Kansas City Chiefs: Revisiting the 2013 NFL Draft

The Kansas City Chiefs had a new look in 2013 and also owned the first overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Two memorable names landed with the team in this draft.

After the worst season in franchise history in 2012, the Kansas City Chiefs needed a huge makeover. They ended up hiring Andy Reid as their head coach, trading for Alex Smith to be their quarterback, and bringing John Dorsey in as their general manager. This was the trio that turned this team from a 2-14 team to an 11-5 playoff team in less than a year.

The beginning of Reid’s time in Kansas City kicked off during the 2013 NFL Draft in which the Chiefs had the No. 1 overall pick for the first time in franchise history. Of course the one year they had the top pick in the draft, there was no quarterback worthy of taking in that spot, so that’s why KC went out and got Smith from the 49ers.

Here were the eight players that heard their names called by the Chiefs in the 2013 NFL Draft:

• No. 1 – Eric Fisher, OT (Central Michigan)
• No. 63 – Travis Kelce, TE (Cincinnati)
• No. 96 – Knile Davis, RB (Arkansas)
• No. 99 – Nico Johnson, LB (Alabama)
• No. 134 – Sanders Commings, DB (Georgia)
• No, 170 – Eric Kush, C (California PA)
• No. 204 – Braden Wilson, FB (Kansas State)
• No. 207 – Mike Catapano, DE (Princeton)

These eight players made up the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2013 NFL Draft class.

It’s worth noting that the 2013 NFL Draft is highly regarded as one of the worst draft classes of all-time, so it makes sense that the Chiefs had the No. 1 pick when that was the case.

Because there wasn’t a quarterback worth taking in the top spot, the Chiefs grabbed who we’ve now seen was the best option available in Fisher, who played on their offensive line from 2013-2020. Fisher grew a lot during his time with the Chiefs, going from a guy who was “scared” to block J.J. Watt to dousing himself with a fan’s beer in the AFC Championship Game.

Kelce was easily the best pick of the draft for the Chiefs in 2013 and it’s hard to believe he went in the third round (though that happened due to some off-the-field “issues”). I don’t really need to dive into Kelce’s legacy with the Chiefs but let’s just say he’s going to go down as one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history when his career is over.

Davis seemed like a promising player early on but fizzled after his first two years. He’ll be most remembered for returning a kickoff for a touchdown on the very first play of the AFC Divisional Round against the Texans in the 2015 season. He played for the Packers in 2016 but hasn’t played an NFL down since then.

Johnson and Commings were tremendous busts even if they were Day 3 selections. Johnson played in six games over two seasons and had just seven tackles while Commings appeared in just two games his rookie season and was never heard from again. Injuries were to blame there for the Georgia defensive back.

Kush has actually been a decent player, especially for a sixth-round pick. He only played for Kansas City for two years and has jumped around from St. Louis to Chicago to Cleveland and he returned to Chicago for the 2020 season. The Chiefs didn’t get much out of Kush but he’s stayed in the league and that’s an accomplishment for a sixth-round pick.

Wilson never made it onto the Chiefs’ roster, which meant this pick was wasted. There was hope that the K-State product would be able to make some kind of impact but that hope didn’t even make it past the preseason portion of the season.

Catapano was an intriguing player during his short time in the league. He appeared in 15 games as a rookie, mostly on special teams, and then injuries kept him off the field for year two. He played for the Jets in 2015 and 2016 but never hooked on anywhere else.

Looking back at this draft, the Chiefs made the right choice with the No. 1 overall pick even if an offensive tackle isn’t the “sexy” pick. Fisher went on to play left tackle for the Chiefs for the next eight seasons and likely would have still been there had he not gotten injured in the AFC Championship Game.

Kelce is the highlight of this draft though. He slipped to the third round and the Chiefs scooped him up. It always seemed like it’d be a tough task to pass Tony Gonzalez on the best Chiefs tight ends list, but Kelce is well on his way to doing just that. He’s been unreal and is one of the faces of the franchise.

What are your thoughts on the Chiefs’ 2013 NFL Draft?