The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly have wide receiver Henry Ruggs on their draft radar. For those who aren’t following the scouting process, Ruggs is one of the fastest and most dangerous wide receivers in the upcoming NFL Draft. Adding his game-breaking ability to an offense already featuring Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce is just unfair to the rest of the league.
However, Ruggs figures to be off the board long before the 32nd overall pick. If the Chiefs want to get him, they’ll probably have to move up to at least the 14th pick in the draft. The Denver Broncos currently have the 15th pick, and they have been publicly linked to Ruggs. The San Francisco 49ers currently hold the 13th pick and are reportedly interested in trading down. Even though the 49ers would probably love to trade down, it’s hard to imagine Kansas City making an offer that makes sense for both sides.
Kansas City Chiefs Can’t Trade Up for Henry Ruggs
Not Enough Draft Capital
The San Francisco 49ers have two picks in the first round, but nothing after that until the fifth. Considering the depth in this draft class, San Francisco naturally wants to acquire more picks to fill out their roster. They should be theoretically open to moving down from the current spot, but it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs making the most entertaining offer.
At first glance, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t have the draft capital to easily move up to the 13th overall pick. According to the DraftTek Trade Value Chart, the 13th overall pick is worth 336 points. Kansas City’s entire draft, meanwhile, is worth 326 points. It goes without saying that trading an entire class for one player is a bad move, and the 49ers probably wouldn’t accept anything less. The Chiefs made their own bed here by spending the past few seasons aggressively trading up to build a win-now roster. It obviously paid off, but now they need to live with the long-term consequences.
A Player Trade Doesn’t Make Sense
The other option, of course, is to trade a veteran for the 13th overall pick. The Chiefs don’t have the draft capital to move up the board, but they do have a fantastic pass-rusher in Chris Jones. Jones, of course, is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league and should receive plenty of interest on the trade market. The Chiefs probably don’t have the salary cap space to give him the long-term contract he deserves, so trading him during the 2020 NFL Draft makes sense.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine the 49ers biting on a deal like this. San Francisco is also strapped for cash and is currently trying to trade away guys like Dee Ford and Marquise Goodwin for salary cap relief. The only reason they have the 13th overall pick in the first place is that they couldn’t afford to pay DeForest Buckner.
Jones and Buckner are comparable players, and perhaps the Chiefs could trade Jones to Tampa Bay for the 14th overall pick. Unfortunately, that appears to be nothing but a pipe dream at this point in life. Barring something completely unforeseen, it looks like Henry Ruggs won’t play for Kansas City in 2020.
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