With the NFL draft less than a week away, Last Word on Sports will be bringing you the top three draft needs for all NFL teams. The Kansas City Chiefs finished 9-7 in 2014 and just missed the playoffs in a tight AFC Wild Card race. Kansas City had an eventful offseason after applying the franchise tag to Justin Houston, cutting Dwayne Bowe, letting Rodney Hudson depart for Oakland, and winning the Jeremy Maclin “sweepstakes.” The Chiefs must have a strong draft to improve an offense that lacks explosiveness outside of Jamaal Charles, and invest in the future defensively.
Kansas City Chiefs 2015 NFL Draft: Top 3 Needs
Wide Receiver
The addition of Jeremy Maclin to the wide receiver corps in Kansas City could certainly help the offense, but he lacks a running mate to work the other side of the field. The Chiefs didn’t have the worst receivers in the league last year but they undoubtedly had the worst production, not scoring a touchdown all year. There’s a reason three of them were cut at the end of the year.
Maclin will help but Kansas City needs to add a weapon opposite him in the draft, and it appears that they are going to do exactly that.
KC has had an extensive look at Oklahoma’s Dorial Green-Beckham and Michigan’s Devin Funchess and both would be solid picks for the Chiefs. The two players were discussed in depth in the offseason needs piece done before free agency, and they would still be good fits. Green-Beckham is an incredible athlete but was dismissed from Missouri in 2014 for character issues and is a question mark for most teams. His off-the-field troubles could be problematic but Andy Reid has years of coaching experience (especially with outlandish wideouts; see Terrell Owens) and if he can get DGB to buy in, the Chiefs will have a game breaker. If not, Green-Beckham will most likely fizzle out.
Funchess projects as a wideout-tight end hybrid. He has outstanding size at 6’4”, and would be a perfect companion for Maclin in the red zone. Funchess would pair up with Travis Kelce as great goal line targets for Alex Smith.
In a class of wideouts that might be as good as last year’s historic crop of prospects, Kansas City could also afford to go after someone in the later rounds if they don’t take one in the first.
Offensive Line
Kansas City had to let Rodney Hudson go to Oakland because of cap constraints. The Chiefs similarly said goodbye to Branden Albert because of Houston’s contract demands last summer. Kansas City has relied on draft picks for the offensive line in the past as well, allowing Eric Winston to walk in 2013 with Eric Fisher coming in to replace him.
Kansas City will most likely repeat history this offseason with Hudson going to the Raiders. As per usual, they will need to restock through the draft.
Cameron Erving from Florida State could help the Chiefs after Hudson left a hole at center. Inexperienced 2013 sixth-round pick Eric Kush has become the starter for now. Erving can play all three line positions, and if Kush doesn’t pan out, Erving could take over.
Duke guard Laken Tomlinson is projected to go in the second round and was a four-year starter in college. In the past two years, Tomlinson hasn’t allowed a sack. His athleticism has been questioned by scouts, but the technical skills required to be a top guard in the pros are already there. If Tomlinson plays well as a pro, he will become a leader on the line due to his very high football IQ.
Kansas City has excelled at giving Jamaal Charles space through gadget plays, sweeps, and screens. An offensive line that can create space consistently in the trenches could develop into a volatile offense even without a deep threat. Without an investment in that, Kansas City will still be one of the more dull offenses in the league, despite having one of the most explosive players in Charles.
Inside Linebacker
Derrick Johnson has been a constant presence in the middle for Kansas City since 2005 and he has only gotten better with age, registering 100 tackles in each of the past four seasons. Johnson missed all but the first game of this year with a torn Achilles, and at age 32 it’s time to draft a running mate and eventual successor as the leader of the defense. His replacements, James-Michael Johnson and Josh Mauga graded out as the 50th and 54th inside linebackers that played at least 25% of snaps last season.
A player like Denzel Perryman from Miami might be someone KC can pick up in the second or third round. Perryman is a strong, thumping linebacker, but his height might push some other teams away. At 5’11”, Perryman’s height won’t hurt him too much in a 3-4 defensive scheme and neither will his lack of pass rush abilities. His primary responsibility will be to shed blockers and stuff the run.
You can find your favorite team’s draft needs and prospect profiles at The War Room: Last Word’s 2015 NFL Draft Headquarters.
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