2023: Rookies

[onejayhawk]

The Draft Class:

1 31 Felix Anudike-Uzomah EDGE, KSU
Height: 6-4, Weight: 255

2 55 Rashee Rice WR, SMU
Height: 6-2, Weight: 203

3 92 Wanya Morris OT, OU
Height: 6-6, Weight: 310

4 119 Chamarri Conner S, VaTech
Height: 6-0, Weight: 206

5 166 BJ Thompson S, SFA
Height: 6-6, Weight: 210

6 194 Keondre Coburn DL, UT
Height: 6-2, Weight: 344

7 250 Nic Jones CB, Ball ST
Height: 6-0, Weight: 185

Something on the UDFA with potential. Note particularly RB Deneric Prince (Tulsa) DE Truman Jones (Harvard).
https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/udfas_with_the_best_chance_to_make_chiefs_2023_roster/s1_16631_38801698

[onejayhawk]

Posted elsewhere and for what they are worth. 

1. FAU was not their first choice. That said, he's not a bad consolation prize. Unlike Omenihu and Ksrlaftis, He's a finisher. You may not know that Felix turned 21 earlier this year making him one of the youngest in the class.
2. Rice is from the Kelce school of catching the ball, then running with it. He should fit nicely into a lot of JuJu's routes. He is extremely quick off the LoS, has excellent length, and has a 41" verticle. You may not know that Rice and Mahomes have some toss-and-catch time together. 
3. Wanya Morris is the swing OT that we needed. He's almost the opposite of Orlando Brown, fantastic length,light on his feet, agile, and mobile, but lacking power at the point of attack. You may not know that he lined up next to Trey Smith while he was at Tennessee. After being informed of the selection, Trey was his first call.
4. Chamarri Conner brings a true SS to the team, with the ability to play in the box and cover athletic TE. This is clearly a player that the team coveted, versatile, experienced, and hard-nosed. There is also the hope of a Dorian o'Daniel level ST player. You may not know that Conner is that he had six sacks as a sophomore. 
5. BJ Thompson screams strength program. He is very athletic and dominated small-school talent. However, he's painfully thin and lacks functional strength. He potential gives them one more dynamic Edge. You may not know that Thompson blocked four kicks while he played at Baylor.
6. Keondre Coburn seems to be a Joe Cullen special. Coburn does not test out well, however, he's not bad in the proverbial phonebooth. He has shown flashes of disruptive penetration that would look really good next to Chris Jones and DL coach Cullen may see something he likes a lot. You may not know that KC is the only pick that grades for value on PFF's big board. FAU misses by one. 
7. Nic Jones is a pick a lot of people don't get, but I completely do. He's a long press-CB with good ball instincts and a ton of upside. Most of this class is 22 years of age, the exception being FAU. You may not know that Jones won't turn 21 until October.

[onejayhawk]

Chiefs fans are among the most skeptical of this draft. In Veach we trust only goes so far.
https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2023/05/20/kansas-city-chiefs-2023-nfl-draft-second-most-skeptical-fanbase-brett-veach/

[EMAW_KSU]

19 hours ago, onejayhawk said:

Chiefs fans are among the most skeptical of this draft. In Veach we trust only goes so far.
https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2023/05/20/kansas-city-chiefs-2023-nfl-draft-second-most-skeptical-fanbase-brett-veach/

I think I’m Veach we trust goes plenty far for those paying attention.

1. We tried to make move up and down in the first, when we couldn’t move up, and when moving down meant late 40’s the risk of getting one of our guys wasn’t worth it to them.

2. We didn’t reach or overpay, we moved around to get the guys they wanted rather than stay put and hope.  Most importantly we didn’t send a bunch of picks elsewhere for next year…yet.  Which means if something doesn’t work or we need to go get a WR via trade we still have that ammo.

3. Veach has earned the right to be trusted, honestly, even if he tanked this whole draft, he’s still been more successful than most GMs lately.  But I feel like with Brett it should be called Draft+ because it always seems like he pills a castaway from somewhere that ends up playing decent minutes for us.

4. Veach’s job isn’t to appease the fans, it’s to build a franchise.  He’s doing that by keeping eyes on the future, what happens if we can’t sign Sneed, let’s pull this guy.  Thornhill not coming back, well we took care of that last year.

5. Veach is playing chess, not checkers, which is exactly why we need to trust him.

[onejayhawk]

3 hours ago, EMAW_KSU said:

I think I’m Veach we trust goes plenty far for those paying attention.

1. We tried to make move up and down in the first, when we couldn’t move up, and when moving down meant late 40’s the risk of getting one of our guys wasn’t worth it to them.

2. We didn’t reach or overpay, we moved around to get the guys they wanted rather than stay put and hope.  Most importantly we didn’t send a bunch of picks elsewhere for next year…yet.  Which means if something doesn’t work or we need to go get a WR via trade we still have that ammo.

3. Veach has earned the right to be trusted, honestly, even if he tanked this whole draft, he’s still been more successful than most GMs lately.  But I feel like with Brett it should be called Draft+ because it always seems like he pills a castaway from somewhere that ends up playing decent minutes for us.

4. Veach’s job isn’t to a keondre Coburnppease the fans, it’s to build a franchise.  He’s doing that by keeping eyes on the future, what happens if we can’t sign Sneed, let’s pull this guy.  Thornhill not coming back, well we took care of that last year.

