Chiefs GM Opens Up About Possibilities Of An ‘Entertaining’ NFL Draft This Thursday

Chiefs GM Opens Up About Possibilities Of An ‘Entertaining’ NFL Draft This Thursday

Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach wasn’t exactly optimistic about the talent level at some positions in the upcoming draft this Thursday, but he did offer some intriguing comments that pointed at some possibilities the Chiefs could consider taking.

“I think it should be an entertaining night, and look, there’ll probably be a lot of trades,” Veach said to Jesse Newell of The Athletic, “and I think that’s what a draft like this — when you don’t have two or three franchise quarterbacks and a (top-of-the-draft edge rusher like) Will Anderson or Myles Garrett — I think it does lend itself to open up to a lot of fun, a lot of excitement.

“So I think, from a fan’s perspective, they should have a lot of fun next Thursday.”

What makes that comment especially interesting is that the Chiefs have two first-round picks. That makes them the leaders in the clubhouse to engineer a trade, which would indeed be exciting.

Another prominent area Veach mentioned was edge rusher. The Chiefs need one, and that’s an area where he thinks this draft is strong. He saw talent “throughout the board,” and that’s a group where Veach has consistently mentioned the need to add talent.

“I think D-end is solid through (rounds) 2, 2 1/2, maybe even 3,” Veach said.

While Veach added that the cornerback draft in this group is “moderate,” according to Newell, he may have tipped his hand about another player that many consider the biggest talent in this draft. He began with a mention of new safety Alohi Gilman, whom the Chiefs signed in free agency, then went on to hint at another possible addition.

“With Alohi, just having, over the years, having a Tyrann Mathieu, then having a Justin Reid, just having a cerebral player there that sees the field, can be a leader back there, get everyone lined up. We lost Bryan Cook, too,” Veach said of his team’s safety position. “And look, it doesn’t mean we won’t add if we can get a similar player that has those leadership capabilities back there.”

That points to the possibility of taking Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who could drop in the top ten due to the low value of safeties these days.

There’s always a hedge in these kinds of comments, though, and it nearly always sounds the same. Veach wants to keep reporters and fans from honing in on a single possibility, so he made sure to get that done, too.

“I think our goal is to just make that selection and add a player here that is going to be an impact player on our team,” Veach said. “And I know it’s cliche-ish, but to really just add the best player available, right? You hear that all the time. But I don’t want to overthink that, and I don’t want to take a lesser player. Just someone that’s going to come in here, be an impact player, help us from day one. I think that’s extremely important to us.”