The Kansas City Chiefs needed an edge rusher, a receiver and offensive lineman help, but they ignored those needs.
The Kansas City Chiefs continued their mystifying 2026 draft by selecting Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods with the No. 29 pick, once again ignoring their stated positional needs before the draft by going in a completely different direction.
GM Brett Veach stated before the draft that the Chiefs’ priorities were edge rusher, wide receiver and offensive line, but they came away with no additions in any of those areas. Instead they got an interior lineman who played for a Clemson Tigers team that underachieved last year and had problems on defense.
Woods played in 35 games with 24 starts, and he was a first-team All-ACC player in 2025, as he recorded 30 tackles with 3.5 for a loss to go with a pair of sacks and two passes defended, according to a report by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. Woods also played some on offense for the Tigers last year as he rushed for a pair of touchdowns.
Woods, whose measurables land at 6’3”, 315 pounds, finished his collegiate career with 14.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and two forced fumbles. He projects as a player who can take some of the inside pressure off defensive tackle Chris Jones, and perhaps be Jones’ eventual replacement.
But Woods didn’t impress ESPN’s draft evaluation team at all once his selection was announced. Both Mel Kiper and Booger McFarlane offered some pointed criticism, with the words “underachiever” and “disappointment” sprinkled throughout their brief evaluation. Woods supposedly does have top ten or even top five talent, the evaluators noted, but according to them he played nowhere near that level last year.
This selection is almost as mystifying as their other top pick at No. 6, as the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane with that pick after trading three picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up. That move landed a player at a position of need that wasn't a stated priority, and multiple mock drafts had Delane landing somewhere in the top half of the first round. That had many observers, including Nate Taylor of ESPN, asking if the Chiefs needed to make the trade.
Veach definitely has some explaining to do when he meets the media. He certainly fooled the experts and the fan base, and the Chiefs did fortify the defense to some extent. But the Chiefs will go into Day 2 tomorrow with the same weaknesses they had going into tonight, and right now it’s a complete mystery why Kansas City chose this particular strategy shift.