With 14 days to go until the 2023 NFL draft, we’re seeing some really intriguing mock draft scenarios for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Our friend Jeff Risdon at Draft Wire recently released a 3-round mock draft, which includes a familiar scenario for Kansas City in Round 1. Could Brett Veach have a similar idea in mind when the draft opens on Thursday, April 27?
Here’s a quick review of the players sent to the Chiefs in this mock draft:
Round 1: Trade to No. 25 to select Georgia OT Broderick Jones
Risdon has the Kansas City Chiefs trade picks No. 31 (first round) and No. 95 (3rd round) and a third-round pick in 2024 to the New York Giants and receive No. 25 (first round) and No. 172 (5th round) in return. With pick No. 25 they select Georgia’s starting left tackle Broderick Jones, who is inexplicably available this late in the draft.
We know that Kansas City has been doing its research on this offensive tackle class. Peter Skoronski goes in the top 10 and Darnell Wright in the top 12. Paris Johnson Jr. is off the board before pick No. 20. The Chiefs wisely move ahead of the Cowboys, Bills and Bengals to grab Jones.
Jones is coming off back-to-back seasons of winning a National Championship with Georgia. He’s primarily played left tackle in his career with less than 50 snaps at the right tackle position. That said, he’s allowed just 17 total pressures during his entire playing career and he didn’t let up a single sack in 2022. This would be a homerun move for Kansas City.
Round 2, Pick No. 63: LSU EDGE BJ Ojulari
Addressing the trenches in Round 1 and Round 2 would leave some fans a bit concerned about the receiver position when the Chiefs don’t pick again until Round 4, but man is it hard to argue with the results. I think Risdon did a really good job here.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds, Ojulari was a first-team All-SEC selection in 2022, recording 58 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks and 49 pressures in 11 games started. He’s not the prototypical size that Steve Spagnuolo typically goes for, but his speed and ability to turn the corner separates him from others in this draft class. He plays with a non-stop motor and his competitive drive comes across on tape as well. He’d be a great complement to the group of pass-rushing talent that Kansas City has already assembled.
