There are just 30 days to go until the 2023 NFL draft, which means some strong opinions are starting to be formed about the upcoming crop of talent.
Our friend Jeff Risdon, of Draft Wire and Lions Wire fame, released his 10 bold predictions of the 2023 NFL draft. Several were notable and could impact how things play out for the Chiefs in the first round and beyond, but one prediction stood out above the rest.
That’s because the recent topic of discussion in Chiefs Kingdom has been the wide receiver position after the team lost JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman in free agency. With the free agent and trade options looking quite bare at the moment, many believe Kansas City will select a receiver in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. Some even think they’ll trade up to get it done.
Risdon’s bold prediction regarding the receiver situation in this draft class:
The general consensus amongst draft analysts is that it’s not a high-end wide receiver class. That opinion will be validated when just one wideout comes off the board on the draft’s first night. Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be the only first-round wide receiver.
In 2008, no receivers were selected in the first round of the draft with Donnie Avery getting the highest pick at No. 33 overall in the second round. You have to go all the way back to the 2006 NFL draft to find the last time that only one receiver was selected in the first round. That was Santonio Holmes, who went No. 25 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I’d personally be surprised to see this happen knowing that it’s been nearly 17 years since the last time a single receiver was selected in Round 1. There also seems to be at least a little lack of consensus on the top wide receiver in this class between Smith-Njigba and TCU’s Quentin Johnston.
Another big question here is whether there is enough talent at other positions to push down some of the fringe first-round wide receiver talent, such as Zay Flowers or Jalin Hyatt. Risdon also thinks five quarterbacks could go in the first round, which would certainly help in that regard.
In the long run, this could turn out to be a good thing for Kansas City. Obviously, they’d probably prefer it were a strong draft class at the position, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to find a solid contributor. If the draft class is perceived to be weaker at the top, perhaps they won’t feel pressed into reaching for a player in the first round. Remember, the goal is always to be able to invest in the best player available at a given pick.
