The Kansas City Chiefs brought home a veritable draft haul last weekend, and one player in particular caught the eye of future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce.
On last week’s episode of his “New Heights” podcast, Kelce extolled the virtues of second-round edge-rusher R Mason Thomas, who Kansas City selected No. 40 overall out of Oklahoma.
“The guy is a freak of nature in terms of athleticism and explosiveness,” Kelce said. “I can’t wait to see how this guy gets after the quarterback. It’s been kind of something that the Chiefs have been looking at to get better at, and that’s getting after the QB and really putting quarterbacks under duress.”
Kelce was sure to add complimentary remarks on defensive tackle Chris Jones and defensive end George Karlaftis before jumping back into what he sees Thomas bringing to the pass rush as a rookie in 2026.
“I think this is going to be a game-changer at the edge position,” Kelce continued.
Chiefs Shifting Priorities on Defensive Line With Picks of R Mason Thomas, Peter Woods in NFL Draft
GettyR Mason Thomas, formerly of the Oklahoma Sooners.
Thomas produced 22 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and two pass breakups across his last two collegiate seasons with the Sooners (23 games total).
ESPN’s Mina Kimes pointed out during her most recent podcast that Thomas is representative of a shift in skill-set priority along the defensive front evident in the Chiefs’ front office this offseason.
“Super, super sudden, explosive pass-rusher,” Kimes said of Thomas. “Very, very different from George Karlaftis. So this felt like, ‘Let’s try to get a different skill set in the room from the guys we’ve drafted.'”
Kimes added that the Chiefs’ second first-round pick, defensive tackle Peter Woods out of Clemson at No. 29 overall, is also a shift toward speed over power at the point of attack defensively.
“I think [Thomas is] a very important pick for them. I think those two picks, Woods and Thomas, are both very important,” Kimes continued. “Because if they can’t get more pass-rush juice, particularly outside of blitzing, I think that this turnaround isn’t going to happen the way that they hope it will.”
Pressure Mounting on R Mason Thomas to Produce for Chiefs in Rookie Season
GettyEdge defender R Mason Thomas, formerly of the Oklahoma Sooners.
The comments from all over the football universe, both inside the Chiefs organization via Kelce and outside of it from Kimes, are coalescing to create significant pressure on Thomas to produce immediately as a second-round pick at the age of just 22, which he will turn in late August a couple of weeks ahead of Kansas City’s regular-season opener.
And the praise has not stopped there.
Gennaro Filice, NFL.com’s editor at large, dubbed Thomas his “favorite pick” of the Chiefs’ draft, which Filice ranked 8th overall in 2026.
“As a pure speedball off the edge, Thomas provides a pass-rushing alternative to the more power-based George Karlaftis,” Filice wrote. “I like to think that the Chiefs saw the havoc Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper wreaked for the division champion [Denver] Broncos and were like, ‘Give me some of that get-off!'”
Travis Kelce Sounds Off on Chiefs’ Draft Pick Dubbed ‘Game-Changer’