D-
Kansas City Chiefs
Grand theft in pick No. 189: the Chiefs steal Mahlman and grade out a D-.
by Gravespire ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
The Chiefs spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Riley Mahlman, the No. 107 name on the board, in No. 189.
They will need Gadsden II to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up. The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, quarterback very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 9 they get an anchor for the offensive line at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Taking Jack Sawyer in the Round 2 slot is close to grand larceny; an edge rusher that good had no business lasting this long. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A tidy bit of business in the 55th pick, where Tate Ratledge graded well above the range. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They will replay Wyatt Milum at slot 63 for years; that is how good the value is. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They robbed the room for Tre Harris here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Steal is underselling it; Sonny Styles at pick No. 93 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Walter Nolen at the 95th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jack Bech in No. 113 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A top-tier cornerback at a bargain, Tommi Hill in pick 132, plain and simple. A minor itch, scratched.
J.Michael Sturdivant in the 167th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Somehow Riley Mahlman was still sitting there in the Round 6 slot, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Oronde Gadsden II this early at pick No. 208. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.