There has been no better general manager in the NFL than Kansas City Chiefs’ Brett Veach when it comes to finding late-round steals.
Veach managed to grab Isiah Pacheco and Jaylen Watson in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft. Each of those rookies made outsized contributions to the team’s Super Bowl-winning season. The season prior, the Chiefs notably selected starting RG Trey Smith in the sixth round. Could they have landed another steal in the sixth round this year?
Our friend Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire recently revealed a list of the biggest draft steals for all 32 NFL teams. He identified sixth-round pick Keondre Coburn as the biggest draft steal for Kansas City. Here’s what he had to say:
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo likes to have at least one massive earth-moving defensive tackle on his lines — Khalen Saunders and Derrick Nnadi have filled those roles of late — and Coburn should be a fascinating addition after Kansas City took him with the 194th overall pick in the sixth round. That’s about two rounds lower than I had him based on my tape study after I watched his 2022 season, in which the 6-foot-2, 332-pound Coburn registered four sacks and 31 total pressures. Coburn may be massive, but he’s more than just a stationary earthdog — No. 99 can move quite effectively to the quarterback, and he’s not above taking a guard all the way with him, using just one arm to out-leverage the poor guy.
In our recent look at pre-draft big board rankings, we came to the same conclusion about Coburn. Draft Wire and PFF both had him ranked in the top 150 players in the 2023 NFL draft. What could potentially make Coburn a steal isn’t just his ability to stop the run, but he’s shown the ability to impact the quarterback (as shown above). He managed all of that last season playing on a solid defensive line, but this year he’ll be playing next to Chris Jones. It’s safe to assume that could lead to an even greater uptick in production.
Do you think that Coburn will be the biggest steal of the draft for the Chiefs? Do you have another player in mind? Be sure to let us know your choice on Facebook and Twitter.
