Mahomes' injury and playoff miss create immense draft pressure. With two first-rounders, the Kansas City Chies must rebuild key positions.
The 2026 NFL Draft begins on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the expectation league-wide is that Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza will be the first overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders.
After that, nobody knows what will happen, and the Kansas City Chiefs face a lot of pressure with two first-round picks and some glaring holes after missing the playoffs and seeing Patrick Mahomes suffer a torn ACL during the 2025 season.
Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus named five teams that need to nail the draft, and the Chiefs were one of them.
"The Chiefs are in an unusual situation this draft cycle in possessing not only a top-10 pick, but also two selections on Day 1. General manager Brett Veach has his work cut out to fix a roster that still has Super Bowl aspirations," Locker wrote.
Some common options at No. 9 include Miami edge rusher Rueban Bain Jr. and LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane, and wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson are also options, but there is a scenario where all of those guys are off the board by pick No. 9.
Nonetheless, the Chiefs need to maximize the time they have with Mahomes and Travis Kelce, who is almost certainly on the final year of his legendary NFL run.
"The Chiefs need to maximize their championship window by retooling multiple position groups. Kansas City has done so before, but Veach must find a mix of instant fixes and future stars on both sides of the ball," Locker wrote.
The good news is that the Chiefs have two first-round picks, so they have a chance to add two premier players.
Some even have suggested the possibility of the Chiefs trading down or up depending on what happens.
ESPN's Peter Schrager had Kansas City moving down from No. 9 but then moving up from No. 29 in a busy first round for Brett Veach and company. In this, the Chiefs took Bain at No. 12 somehow, and then moved up to land Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr.
The Chiefs saw a lot of departures in free agency, especially on the defense, including Bryan Cook, Jaylen Watson and Leo Chenal, and Trent McDuffie was traded to the Rams, so there are a lot of areas they need to address in the next few days of the NFL Draft.
And, it all begins with Round 1 and the Chiefs holding two picks, and there could be a lot of activity by Kansas City on Thursday.