Chiefs Projected to Take Standout Safety in Recent Mock Draft
While the 2023 NFL season is just now coming into focus, it's never too early to take a look ahead to the offseason and ponder what could happen in April's NFL Draft.
The 2024 class features plenty of intriguing talents at every position, and those prospects are currently getting their presumed final collegiate seasons underway with games under their belts. All 32 NFL franchises will utilize the draft to patch both short- and long-term holes on their respective rosters, and the most successful teams are typically ones that hit on a good chunk of their picks.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, general manager Brett Veach has improved quite a bit since his first draft back in 2018. Many now expect him to find multiple valuable contributors in each year's class despite not having premier picks, and the next draft will be no different. Assuming the Chiefs once again make the playoffs and are in the hunt for a Super Bowl, they will be picking at or near the end of each round barring any control of selections from another team.
In a new 2024 NFL mock draft from Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports, Kansas City holds the final pick of round one and opts for some help on the defensive side of the ball. USC's Calen Bullock is the third safety off the board, and here's what Wilson wrote about the selection:
Bullock is a long, rangy safety who is coming off a five-interception effort during the 2022 campaign. He needs to improve in run support but he covers a lot of ground from deep centerfield. In Kansas City, L'Jarius Sneed, who played safety his final year in college, and Mike Edwards are in contract years. And Justin Reid's deal is up in '25.
Bullock, who is listed at 6-foot-3 on the team's official website, was an early graduate from high school. He has experience primarily at safety for the Trojans, although he's also spent some time at a traditional cornerback alignment and even in the slot. This past year saw him land First Team All-American honors and also be named an AP All-Pac-12 First Team player for his efforts on the field. His 2023 is off to a good start:
The crop of draft-eligible safety talent undoubtedly contains Bullock's name near the top, as well as Miami's Kamren Kinchens, Georgia's Javon Bullard, Clemson's Andrew Mukuba and Michigan's Rod Moore. Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean is more of a versatile chess piece, although his future prospects are likely at corner. Bullock is a fringe first-round prospect at this point, with room to rise or fall as the season and pre-draft processes unfold.
With the Chiefs moving on from Juan Thornhill during the offseason and making the switch to current sophomore Bryan Cook, the team showed somewhat of a propensity for drafting a year in advance of a potential need and cashing in on it later. As Wilson points out, Justin Reid is only under contract for one additional season beyond 2023. Could a playmaker like Bullock help in Veach's future planning? One of the first of many mocks makes the case for it.
