Dane Brugler is a respected draft expert, but his mock draft goes against some of the Kansas City Chiefs' stated needs.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic is one of the most respected draft experts who covers the NFL, and his annual book, which has been dubbed “The Beast,” has been required reading by scouts and evaluators for years. His mock draft is also highly anticipated, but this year’s version goes against the grain when it comes to some of the Chiefs’ stated priorities from GM Brett Veach.
It’s important to note that Brugler does his mock drafts straight up with no trades, and he tends to lean heavily toward the best player available. That makes some of his choices easy to understand, so let’s go there and review his Chiefs choices.
Brugler’s first selection aligns with expectations. He has the Chiefs sticking with edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami with their top pick, which wouldn’t be surprising given that Bain just did a pre-draft visit with the Chiefs.
It does come with a twist, though, as news stories from multiple outlets just revealed that Bain was the driver in a fatal vehicle accident back in 2024, and the Chiefs already have to deal with another trial with receiver Rashee Rice that starts on June 9 for the street racing incident he was involved in.
After that things get a little weird for Brugler. He has Kansas City drafting receiver Denzel Boston of Washington with the 29th pick, which is more surprising given that Boston isn’t considered the kind of high-level playmaker the Chiefs would target if they drafted a receiver with this pick.
His selection with the 40th pick is even stranger. Brugler has the Chiefs going with a cornerback by taking Brandon Cisse out of South Carolina, which would be somewhat shocking given the Chiefs’ preference to draft secondary players late in the draft and rely on coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to develop them.
The later rounds of any mock draft tend to have less meaning, but most of Brugler’s picks in the back part of his do match up with Kansas City’s needs. He has the Chiefs selecting tight end Oscar Delp from Georgia in the third round, which would be an appropriate spot to draft a possible Travis Kelce replacement.
Brugler also adds a couple of linemen in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, along with a running back, Demond Claiborne from Wake Forest with the Chiefs’ second pick in the fifth round. It’s an interesting array of players, and while few experts nail more than two or three picks in any mock draft, the mix and match process here is intriguing given Brugler’s high level of knowledge about college players.