The Kansas City Chiefs have been very busy over the past 36 days hosting draft-eligible prospects at team facilities for top-30 visits. The team has just seven more days to get their pre-draft visits done, but we’ve already found out about more than half of those 30 allotted prospects they’ve had in.
These visits don’t always signal interest in the 2023 NFL draft, but every year the team manages to select at least one of the players they’ve met with. Last season, they grabbed Joshua Williams in the fourth round and Jaylen Watson in the seventh round after hosting them on top-30 visits.
With all that in mind, we’ve got a few takeaways from the list of prospects who’ve visited the Chiefs so far and what it might mean during the upcoming draft:
An early addition at offensive tackle seems likely
The Chiefs don’t appear to be done making additions at the offensive tackle position after signing Jawaan Taylor in free agency. They have now hosted two offensive tackles who are expected to be first-round draft picks (Darnell Wright and Anton Harrison). They’ve also hosted another who is expected to be a Day 2 pick (Jaelyn Duncan). Considering the fact that they also had formal meetings with Tyler Steen, Matthew Bergeron, Wanya Morris and Carter Warren at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, it feels like the writing is on the wall.
For all the fuss, not a lot of wide receivers
There has been a lot of panic in the Chiefs Kingdom regarding the wide receiver position after the departures of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman. The team brought in Richie James, but they’ve still got a need for more pass catchers for Patrick Mahomes. For all of that concern, the Chiefs haven’t brought in many receiver prospects. So far we only know about Rashee Rice and Quentin Johnston’s visits to Kansas City. It feels like the front office might be less concerned about that team’s receiver room than the fanbase is.
Homework is being done on late-round edge rushers
Last season, the Chiefs brought in Jackson State edge rusher James Houston IV for a top-30 visit. He was selected in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions and he went on to have eight sacks. The only rookie with more was his teammate, Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 overall draft pick. I think that Kansas City feels like they missed out a bit with Houston and they’re looking to find that late-round edge rusher this year. By my count, four of their pre-draft meetings have been with Day 3 edge rushers.
Chiefs might be set at tight end?
Over the past few years, we’ve heard about how it might be time for the Chiefs to start considering life after Travis Kelce. He’s met those concerns each year with another 1,000-yard season. For as much hype as there is surrounding this class of tight end prospects, Kansas City hasn’t hosted a single one on a pre-draft visit to our knowledge.
