Getty Arrowhead Stadium, where Armani Watts played for the last four seasons.
With a league-high draft picks, two being in the first round, there have been discussions regarding if the Kansas City Chiefs might try to package either the 29th or 30th overall picks to move up in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. With the draft just a day away, it is now confirmed that Kansas City is trying to do exactly that.
According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, the Chiefs are making calls in an attempt to move up on Day 1 of the draft.
“As has been expected, with 12 picks and two first-rounders in the chamber, the Chiefs have started to call teams through the 20s about trading up,” Breer wrote on April 26. “It might be for a receiver. But I wouldn’t rule out an aggressive move for a corner or pass rusher either. And it’s possible Kansas City will jump from Nos. 29 or 30 up, 10 spots or so, then leap again.”
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Who Are the Chiefs Trying to Get?
What’s most surprising about Breer’s report is that he notes how the Chiefs could move up “10 spots or so,” and then trade up again after trading up once. The willingness to be very aggressive could mean Kansas City has its eyes set on a certain player(s) in the first round.
Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network detailed some of the players the Chiefs have interest in on Day 1 of the draft.
“The belief is that the Kansas City Chiefs will take defensive end Boye Mafe and a receiver with their two selections late in Round 1, but could they use both choices on defensive prospects? The answer is yes, from what I’m told,” Pauline wrote on April 25.
“If Chris Olave is not available and they can’t trade up for WR Jameson Williams, sources close to the Chiefs tell me Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon is being seriously considered with one of those two picks.”
With that information and based on roster needs the possibility does exist that the Chiefs could be trying to trade up to draft either Ohio State’s Chris Olave or Alabama’s Jameson Williams. Washington’s Kyler Gordon seems like a more realistic draft pick if the Chiefs make a selection at No. 29 or No. 30.
Chiefs Have Limited Amount of 1st-Round Grades
While Brett Veach said during his pre-draft press conference he doesn’t expect the Chiefs to trade up on Day 1 of the draft “unless something unforeseen happens,” that doesn’t completely rule out a trade happening for Kansas City.
However, Veach did reveal how many first-round grades the Chiefs have this year, which falls in line with Breer’s report.
“I think there’s a lot of similarities to the [2021] draft. I think we have right around 16 to 18 names on our front board as first-round picks,” Veach explained. “Picking at 29 and 30, our odds of maybe one of those guys falling isn’t great, but at the same time, we probably aren’t factoring in quarterbacks that most teams do. I’m sure there are quarterbacks worthy of a first-round grade, we’re just obviously not going in that direction.”
If you factor in teams that might want to draft a quarterback in the first round, the players the Chiefs have graded as first-round talents could all be gone by picks 19 to 21, which are owned by the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New England Patriots respectively.
Despite a scarcity of first-round talent on Kansas City’s big board, Veach detailed that there’s a lot of value in the draft, specifically in the second round. That works in the Chiefs’ favor, as they have four selections in the first two rounds.
“But I think similar to last year, when you look at value in this draft, [picks] 30 to 60 is really good. We were able to get Nick Bolton, Creed Humphrey last year [in the second round], I think there will be a lot of value similar to that, a lot of really good players in that second, third round.”
Because there are very few first-round grades on Kansas City’s big board, it would make sense for the team to package up several of its 12 draft picks to move up in the first round. From there they could select a player they graded as a first-round talent, and continue to fill out the roster with the remaining draft picks.