The Kansas City Chiefs are in a unique position for their standards, but picking No. 9 overall will help head coach Andy Reid upgrade a position the Chiefs badly need to.
According to NFL insider Jason La Canfora, the Chiefs are likely to target a tackle with their first top-10 selection since they chose superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes with the 10th pick in 2017.
Mahomes is, of course, recovering from an ACL injury, which he sustained in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers. But the Chiefs’ struggles protecting him has been an issue for multiple seasons, which could now prompt Reid to act.
The Chiefs May Target a Left Tackle at No. 9
The Chiefs have a first-round pick as their starting left tackle in Josh Simmons, whom they chose 32nd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Still, La Canfora, one of the league’s most well-connected insiders, cited sources who indicated Reid’s intent to upgrade KC’s tackle position.
“You guys can write whatever you want in your mock drafts, but I know Andy Reid,” a longtime NFL executive told La Canfora for Sports Boom. “I know how he thinks, and he knows his tackles aren’t good enough.”
That wasn’t the only executive who floated the Chiefs taking a tackle. La Canfora’s second source thinks Reid could target his BYU roots and choose Spencer Fano of Utah while also deciding between Kadyn Proctor of Alabama or Monroe Freeling of Georgia.
“I have him taking a tackle,” the executive said. “I think it could be Georgia or it could be Alabama. Either of those two look like an Andy Reid left tackle.
“The tackle from Utah, that’s where Andy is from. You don’t think he likes [Fano].”
Mahomes Can’t do his Magic Without Competent Tackles
The Chiefs have won the Super Bowl with weak wide receivers. They have done so with a nonexistent run game. They have played for championships on the backs of elite defenses and porous ones.
But the only holes they haven’t been able to hide has been with their offensive lines.
“Kansas City’s stranglehold on the AFC West weakened last season and even before Mahomes’s season-ending surgery the offense was not up to Reid’s caliber,” La Canfora wrote. “They could not run the ball with any vigor or explosion, and the system was undermined far too often at the point of attack.
“The Chiefs have tried stopgaps in the past and some recent draft picks have not turned out. Mahomes has the unique brilliance to help turn lesser targets into supreme pass catchers, but he can’t block for himself.”
Reid’s offensive genius requires time to execute. Plus, he was an offensive lineman himself growing up. His insistence on drafting O-linemen has inspired his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and their football czar Howie Roseman on how to draft.
“Why do you think Howie is always drafting offensive linemen?” the first exec told La Canfora. “Where do you think he learned that?”
Plus, the Chiefs have two first-round picks as a result of their blockbuster deal with the Los Angeles Rams for star cornerback Trent McDuffie. La Canfora suggested Kansas City could use that pick to upgrade its passing game.
“If he goes [the tackle] route, at pick [No.] 29 there could still be a receiver or tight end he likes still on the board,” La Canfora wrote.
Insider Shares Andy Reid’s Insights Into Chiefs’ Pick at No. 9