Chiefs GM Brett Veach finally has a first-round pick (for now)
There’s at least one thing Brett Veach hasn’t done since being named general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs almost three years ago — draft a player in the first round of the NFL Draft.
It looks like Veach will finally have his chance to do just that with the final pick of the lone round to be conducted on Thursday night. That could change, as Veach told reporters in a teleconference last week that the Chiefs are open to trading, but it likely won’t be up from No. 32.
“Certainly, I think that we’re going to assess the board and after we get closer to our pick,” Veach said. “There could be a scenario where there’s a guy that we just did not anticipate being there that we get excited about, and there also could be scenarios where we have a pocket of players that we like and if teams fall in love with a player that they want at 32, we’ll certainly field phone calls and be open to all sorts of options.”
Trading out of the first round opens the possibility of expanding the number of picks Veach makes. Assuming there isn’t a transaction between now and the first tick of the Cincinnati Bengals’ time on the clock, the Chiefs have just five picks, tied with the New Orleans Saints for the fewest of the draft.
If Veach wants to gain draft capital, he could use No. 32 to add a pick or two, focusing on roster depth and talent development. However, before trading back, the Chiefs will have to be confident that they aren’t missing out on a top-shelf player of need. As many pre-draft conversations have circled around the Chiefs’ weaknesses at linebacker, the Chiefs may hold on to their first-round pick if it can be used on LSU’s Patrick Queen or Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray.
Queen and Murray are both projected to go within 10 picks of the Chiefs in Kevin Hanson’s Mock Draft 16.0. Regardless of how the draft falls, Veach knows that there are several paths to 32.
“There’s always a couple of twists and turns in the draft and the further down you are, there’s going to be more twists and turns by the time you get down to 32, as opposed to 10,” Veach said. “If you’re sitting there at 10 there’s only so many things that could happen that is out of left field, but by the time you get to 32, there could be two or three scenarios.”
The Chiefs’ last first round draft pick came in 2017, when they traded up to draft quarterback Patrick Mahomes — when Veach was co-director of player personnel. His first picks as general manager didn’t come until the second round in 2018 and 2019.
Veach selected defensive end Breeland Speaks in the 2018 draft, followed by wide receiver Mecole Hardman and safety Juan Thornhill in 2019.
Speaks struggled under Bob Sutton’s defense as a rookie linebacker and missed out on a chance to adjust to being a defensive end under Steve Spagunolo due to injury last season.
Hardman and Thornhill, on the other hand, both showed promise and developed quite a bit as rookies.
The separation shows how drafts can vary from year to year, or even pick to pick. Veach recognizes that and will adapt en route to his inaugural first round draft pick as general manager.
