Brett Veach continued to impress me on draft day by adding another guy I have on the list of guys I love in this year's class. Jeffrey Bassa is an athletic coverage linebacker who plays with speed and quickness to go attack the ball and make plays in pass coverage. He reminds me a lot of someone like Willie Gay and will be a great fit in the Kansas City defense.
Bassa's quick movement skills, strong footwork, and relentless mentality made him one of the best linebackers in the Big Ten over the last several years. The Chiefs saw this and knew they needed to add depth to their LB room and traded up to land him. Bassa will likely have a day one role on special teams and will play a good bit in some blitz packages.
Bassa has had an incredible career at Oregon and has made an impact on their defense since landing in Eugene in 2021. Over the last four seasons, Bassa has amassed a total of 226 tackles and proved to be a valuable player who can make an impact all over the field. He was also incredibly effective in coverage, making life hard on tight ends in the Big Ten, something that is very valuable in the AFC West.
I had Bassa graded as my sixth overall linebacker and was 87th on my big board, making this a real steal for the Chiefs in the fifth round and is exactly why they made the call to trade up and land him. The Athletic's Dane Brugler also had him No. 99 on his big board with a 3rd-4th round draft grade. We are at the point in the draft where players may not be expected to have day one impact and are more so considered lottery ticket players. But I think Bassa has the ability to make plays in the NFL the second he makes it to Kansas City this season.
I have said for a long time that the way you win the draft is by getting value out of your day three picks. So far, Veach has done that by adding a skilled wide receiver and trading up to get one of my favorite linebackers in the class in Jeffery Bassa. The Chiefs lost one of their seventh-round picks in the trade, so we will see if they jump up or stay put, but it is likely we won't see Kansas City on the clock any time soon.