B-
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs did the meat-and-potatoes work well: B-.
by mvs ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 1 reaches
There is reaching, and then there is Jalen Berger at the 172nd overall pick. The Chiefs jumped the board by 40 and dared it to prove them wrong. Good, not great, and the B- says as much.
It is not that Smith is a bad player; it is that the Chiefs had louder needs to answer first. The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. They banked enough surplus on Smith to cover a lot of smaller sins.
Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but quarterback.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 32nd overall pick they get a cornerstone up front at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
They paid sticker price for Brenden Rice in the 64th pick, and that is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went DT-EDGE with Maason Smith while clear needs at quarterback, interior defensive lineman and other spots sat open.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Jalyx Hunt adds a S-EDGE and leaves quarterback, interior defensive lineman and other spots untouched.
Jaylin Simpson at pick 158 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the cornerback. It adds depth where they could use a little.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jalen Berger in pick No. 172, miles early. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Austin Stogner in pick No. 210 lands just on the right side of the ledger. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Jeremy Flax in pick 250. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.