B+
Kansas City Chiefs
Larceny in the Round 7 slot lands the Chiefs a B+, Thornton Jr. and all.
by amaske ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 7 steals
· 5 reaches
The Chiefs did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Dont'e Thornton Jr. fell into the Round 7 slot.
Every board in the league had Etienne lower, and that gap is the story. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
They jumped the gun on Aireontae Ersery, taking him earlier than his grade liked. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Taking Tyler Warren in the Round 2 slot is close to grand larceny; a tight end that good had no business lasting this long. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The board fumbled Nick Emmanwori all the way to the 45th pick, and they scooped it up. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A real head-scratcher, Jordan Burch in No. 72 is miles ahead of his ranking. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
You do not let a cornerback like Azareye'h Thomas reach pick 97 and blink. They did not. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They robbed the room for Ozzy Trapilo here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Somehow Smael Mondon Jr. was still sitting there in Round 5, Pick 1, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. A need, and now a little less of one.
A premium they did not need to pay, Vernon Broughton a notch or two before his time. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A tidy bit of business in slot 150, where Kyren Lacy graded well above the range. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, JJ Pegues well ahead of where he belonged. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Trevor Etienne at the Round 6 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at Round 7, Pick 38 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.