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Grading the Kansas City Chiefs draft

How did the Chargers division rivals do in this year's draft?

By Kyle Posey
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

A week ago we went over the Raiders draft. Today we will recap the rest of the division. Let's start with the team the Chargers open up with in Week 1, Kansas City.

Round 2, Pick 37, Chris Jones, DL, Mississippi State

Dang. For the 2nd year in a row the Chiefs took 1 of my favorite overall players in the draft. Last years 1st rounder Marcus Peters worked out okay for them. This year shouldn't be much different. I thought Jones was the 13th best player in the draft, so to get him this late is incredible value. He should play starter snaps and give the Chiefs even more athleticism along their front 4. He's going to be a terror. I really have no bad words to say about this pick.

Grade: A+

Round 3, Pick 74, KeiVarae Russell, Notre Dame, DB

I say DB because he could very well play safety. With Marcus Peters, Philip Gaines, and Steven Nelson as the top 3 CBs and only Eric Berry as the lone safety you'd feel comfortable on the roster, I wonder if that's the plan. Russell is an explosive athlete as evidenced by his pro day numbers. You can tell he can run by the way he recovers when the ball is in the air and I also think he tracks the ball well for a DB. Russell being aware in zone coverage makes sense to play him at safety. He fits the press man that the Chiefs look for at corner, too. This is an ideal landing spot for Russell.

Grade: B+

Round 4, Pick 105, Parker Ehinger, Cincinnati, OG

I have no idea who this is. Here is what PFF thinks. I have no comment.


Round 4, Pick 106, Eric Murray, Minnesota, DB

Another guy that can jump out of the gym. I have 2 exposures to Murray. One was against TCU where he came up and had a big hit and forced a fumble. He also had an INT. The other time was against Ohio State where Michael Thomas beat him bad on a nice corner route but the pass was underthrown and he didn't give up a TD. Both games showed me Murray is an aggressive run defender, which I like. I wouldn't trust him against shifty/nuanced receivers, though.

Grade: C

Round 4, Pick 126, Demarcus Robinson, Florida, WR

Welp. This is what you do. You take high end athletes in the middle rounds and see if you can develop them. I watched quite a bit of Florida last year and Robinson is good for the spectacular catch. He is also very good after the catch. As a route runner he needs some work both at the line of scrimmage and at the top of his route. Experienced corners will give him fits early on but if he can improve, this will be a very good pick. He should challenge for the 4th wideout spot.

Grade: B-

Round 5, Pick 162, Kevin Hogan, Stanford, QB

LOL.

Grade: F

Round 5, Pick 164, Tyreek Hill, West Alabama, WR

He played at Oklahoma State and absolutely tore it up the first game against Florida State in 2014. This seems like their heir apparent to D'Anthony Thomas, yet somehow faster. Thomas is probably a better football player, Hill the better athlete. Hill might stick around due to special teams value and ability to come out of the backfield as well, which is where he lined up when he was at Oklahoma State.

Grade: C-

Overall Thoughts

The Chiefs reportedly tried to trade up to get Laquon Treadwell, then traded out of the 1st after the Vikings selected him. Didn't it seem like the Chiefs should've gotten more for trading back 9 spots? They only snagged an extra 4th and a 6th rounder. Kansas City did have 3 other picks after the 6th round but I don't see any of them making it. They got a homerun pick in Jones, other than that it feels like they just filled out the roster with depth and a possible starter in Russell. This draft will ultimately be judged on how well Jones turns out. If he doesn't, this will be a good example of why accumulating more picks isn't always the way to go.

How do you feel about the Chiefs draft?

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