5. Veach is playing chess, not checkers, which is exactly why we need to trust him.

We did reach and/or overpay.

That is the biggest issue most critics have with the draft. Rather than let the draft come to us, we targeted players and moved up to get them.

That said, I think better of the draft than most pundits. Unlike last year, this draft was focused on specific players to address specific weaknesses. If it works like I think it will, the draft will have an impact on our pass rush and pass receiving almost immediately and also a significant impact on our core ST. We also have players whose impact may be expected more in 2024 than in 2023.

[mayanfootball]

29 minutes ago, onejayhawk said:

Unlike last year, this draft was focused on specific players to address specific weaknesses.

While i'm ok with this drafting philosophy, it matters that BPA thinking isn't totally disregarded. Some fans believe it's the only way to draft.

[Chiefs_5627]

4 hours ago, onejayhawk said:

We did reach and/or overpay.

Nah we didn't. 

It wasn't a splashy draft (which most casuals always have an issue with) it was a safe draft, guys with high floors and athletic as can be.

Let's let them play some before we start griping over nothing.

[Chiefs_5627]

8 hours ago, EMAW_KSU said:

I think I’m Veach we trust goes plenty far for those paying attention.

1. We tried to make move up and down in the first, when we couldn’t move up, and when moving down meant late 40’s the risk of getting one of our guys wasn’t worth it to them.

2. We didn’t reach or overpay, we moved around to get the guys they wanted rather than stay put and hope.  Most importantly we didn’t send a bunch of picks elsewhere for next year…yet.  Which means if something doesn’t work or we need to go get a WR via trade we still have that ammo.

3. Veach has earned the right to be trusted, honestly, even if he tanked this whole draft, he’s still been more successful than most GMs lately.  But I feel like with Brett it should be called Draft+ because it always seems like he pills a castaway from somewhere that ends up playing decent minutes for us.

4. Veach’s job isn’t to appease the fans, it’s to build a franchise.  He’s doing that by keeping eyes on the future, what happens if we can’t sign Sneed, let’s pull this guy.  Thornhill not coming back, well we took care of that last year.

5. Veach is playing chess, not checkers, which is exactly why we need to trust him.

Great post broski

[onejayhawk]

6 minutes ago, mayanfootball said:

While i'm ok with this drafting philosophy, it matters that BPA thinking isn't totally disregarded. Some fans believe it's the only way to draft.

I am inclined to agree.

That said, I suspect that the team wants to focus more on advanced skills for the 2nd-year players and less on the raw basic skills than last season.  If you look at the first three picks, there are prepared slots for each of them. The 4th and 5th picks have extensive ST success. It isn't until you get to the 6th round that you have a true BPA type of player though you can make a case for FAU. 

Regardless and unlike last season, I do not expect a lot of rookie snaps. FAU ought to get normal rotation DE numbers. Rice may get what Skyy got last season. No one else should see more than spot usage outside of ST.

[EMAW_KSU]

On 5/21/2023 at 7:19 PM, onejayhawk said:

I am inclined to agree.

That said, I suspect that the team wants to focus more on advanced skills for the 2nd-year players and less on the raw basic skills than last season.  If you look at the first three picks, there are prepared slots for each of them. The 4th and 5th picks have extensive ST success. It isn't until you get to the 6th round that you have a true BPA type of player though you can make a case for FAU. 

Regardless and unlike last season, I do not expect a lot of rookie snaps. FAU ought to get normal rotation DE numbers. Rice may get what Skyy got last season. No one else should see more than spot usage outside of ST.

I see Rice getting significant snaps.  I just don’t trust Toney to stay healthy…When he goes down (hopefully not, but history has shown) the whole process will get jumbled.

[onejayhawk]

I had an itch concerning 6th-round pick, DT Keondre Coburn. Doing some digging, I found a couple of film studies. The gist, as far as I can tell, is that Coburn is a natural 2-gap NT which Derrick Nnadi is not. Coburn is bigger, has much more lower body strength, yet still more agility than Nnadi. I say this thinking Nnadi is going to be fighting for a roster spoy when training camp comes around. 
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2023/5/9/23712085/chiefs-film-review-texas-defensive-tackle-keondre-coburn-late-round-steal

This one is paywalled. Sorry.
https://mnchiefsfan.substack.com/p/keondre-coburn-film-review-is-he

[onejayhawk]

FAU is named a DRoY darkhorse, meaning 20-1 or longer odds. Makes sense to me. If, as I expect, Charles Omenihu moves to DT on passing downs then FAU is a logical outside rusher.
https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/felix_anudike_uzomah_named_dark_horse_for_droy_award/s1_16631_38863035

[onejayhawk]

No big deal, because he had not missed any team time, but Rashee Rice finally signed. He was the last by several weeks. 
https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/chiefs_sign_rashee_rice_to_rookie_contract/s1_16631_38920963

 

[EMAW_KSU]

So, don’t know if this fits here per say, but with the NFL announcing the holding of a supplemental draft for the first time since 2019, Milton Wright is a guy I think we should consider.  Elite body control, locators the ball well and has sneaky speed/quickness.  Reminds me of Kelce a bit in how he shouldn’t come uncovered yet will suddenly be standing with nobody around him.

[mayanfootball]

FAU has already had surgury? I didn't know that. Thumb surgery.

Plus he's got a bad hammy. I guess we can't count on him early on......sighhhhhh