The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off of a season where their draft class largely contributed to their ability to win Super Bowl LVII.
In the 2023 NFL draft, the team added seven players across three days. How those prospects turn out in their first NFL season and whether they can have a similar type of impact to last year’s class remains to be seen. We won’t know the true value of each pick made for several years, but the team will still be judged on those picks starting right now.
The Chiefs had their own big board that they were working off of, but so did a number of well-respected media members. Where exactly did the players selected by Kansas City rank on those pre-draft big boards?
Below we took a look at seven different big boards, including a consensus ranking, in order to gauge the type of value the Chiefs got with each pick.
Draft Wire (top 150) :: PFF (top 401) :: Daniel Jeremiah (top 150) :: Todd McShay (top 350) :: Mel Kiper Jr. (top 150) :: Dane Brugler (top 300) :: PFN consensus (top 300)
Kansas State EDGE Felix Anudike-Uzomah
Draft Wire: 42
PFF: 32
Daniel Jeremiah: 32
Todd McShay: 32
Mel Kiper Jr.: 39
Dane Brugler: 44
Consensus: 46
This shouldn’t come as a big shock. Anudike-Uzomah was widely considered a fringe first-round prospect during the pre-draft process. The Chiefs even admitted that, in their considerations on trading back, they felt he wouldn’t last until whatever picks they could acquire in the 40s. That’s why they opted to stay at 31 to take the Anudike-Uzomah.
SMU WR Rashee Rice
Draft Wire: 104
PFF: 72
Daniel Jeremiah: 123
Todd McShay: 124
Mel Kiper Jr.: 52
Dane Brugler: 82
Consensus: 76
There was a ton of variance here, making Rice one of the most polarizing prospects in this class for Kansas City. Kiper Jr. was seemingly the highest on the player and the Chiefs seemed to value him highly over other players selected in this range.
Oklahoma OT Wanya Morris
Draft Wire: NR
PFF: 115
Daniel Jeremiah: 98
Todd McShay: 94
Mel Kiper Jr.: NR
Dane Brugler: 162
Consensus: 128
I suspect that Morris would have ranked higher on the pre-draft big boards had he not injured himself running his 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. He wasn’t able to work out in front of NFL teams until after the first week of April when all of this stuff is basically finalized by media members.
Virginia Tech DB Chamarri Conner
Draft Wire: NR
PFF: 199
Daniel Jeremiah: 116
Todd McShay: 162
Mel Kiper Jr.: NR
Dane Brugler: 166
Consensus: 245
Again, there was a ton of variance here, but Daniel Jeremiah’s big board valued Conner higher than most and right around where he was taken by the team. Given what we’ve heard from Brett Veach, this feels like a matter of the Chiefs liking what the player brought to the table much more than the consensus.
Stephen F. Austin EDGE BJ Thompson
Draft Wire: NR
PFF: 241
Daniel Jeremiah: 147
Todd McShay: NR
Mel Kiper Jr.: NR
Dane Brugler: 267
Consensus: 288
Thompson landed on Todd McShay’s positional rankings, but not his top 350. The data here suggests this might be the Chiefs’ biggest reach of the draft, but I do find it interesting that Daniel Jeremiah valued him in the top 150.
Texas DT Keondre Coburn
Draft Wire: 134
PFF: 139
Daniel Jeremiah: NR
Todd McShay: 244
Mel Kiper Jr.: NR
Dane Brugler: 195
Consensus: 176
Relative to his draft slot, Coburn might turn out to be the biggest steal in this class for Kansas City. McShay valued him lower than most, but Brugler had him right around where the Chiefs were able to draft him. The consensus big board ranked him nearly 30 slots lower than where K.C. was able to grab him.
Ball State CB Nic Jones
Draft Wire: NR
PFF: 287
Daniel Jeremiah: NR
Todd McShay: 322
Mel Kiper Jr.: NR
Dane Brugler: 197
Consensus: 270
Again, pretty high variance here for a player from a smaller school. For the last pick the team made in the draft, it feels like they could have certainly done worse. They grabbed a developmental press corner at a position where you always need numbers.
