The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up the second draft of the Andy Reid-Brett Veach era. They added six rookies to the fold, and the consensus seems to be that this class will be more impactful than 2018’s group.
The draft will impact roster composition moving forward. Here are a few players, coaches and position groups that we’ve deemed winners and losers following the 2019 NFL draft.
Winners
CB Keith Reaser
The Chiefs didn’t draft a CB until the sixth round of the draft, when they selected South Carolina CB Rashad Fenton. Now sixth-round picks are hardly locks to make the roster and the Chiefs are really in dire need of better corner play.
They brought in Reaser, who they are familiar with, after the Alliance of American Football went bust. He’ll have a lower draft pick and undrafted free agents to compete against. He has a huge advantage already knowing the Chiefs special teams system. He could very well still make the roster over any of these other players.
Chiefs TE group
The Chiefs didn’t draft a tight end in what was considered a deep class. After Travis Kelce the Chiefs have a projected depth chart of Blake Bell and Deon Yelder. Not exactly the most promising group out there, but they’ll only have to compete against undrafted free agents for roster spots.
The Chiefs stashed Deon Yelder on the active roster in 2018, it’s clear they have plans for him. Blake Bell is obviously a free agent signing that the team also likes quite a bit. It’s going to be quite hard for any undrafted free agent to come in and unseat those players.
Andy Reid
A year ago Brett Veach went all-defense in the draft, now he finally went out and got Andy Reid some offensive weapons that he can work with. Mecole Hardman and Darwin Thompson are the types of players that you just know Reid will be scheming up success for.
On top of that Veach got Reid a few big guys to work with too. Nick Allegretti is the perfect interior offensive lineman for the Kansas City zone-blocking scheme. Who is the other big man, though? None other than defensive tackle Khalen Saunders. Hungry pig right may have been tested on Dontari Poe, but it was made for this guy. I cannot wait to see what kinds of crazy plays that Reid comes up with for this kid on the offensive side of the ball.
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Losers
S Daniel Sorensen
The Chiefs desperately needed to find some help at the safety position. They snagged Juan Thornhill with one of their top picks, and I think the selection immediately hurts Sorensen. I think it hurts him more than Jordan Lucas or any other safety on the roster.
It’s not because his abilities as a player, though. It’s because of the savings against the cap if he were to be cut. According to Spotrac, as a post-June 1 cut, he nets $3.6 million is savings with less than a third of that in dead cap.
Depth level WRs
There’s been a myriad of reasons the Chiefs have sought to add WRs:
- What has gone on with Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill
- Losing Chris Conley and De’Anthony Thomas to free agency
- Injury concerns with Sammy Watkins and Byron Pringle
The Chiefs drafted a speedster with their top overall pick, but they’ve also got eight new guys coming (and counting) coming to town as an undrafted free agent or rookie minicamp invite. There’s going to be a ton of competition at that position group, and frankly I expect some movement because of it. Guys like Gehrig Dieter, Marcus Kemp, Byron Pringle, Josh Crockett, Davon Grayson and Sammie Coates have their work cut out for them.
DT Justin Hamilton
The Chiefs drafted Khalen Saunders in third round of the 2019 NFL draft. I think he’ll be direct competition against a player like Hamilton, who I’m not positive is a scheme fit in this new defensive scheme.
Maybe I’m overthinking this, after all, Steve Spagnuolo said you can’t win in the NFL without big bodies in the middle. Maybe they keep quite a few stout defensive tackles.
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