The NFL has increasingly become a young man's game in recent years. It's nothing new that teams want to load up with exciting young playmakers, but the value being placed on a veteran locker room presence also seems to be dwindling.
Sometimes, this over-reliance on youth can come back to bite a team. But it's crucial that teams recognize when their aging talent needs to be replaced, and that they address this before it's an issue. The obvious situation for the Kansas City Chiefs this year is Travis Kelce, who may well be playing his final season as the team's starting tight end. But that's not the only position the Chiefs need to get younger at.
Defensive tackle Mike Pennel will turn 34 years old in May, and the Chiefs must prioritize bringing in some young talent behind him this week. The 2025 NFL Draft is loaded with defensive tackle talent, but first, a quick look at why this is a position of need:
Chiefs Must Draft Mike Pennel's Successor This Week
Pennel graded out at 59.4 on Pro Football Focus last season. That was his third time in the last four years falling below 60.0 (and the only year he was over 60 was his 3-game 2023 season). Of course, PFF grade isn't the be-all and end-all of player evaluation, but how many Chiefs fans are you going to find that are really excited about the way Pennel played in his first full season as a Chiefs starter?
You're not necessarily expecting your defensive tackles to put up flashy numbers (they can't all be Chris Jones), but you do expect them to be able to consistently absorb blockers on the interior to free up the rest of the defense to make plays. And Pennel just never seemed to have that gravity.
Pennel is entering the last year of his contract, and the only defensive tackle on the Chiefs' roster who is under contract beyond 2025 is Jones. Replacing him now is a must, and it will give an incoming rookie plenty of time to get up to speed in his first season before being forced into a bigger role in 2026.
This is a position teams often approach at volume in later rounds of the draft, but the Chiefs don't have that kind of luxury, with no fifth- or sixth-round picks. There are some serious difference-makers being projected around the end of the first and beginning of the second round, though, and that means the No. 31 pick could be the perfect place to add Pennel's successor.