The Kansas City Chiefs have the No. 9 and No. 30 picks in this year's NFL draft with clear needs on the offensive line, defensive line and secondary.
After the Kansas City Chiefs signed the reigning Super Bowl Most Valuable Player and former Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III to kick off free agency, the team must shift its attention to shoring up both the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary.
The Chiefs had a horrible season in 2025, but when you think about just how dominant Kansas City has been over the past decade, the season was truly below the team’s standards. And it’s not like the Chiefs were having a good season and then quarterback Patrick Mahomes goes down and then it missed the playoffs; Kansas City was having a bad season long before Mahomes suffered two torn ligaments in his left knee in Week 15.
Adding Walker is a huge step in the right direction, as what plagued the Chiefs offensively was the lack of explosiveness from the running game. Kareem Hunt (free agent) and Isiah Pacheco (Detroit Lions) provided no such burst during the season, and over the last two campaigns, the Chiefs have been the worst team in terms of explosive run rate (worst in 2025, third-worst in 2024). Kansas City was so bad in that department that it was the worst mark of any offense over the past 25 years.
Walker is known for his burst and explosiveness while also being a threat to catch a pass out of the backfield, and this pairing is a match made in heaven. Now Kansas City can set its sights on improving at other positions.
With free agency dying down and most of the top players at each position signed, it’s becoming more likely that the Chiefs opt to fill roster holes during the National Football League draft. The main positions that need to be addressed are right tackle, cornerback and edge.
Former Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor was cut to save $20 million in salary cap space during the offseason, a move that wasn’t a surprise for several reasons. He was good in protection but was the most penalized at the position and the Chiefs needed cap space. Expect his replacement to be drafted within the first few rounds.
The Chiefs have two first-round picks after trading star CB Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams, No. 9 and No. 30, and the expectation is that the Chiefs will draft McDuffie’s replacement and find help at defensive end with those two picks.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid thinks the Chiefs’ best bet with those picks is to select LSU CB Mansoor Delane at No. 9 and Clemson EDGE T.J. Parker at No. 30.
“Delane blew scouts away with a 4.38 40-yard dash time at LSU's pro day Monday and cemented his status as the top cornerback in the draft,” Reid wrote Friday. “And after an underwhelming season, Parker has had a strong predraft process. Dense and powerful rushers are prioritized in coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's scheme, making Parker an ideal fit.”
Both of these guys were incredible during their college careers and fit huge needs for the Chiefs. If relying on a lot of draft picks to fill roster holes is confusing to you, this is the method the Chiefs used in 2022 when it selected McDuffie, DE George Karlaftis, Pacheco, linebacker Leo Chenal and Watson.
This retool strategy helped the Chiefs win the Super Bowl in 2024 and the franchise appears to be trying to do it again.