One of the best parts of the NFL draft is getting the opportunity to hear from Kansas City Chiefs’ staff members on the personnel side who we don’t get to hear from often.
Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi got a chance to speak to media members about the team’s two selections they made on Day 2. You could really tell that he was enthusiastic about the two skill sets they managed to add to an already impressive group of offensive talent.
“So we had two picks tonight,” Borgonzi began. “(We) felt good about both picks. Two offensive guys, obviously. The first one, Rashee Rice, SMU. You know, explosive, fast‐twitch kid, really good with the ball after the catch – he’s like a running back after the catch. So, he can play inside, he can play outside so coaches will find a way to get him involved in the offense but feel really good about him and then with second pick we took Wanya Morris out of Oklahoma, tackle. You know, (he) played right tackle at Oklahoma and also played, he was at Tennessee before, first couple years and actually played beside Trey Smith playing left tackle. (He’s a) big, long athletic guy that will get in the mix here at tackle. So, excited about both picks.”
On trading up for both players, Borgonzi felt it was simply a matter of going up to get the guys they wanted:
“We have a cluster of guys that we’re looking at and we felt like, (General Manager Brett) Veach just said, ‘Let’s go up and get our guy.’ So I think heading into this night here we were targeting some wide receivers and Rashee was our guy so we went up and got him and that was really it,” Borgonzi said. “And then we got to the third round, and we had a cluster of guys and knew we wanted to get a tackle and Wanya was the guy we were going after.”
Borgonzi continued to answer questions about each player:
SMU WR Rashee Rice
Asked about what separated Rice from the other receivers who were available at pick No. 55, Borgonzi mentioned his athleticism, physicality and his yard-after-the-catch ability.
“When we looked at him in the fall and (Regional Scout) Jason Lamb, our area scout and (National Scout) Jonathan Howard went in there, you know, just really talented guy and then we got a chance to see him at the Senior Bowl (and) got a chance to see him up close (and) live and he’s a big kid,” Borgonzi explained. “He’s explosive. The one thing he really does, he has like a 41‐inch vertical leap. This kid is explosive. He’ll go up and get the football and then once he catches the ball, you could see, he’s violent and he turns into a running back after the catch and so that’s a big part of our offense here. So, we felt really comfortable with him. You know, like I said, got a chance to see him at the Senior Bowl and then had him in here for a visit as well and he met with our offensive staff and we felt really good about him.”
Borgonzi also mentioned that Rice could be a possibility at kick returner, though, he didn’t do it at SMU. What seems to be most appealing is that he has a skill set where he can do some things that other receivers in the room can’t.
“Yeah, (Kadarius) Toney brings (run after the catch) too,” Borgonzi said. “But, he’s versatile which is good. He can play outside, he can play inside. He’s just a physical receiver that we can really add into the mix here. (He’s a) little bit bigger, so he can play in a slot. But he can also play outside. So, we really like the versatility that he brought to the table for us.”
Oklahoma OT Wanya Morris
Speaking on third-round pick Wanya Morris, Borgonzi mentioned his size, versatility and footwork. He says for Morris, it’s really just a matter of putting everything together at the next level.
“Yeah, he’s a big, long, athletic tackle – (he) played right tackle at Oklahoma and like I said he played left tackle at Tennessee when he was there playing next to (offensive linemen) Trey (Smith),” Borgonzi said. “He’s got a ton of tools. You know he’s long, he’s athletic, he’s got the feet, now he’s just got to put everything together and we feel comfortable with our room here that he’ll learn from some of the guys here.”
Borgonzi confirmed that some of the Chiefs’ scouts did speak to Smith about Morris during the pre-draft process, but it doesn’t sound like the familiarity factored too much into the team’s decision.
One of the biggest things, however, was simply the positional flexibility that Morris provides. His ability to play four different spots on the offensive line is super valuable for a team like Kansas City, which is replacing two starting tackles this offseason.
“Yeah, you always have to look at the room that they’re going to go into,” Borgonzi said. ” And like I said, we feel like we have a very good room here for him to kind of gravitate towards and learn from those guys so yeah that does factor into it.”
