With the 2023 NFL draft just around the corner, Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach sat down with local media members for his annual pre-draft press conference. He covered a wide range of topics, surrounding draft preparations, evaluation and different situations that could play out in the first round of the draft.
Here’s a quick look at what we’re taking away from his pre-draft press conference:
Trading out of the first round, is on the table
Veach joked during his post-draft media availability in 2022 that Clark Hunt told him he couldn’t trade 2023’s first-round draft pick because that draft was in Kansas City. With the draft now upon, Veach says that all options are on the table, including trading out of Round 1, given the right situation.
“I don’t think it would be hard at all,” Veach said. “I know there was a lot of joking last year about Clark (Hunt) saying, ‘You can’t trade the (first round) pick.’ Listen, maybe there was some truth to it, but I think that applied more to the offseason or last summer. I mean, you know, we’re here now. A trade-down is part of the draft and it’d give people a reason to come back on Friday and see us do any more work. We’re at the party now, so it’s all up in the air and anything is a possibility.”
If the draft board plays out in a certain way, Veach could certainly pull the trigger and trade out of the first round. The same could be said of trading up in the first round as well.
The Chiefs also are not opposed to being aggressive and trading up (to an extent)
As far as a trade-up is concerned, it sounds like Veach and his staff are still determining the group of players who they like enough where they’d be willing to trade up. How far are they willing to go? Veach makes it sound like a big move from No. 31 is not on the agenda.
“We’ll have a list of guys that we’ll feel like we want to be aggressive on,” Veach said. “If it works out number-wise, I think we’ll sit there at 31 and we’ll have a few guys. And if they’re there and we think it’s in range, reasonable, where we’re not giving up a ton — I can’t see us trading up too high in the draft or anything like that. If there’s a guy that we really like and we’re in that range, we’ll sit here the next few days and determine what range is comfortable for us (on each player). We’ll sit there and potentially make that move. We’ll be content with staying there. I’m sure there will be a good player at 31. We’ll be open to moving back if guys that we had in mind are gone. So, I think we’ll kind of just see how it goes. These things change so quickly and fluidly, but I don’t think we’d be opposed to being aggressive if the player warranted it.”
So, perhaps a small move up where the team is not giving up a ton of draft capital to come up from pick No. 31. If I had to make a guess, they’ll go no higher than pick No. 20.
Where is the value in the 2023 NFL draft class?
Veach was asked about the pockets in this draft class where there might be some depth and he immediately pointed to one position group.
“I think it’s a good defensive back class,” Veach said. “I think there’s a lot of corners. Every year, you go to the combine, you have a group of guys in one and group of guys in two and they work themselves up either higher on a tier and lower on a tier. It seems like everyone on that second wave of corners went to the combine and ran a 4.3. The numbers were crazy. These are all big athletic fast corners. I think it’s a really good draft in the defensive backfield.”
There were two other groups that caught Veach’s attention in this particular class.
“I think there is depth late in the linebacker position,” Veach continued. “The tight end class is good. So, I think, it’s all about how you see the board. Every team may see it differently. It may be viewed by some teams as pretty deep. If you need a DB it’s a pretty good class, but if you’re good at that position, you might say it’s a thin class. But like every year, there will be chances and opportunities to get guys in certain different rounds that make a lot of sense and you’ll get really good value on. We just have to be on point with our board like we have been in the past.”
Defensive back, tight end and linebacker happen to be the position groups that the Chiefs have a ton of depth already. If we’re reading between the lines, this suggests that other positions might be targeted early on in the draft.
The wide receiver, offensive line and defensive line situations are similar
There has been a lot of conversation around the Chiefs’ wide receiver situation, but it might not be as dire as some make it out to be. Brett Veach certainly didn’t look at it that way when speaking to members of the media on Thursday.
“I think it’s like a lot of these positions,” Veach said. “You’re always looking for more talent and to get deeper. There’s a lot of players we like. Certainly, MVS and Skyy (Moore) and (Kadarius) Toney. We brought Justin Watson back, Richie James. So, we have really good players. We can certainly go out there line-up and win games (as is), but I’d say the same about the offensive line, the defensive line and the receiver position. We’re always looking to get deeper and more athletic and more talented. We’re happy with the guys we have, but like every team in this draft, we’ll find ways to make our team better.”
While the team likes the group of players they have at the receiver spot (and in the offensive and defensive trenches) that won’t stop them from adding talent during the course of the 2023 NFL draft. The goal is to get deeper and more athletic at every spot possible.
Chiefs place a premium on versatility and smarts (especially on defense)
When asked about the types of qualities that Veach is looking for in defensive linemen, he immediately spoke of versatility. The more you can do, the greater value you’ll have for many teams around the league. Smarts was also one of the qualities that the Chiefs seem to place a premium on, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“Versatility is high on the list, really all across the board on both sides of the ball at every position,” Veach said. “Receivers that can play inside and outside. Tight ends that can be difference-makers in the pass game, but also block. As you mentioned with Steve (Spagnuolo), the intelligence factor, and every coach wants smart players, but I don’t think I’ve ever been around a coach that puts that premium at the highest level. He wants guys — he wants to do a lot of different things — very much like Coach (Reid) on the offensive side. He wants to do a lot of different things. He wants a lot of different looks. He wants to disguise different coverages. He wants these guys to be all on the same page and all in tune and ready to fly and play fast. Obviously, there’d be certain traits with running his scheme. Playing four downs, being long, athletic and what have you. Certainly, just the intelligence factor, the standard is set there. It’s a little tricky in the draft because like Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis are great examples. Those guys could be coaches. They’re so smart and so dedicated. But, Steve likes guys who are tough, versatile and smart.”
With the S2 Cognition test coming into light this offseason, it makes you wonder how much emphasis the Chiefs place on smarts in the pre-draft cycle compared to some other traits. That, along with versatility, could be something that influences how the 2023 NFL draft pans out for Kansas City.
