For the Kansas City Chiefs 2016 NFL Draft, General Manger John Dorsey looked to fill much needed positional needs on the roster. The Chiefs have put themselves in position to compete for the AFC West title for the next few years and targeted their main needs heavily. The Chiefs went into the draft with only six picks after losing their third round pick due to the ruling on their tampering charges. However, Dorsey turned those six picks into nine picks with some wheeling and dealing.
Kansas City Chiefs 2016 NFL Draft Selections
2nd Round, 37th Overall: defensive tackle Chris Jones (Mississippi State)
Read: Chris Jones 2016 NFL Draft Profile
3rd Round, 59th Overall: cornerback KeiVarae Russell (Notre Dame)
4th Round, 105th Overall: offensive guard Parker Ehinger (Cincinnati)
4th Round, 106th Overall: cornerback Eric Murray (Minnesota)
4th Round, 126th Overall: wide receiver Demarcus Robinson (Florida)
5th Round, 162nd Overall: quarterback Kevin Hogan (Stanford)
5th Round, 165th Overall: wide receiver Tyreek Hill (West Alabama)
6th Round, 178th Overall: cornerback D.J. White (Georgia Tech)
6th Round, 203rd Overall: outside linebacker Dadi Lhomme Nicolas (VA Tech)
Chiefs 2016 NFL Draft Grade: 8/10, B
Kansas City Chiefs 2016 NFL Draft Review
The Best Player: Former Mississippi State Defensive Tackle Chris Jones had first round potential but one of his biggest knocks is that he seems to take plays off. Jones can play anywhere on the defensive line and is good at stopping the run and getting to the quarterback. He has the size and speed to be very effective and will probably get a few reps his rookie season on the Chiefs. Jones adds depth to a Kansas City line that includes Dontari Poe, Allen Bailey, and Jaye Howard. Dorsey likes to draft a year earlier for a need that might be there in 2017 so Jones could eventually take Poe’s spot.
The Head-Scratcher: It is well known throughout the league that head coach Andy Reid loves quarterbacks. Kevin Hogan has potential for the future, but that same thing could be said about Tyler Bray or Aaron Murray. Hogan was the winningest quarterback in Stanford history which is impressive considering some of the quarterbacks that have played at Stanford like Andrew Luck, Jim Plunkett, and John Elway to name a few. This isn’t a terrible draft pick especially with Alex Smith who is about to turn 32. This allows the winner of the back up quarterback position battle between Bray, Murray and Hogan to learn some more from Smith and maybe take over when Smith’s contract is up or if he retires soon.
Read: A Letter to Kevin Hogan
The Surprise: Cornerback D.J. White in the sixth round. Kansas City had already drafted two corners prior to White in Russell and Murray which means they see a need at corner now that Sean Smith is a Raider. They are willing to test out three new corners against the ones they have now and hoping to get at least one of these guys to come in and play opposite of Peters. The Chiefs have a need and it is no surprise that they are trying to fix it by quantity and hoping at the very least one of these three work out.
The Steal: This category is tough to gauge before they even start playing, but with how well the Chiefs have done drafting players like Kelce, Houston, and Charles all in the third round, the choice here will be KeiVarae Russell cornerback out of Notre Dame.
The first of three corners that they drafted was a three year starter at Notre Dame. He’s a fighter coming back from an academic scandal and an injury. Russell can catch as well which always seemed to be a knock on Sean Smith after watching him drop easy interceptions year after year. If Russell works out for the Chiefs they could have a very dangerous cornerback group with Peters and Russell. KeiVarae was the first of his family to graduate high school, to go to college, and to graduate from college. He worked hard to make it which could be the key for him to have success in the NFL.
Most Likely to Turn Heads in Training Camp: The Chiefs were the 30th best team in receiving yards and they seem to have a drop off after Maclin and Kelce for receiving options. Kansas City has taken care of that a little bit with signing Rod Streater and Mike Williams in the off-season. They also went out and drafted two receivers as in Demarcus Robinson from Florida and the pick to be the most likely to turn heads, Tyreek Hill from West Alabama.
Hill has potential and has been compared to Devin Hester by the Chiefs’ Special Team Coach, Dave Toub, who coached Devin Hester on the Chicago Bears. Hill was projected to be a first or second round talent when he was at Oklahoma State but dropped significantly after pleading guilty to punching and choking his pregnant girlfriend at the time. Kansas City has looked into this issue talking to both his Oklahoma State and West Alabama coaching staff who all said that Hill just made a mistake.
Hill has been given his second chance but now it is time to see what he does with it. Some people learn from their mistakes, others not so much.
The Rest: The Chiefs drafted a guard out of Cincinnati who has a chance to compete at the weakest position on the Kansas City line in Parker Ehinger. Ehinger has potential to get some quality playing time with the Chiefs and will improve an offensive line that led to Alex Smith running around a lot in the pocket.
DeMarcus Robinson is a wide receiver out of Florida who will compete with the other Chiefs receivers to give Smith more options to throw to then Kelce, Maclin, and whatever running back is in the backfield. Robinson has good size but also has some off the field issues as well.
Eric Murray – cornerback out of Minnesota will also be given a chance to start opposite Marcus Peters to replace Sean Smith. Murray will be challenged right away to compete for the corner spot against two other draft picks.
Dadi Nicolas is a defensive end out of Virginia Tech. He’s too light to play defensive end however so the Chiefs will probably bulk him up a bit to play outside linebacker. He has potential but is still a raw talent so Kansas City will probably want him to learn from Hali and Houston for a couple of years.
The Bottom Line: General Manager John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid know how to build a franchise and have turned around the Chiefs franchise since taking it over back in 2013. Since that time the Chiefs have had three straight winning seasons and went to the playoffs two out of three of those years. Dorsey approached this draft getting quantity, but only time will tell how the Chiefs 2016 NFL draft picks will work out for Kansas City.
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