The Chiefs' offense might be near unstoppable with Patrick Mahomes under center, but they're almost starting from scratch on defense, jettisoning Justin Houston, Dee Ford and Eric Berry and switching to a 4-3 scheme. This draft will be about finding the plays to fit with the new plan on defense.
Below, you can check out which picks the Chiefs currently have, along with our projection of their top positional needs. I'll then build a war-room big board based upon players I think have some kind of chance of making it to their first pick before sharing multiple draft classes that make sense for the team from myself, Ryan Wilson and Chris Trapasso.
As for the actual draft, you'll be able to stream our live coverage right here on CBS Sports HQ (or download the CBS Sports app for free on any mobile or connected TV device) breaking down all the picks and everything you need to know during draft weekend.
Current draft picks
| Round | Overall | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 | |
| 2 | 61 | |
| 2 | 63 | from Los Angeles Rams |
| 3 | 92 | |
| 5 | 167 | |
| 6 | 201 | |
| 6 | 214 | Compensatory |
| 7 | 216 | from San Francisco |
Team needs
The CBS Sports NFL writing staff recently compiled positional rankings to identify needs for each team heading into the draft. A helpful guide: any position group that had an average ranking worse than 16.0 (on a scale of 1 to 32) was considered a "need," while any that ranked worse than 23.0 (bottom-third of the league) was considered a "pressing need."
| QB | RB | WR/TE | OL | EDGE | INT DL | LB | DB |
| 1.4 | 16.4 | 1.6 | 9.8 | 24.2 | 10.6 | 20.8 | 17.0 |
Needs: RB, EDGE, LB, DB
Pressing: EDGE
The Chiefs cut Justin Houston and traded Dee Ford, and are heading into the draft with Alex Okafor and Emmanuel Ogbah as their primary pressure players. That's not a great situation to be in, especially when your secondary is just OK and not elite. They can definitely use some help along the edge, but that's basically the roster's one glaring weakness. Depth at linebacker and in the secondary could also be concerns, and if they want to upgrade on Damien Williams, well, why not make a dangerous offense even more so? The defensive front and back ends are where we have the Chiefs going in our mocks, with Zach Allen, Deandre Baker, Rashan Gary, and Jerry Tillery being just a few potential matches.
War room big board
If the Chiefs are to land an impact edge rusher, it's probably going to require a trade up. Packaging No. 29 with 61 should get them in the 15-18 range, which might be enough to land a premier talent at the position. Here's how I'd project the Chiefs' draft board for their first pick, considering only players I feel have some chance of making it in range:
- EDGE Montez Sweat, Mississippi State (trade up)
- EDGE Brian Burns, Florida State (trade up)
- EDGE Clelin Ferrell, Clemson (trade up)
- C Garrett Bradbury, NC State (trade up)
- CB Byron Murphy, Washington
- DT Dexter Lawrence, Clemson
- DT Christian Wilkins, Clemson
- OL Dalton Risner, Kansas State
- CB Greedy Williams, LSU
- DT Jerry Tillery, Notre Dame
- CB Rock Ya-Sin, Temple
- SS Johnathan Abram, Mississippi State
Seven-round mock drafts
| Round | Overall | Player | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | C Garrett Bradbury, NC State | from SEA* |
| 1 | 29 | to Seattle | |
| 2 | 61 | to Green Bay | |
| 2 | 63 | to Seattle | from LAR |
| 3 | 75 | CB Amani Oruwariye, Penn State | from GB* |
| 3 | 92 | SS Amani Hooker, Iowa | |
| 4 | 114 | DE L.J. Collier, TCU | from GB* |
| 4 | 124 | CB Jordan Brown, South Dakota State | from SEA* |
| 5 | 167 | RB Mike Weber, Ohio State | |
| 6 | 201 | OLB Dre Greenlaw, Arkansas | |
| 6 | 214 | to Seattle | |
| 7 | 216 | TE Zach Gentry, Michigan | from SF |
The Chiefs make a move up in the first round to snag Bradbury, as he's unlikely to get by the Ravens and Texans in the early 20s. He should be a perfect fit as a replacement for Mitch Morse at center, even if the team has to sacrifice a sixth while also trading down from the late second to the late fourth in order to get him.
Another trade is in the works at No. 61, as the Chiefs move down this time to pick up an extra fourth. Now with two picks in the third round, the team adds two pieces to the secondary, with Oruwariye a big, physical corner to push for a starting role immediately on the outside and Hooker a versatile safety who can spot up on tight ends, serving as a natural replacement for Eric Berry next to free-agent addition Tyrann Mathieu.
The Chiefs then spend the first of their two newly-acquired fourth-rounders on an edge defender in Collier, who should mix in for snaps immediately and could emerge as a starter at a position of need. Brown is late to the cornerback position but is still improving and could be coached up into a longterm starter. Weber had an excellent combine that could translate into a nice career in the right situation, and snaps could be there in Kansas City. Greenlaw is a special-teams player who is a sleeper to emerge as a contributor in the team's switch to a 4-3. Gentry will compete for backup duties behind Travis Kelce and is likely a TE2 at best.
More seven-round mocks:
(*) indicates pick acquired via trade
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | CB Byron Murphy, Washington | DL Zach Allen, Boston College |
| Round 2 | WR Deebo Samuel, South Carolina DE Ben Banogu, TCU | C Erik McCoy, Texas A&M CB Rock Ya-Sin, Temple |
| Round 3 | RB Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic | DE L.J. Collier, TCU |
| Round 4 | | |
| Round 5 | DE John Cominsky, Charleston | LB Te'Von Coney, Notre Dame |
| Round 6 | S Mike Edwards, Kentucky LB Cameron Smith, USC | CB Mark Fields, Clemson DE Malik Reed, Nevada |
| Round 7 | DT Isaiah Buggs, Alabama | QB Clayton Thorson, Northwestern |
Check out more first-round mocks from CBS Sports.
