There are things to love and hate about every prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft. As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for the draft, they’ve weighed the positives and negatives of each prospect and adjusted their draft board accordingly.
Below you’ll find three players that fit the Chiefs and have been connected to them often, but each of those players might leave you a bit conflicted about whether Kansas City should consider selecting them in the draft:
Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor
Love: Production
Taylor is easily the most productive running back in this draft class. In three years at Wisconsin, he carried the ball 926 times for 6,174 yards and 50 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 42 passes for 407 yards and five touchdowns to go with it. Add that type of production to the Kansas City Chiefs offense and I’m not sure there’s a team in the league that could slow it down.
Hate: Fumbles
The big concern with Taylor is that he has trouble hanging onto the football. Between 2017-2019 Taylor had 18 total fumbles, putting the ball on the ground at a rate of once every 52 carries. That’s more than a 50% increase to the average in the NFL during the 2019 season. LeSean McCoy, a beloved player by head coach Andy Reid, got sent to the doghouse over putting the ball on the ground twice in 2019. I don’t see how the Chiefs could possibly bring a rookie in with these types of fumbling issues.
Mississippi State CB Cameron Dantzler
Love: Game tape
This kid has some of the best game tapes of any cornerback in the 2020 NFL Draft. Look at how he played some of the top SEC teams with great receiving corps like Alabama and LSU. He’s very physical with receivers at the line of scrimmage. He’s like glue in coverage and he’s always competing to get his hands on the football. He was also the only cornerback to absolutely shut down LSU stud WR Ja’Marr Chase, who might be the top receiver in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Hate: Weight and combine numbers
Dantzler might be the biggest enigma of this draft class. First of all, his weight is concerning. He plays extremely physical at Mississippi State, but at 188 pounds he could have some trouble in the NFL. I’m worried that he might not be able to put on more good weight once he gets to the NFL.
Dantzler also had a concerning combine workout. The game tape showed much greater speed than the 4.64 40-yard times from the combine. He even had a play against Louisville where he chased down current Ravens QB Lamar Jackson after starting on the complete opposite side of the field. Still, the number of cornerbacks that have found success in the NFL running a 4.64 or above are few and far between.
Washington C Nick Harris
Love: Movement ability
Harris is a really good athlete at the center position. The guy is super quick off the snap and can land his punch before a defensive lineman gets balanced and out of their stance. His footwork is clean and he moves absolutely effortlessly. His work in space, getting to the second level and pulling are all really impressive. He truly feels like a perfect fit for the Chiefs’ zone-blocking scheme because of how well he moves.
Hate: Lack of size/strength
The biggest problem with Harris is that he doesn’t have much anchor ability. His lack of size (6-1) and strength really makes things difficult when handling bull rushes. If you shade a power rusher over him, he’s likely to get walked back straight into the lap of the quarterback. No matter how much of a technician and athlete he is, I wonder if teams won’t recognize and exploit this weakness on the regular at the next level.
