offensive tackle so it’ll be nice to see him in action this year too. He played right tackle in college, but could very well be the team’s left tackle if they don’t address it early in the draft. Keyes is also someone we’re waiting to see more of, but for a seventh-round pick, that’s not uncommon at all.

What are your thoughts on last year’s draft class?