D
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs lost the trade table, and the D tells the story.
by CalvinylG ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 2 steals
· 12 reaches
Nobody else had Dillon Johnson anywhere near pick 132. The Chiefs did, by 37 spots, and that gap is the whole story. The board pushed back all weekend, and the D is the result.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. Spending an early pick on cornerback with quarterback open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to. They punted on quarterback, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and quarterback is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
A straight-up fair deal on Xavier Legette at the Round 2 slot, value and slot in agreement. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They did well to land Jordan Morgan in No. 41, just ahead of his grade. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They liked Ruke Orhorhoro enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 53. A need, and now a little less of one.
Nothing to complain about; Braden Fiske went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Patrick Paul at pick 65 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A conviction pick on Austin Booker at Round 3, Pick 5 that the board grades a round light. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Christian Haynes at pick 71 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A slide stopped in slot 88, with Max Melton worth more than the price. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson in the Round 3 slot lands just on the right side of the ledger. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Theo Johnson this early at Round 3, Pick 28. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A real head-scratcher, Johnny Wilson in No. 95 is miles ahead of his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They jumped the gun on Cedric Gray, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They bypassed pressing needs at quarterback to take Josh Newton, a cornerback that was not the priority.
McKinnley Jackson at the 110th pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It fills a real need, too.
Tommy Eichenberg at pick No. 120 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Dillon Johnson at Round 4, Pick 32 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They took Jared Wiley at par in slot 159, which is nothing to complain about. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They let Dwight McGlothern come to them and pounced at pick 171. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Value said wait; Kendall Milton in No. 172 says they were not listening. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A reach on Ryan Flournoy in the 196th pick; the board had better options right there. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached a country mile for Dominique Hampton at the Round 6 slot, and the board is aghast. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.