Chiefs Are Poised With Opportunity to Add a Tight End in 2023 NFL Draft
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It is officially less than a month until the 2023 NFL Draft at Union Station in downtown Kansas City. The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will be able to address some of their positions of need throughout the draft, and there has been a conversation around this year’s draft that hasn’t been there in prior years.
Fans have wondered if this is the year for the Chiefs to draft a tight end to help reduce Travis Kelce’s workload and eventually take over his starting role down the road. This tight end class has been dubbed “the best in the last decade” by national draft analysts, so it may be time for the Chiefs to invest top-100 capital into the position.
Since Kelce was drafted in 2013, the Chiefs have only selected two tight ends: James O’Shaughnessy (2015, 173rd overall) and Noah Gray (2021, 162nd overall), with neither being chosen in the first four rounds. Gray, who is still on the roster, has developed into a nice rotational piece for the Chiefs. Can he or will he ever develop into someone the team is comfortable with being a starter, though? That's up for debate. The first opportunity to add a premier talent at tight end would be with the 31st pick in this draft.
Four tight ends are being mocked in or around the first round that could be in consideration for the Chiefs. Kelce is irreplaceable, but the two that make the most sense to fill the “Kelce mold” are Luke Musgrave (Oregon State) and Dalton Kincaid (Utah). Both guys are hyper-athletic players who move exceptionally well in space. They must improve their blocking but instantly become mismatches in the receiving game because of their size and athleticism. Darnell Washington (Georgia) and Michael Mayer (Notre Dame) are in the conversation but are more traditional inline-blocking tight ends.
Sep 3, 2022; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Beavers tight end Luke Musgrave (88) runs after a catch against during the first half against the Boise State Broncos at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
On Day Two and into early Day Three, there are about seven to 10 tight ends the Chiefs could select. Names like Tucker Kraft (South Dakota State), Sam LaPorta (Iowa), Luke Schoonmaker (Michigan), Zack Kuntz (Old Dominion) and Brenton Strange (Penn State) are just a few that stand out in this really deep tight end class. They all make sense for the Chiefs to add as pieces sometime during the middle rounds in April, and they can all come in immediately to add talent to the room and grow into starting-level tight ends at the NFL level down the line.
Tight end is usually a position that takes longer to develop and shine in the NFL. Take the aforementioned Gray, for example. During training camp of his rookie season, there was a lot of buzz surrounding him and what he could potentially add to the Chiefs’ already dynamic offense. However, Gray went on to catch just seven balls for less than 40 total yards during the regular season.
Gray performed much better statistically in his sophomore season, recording 299 yards on 28 catches. The expectation is that he’ll take another step forward this upcoming season, which is the traditional development path for the position. While that may be an argument for investing heavily in tight end this year — so they will be ready a few years later — it may also be an argument against it.
The Chiefs have done an excellent job balancing the present and the future. In what some called a “rebuilding year,” they won the Super Bowl. However, the Chiefs lost some important pieces, especially in the pass-catcher department. Therefore, they might not be able to afford to wait three years for a high investment in a tight end to blossom given the current state of the weapons.
Feb 12, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, US; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimately, it is probably not beneficial to the Chiefs to take a tight end in the first round. The hit rate on them is inconsistent. If great value falls to them in rounds two to three, though, it may make sense to get "their guy" at that point. However, with the depth of talent in the 2023 tight end class, the real sweet spot for Kansas City is sometime in the fourth round with one of their picks (122 or 134). That way, they can still address their more dire needs during the first three rounds but start planning for the future by grabbing a talented player who may have fallen further than he should have because of the embarrassment of riches in this class.
