The Kansas City Chiefs to draft for defense leaves them with some holes and questions going into OTAs.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a brand-new depth chart, and it comes with questions. Jesse Newell of the Athletic offered one question for each positional group, so let’s explore some of the ones that come with some especially important issues.
Running back: Kenneth Walker III, Emmett Johnson, Emari Demercado, Brassard Smith
The hole here is glaring, and it’s not hard to figure out, either. The Chiefs excelled in short-yardage situations because of Kareem Hunt, but Hunt remains unsigned, so the big question is who fills that role if he doesn’t come back. Smith is too small, and the Chiefs signed Emmercado as a possible playmaker with game-breaking speed if he can focus and not make glaring mistakes. Johnson was drafted for his versatility, so it’s unlikely that he would get that role, and while Walker can do it occasionally, the Chiefs were better when they had a specialist like Hunt doing the dirty work to move the chains.
Tight ends: Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Jared Wiley, Jake Briningstool
As happy as the Chief are to have Kelce back in the fold, there’s a significant question here as well. There’s no true blocking tight end in this group as constituted, according to Newell, which is interesting given the commitment to running up the middle the Chiefs are making by adding Walker. This is a move that could be addressed in the coming months, as there are usually plenty of decent blocking tight ends on the move, especially once the summer starts.
Offensive line: Josh Simmons, Kingsley Suamataia, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Jaylon Moore, Esa Pole, Mike Caliendo
This is a solid group with plenty of potential if everyone can stay reasonably healthy, but that’s the big rub here. Simmons is the big question mark, as he had to leave the team for a month during the middle of the season, then got hurt late with a wrist injury. The Chiefs were reportedly in the running to make a big add up front, but that didn’t happen as they chose to go defense with their initial selections. The depth hasn’t been beefed up much, and that was one of the big surprises of this draft.
Wide receivers: Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Royals, Cyrus Allen, Nikko Remigio, Jason Brownlee
This is another area that comes with questions, as the Chiefs were widely linked to Carnell Tate in a lot of pre-draft intel. They definitely didn’t make a significant addition, and the spectacle of the Rashee Rice trial for his street racing incident also looms in early June. Newell thinks the Chiefs are "short a body," so it will be interesting to see if reinforcements arrive.