Chiefs Targeting This Position Most in Scheduling Pre-Draft Visits

The NFL gives each team the opportunity to schedule up to 30 in-person visits with draft-eligible prospects between the combine and draft, in addition to hour-long virtual interviews. This year, the Chiefs are visiting with a lot of offensive linemen.

Nearly half of their reported visits so far have been guards and tackles, eight of 18 to be exact. No one knows whether circumstances will allow specific teams to draft visiting players, and even if they don’t visit specific NFL teams, those clubs can still draft those players. But the visits present great opportunities for both parties to gather information that could be valuable, for example, four years down the road when the players become unrestricted free agents.

According to the tracker at CBSSports.com, Brett Veach and Andy Reid have reportedly brought in these eight offensive linemen: Anthony Belton (North Carolina State), Bryce Cabeldue (Kansas), Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan (Oregon State), Dalton Cooper (Oklahoma State), Aireontae Ersery (Minnesota), Caleb Etienne (BYU), Esa Pole (Washington State) and Mose Vavao (Fresno State).

Etienne is an interesting prospect for a few reasons. He started at left tackle for BYU, the school that produced Reid, and dominated for the Cougars. A first-team All-Big 12 selection, Etienne bypassed the opportunity to return for his final year of college eligibility and declared for the draft. And after an impressive showing at the Big 12 combine, some expect teams to consider him on Day 3.

If he goes undrafted, he could be a steal for someone as a college free agent. However, that may not happen because the Chiefs have three selections in the seventh round.

A 6-7, 329-pound prospect, Etienne started all 13 games at left tackle in 2024. The prior season, after transferring from Oklahoma State, he opened at right tackle, but Cougars coaches benched him due to poor play. That season, however, had a profound impact on his growth and NFL potential.

Rather than withdraw after his 2023 benching, he applied himself in positive fashion. Etienne lost weight and dove into the playbook to learn guard, where he started against his former OSU teammates to end the year. And for the record, he's reportedly not related to Travis Etienne from Jacksonville.

The 10 other prospects who have visited Kansas City, according to CBSSports.com: DT Philip Blidi (Auburn), WR Isaiah Bond (Texas), RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Arizona), TE Harold Fannin (Bowling Green), LB Brandon George (Pittsburgh), DL Adin Huntington (Tulane), RB Damien Martinez (Miami, Fla.), DT Omarr Norman-Lott (Tennessee), LB Que Robinson (Alabama) and CB Melvin Smith (Southern Arkansas).

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