2026 Chiefs Draft Profile and What Justin Joly Brings to the Table

The Kansas City Chiefs come out of the first week of free agency with enough draft capital to improve their roster quickly. Coming off their first losing season in more than a decade, the Chiefs hope to use this draft to catapult them back into contention.

Tight end Travis Kelce returns for a 14th season. However, the Chiefs must find his successor in the NFL Draft sooner rather than later as the team searches for depth and talent at tight end behind the veteran and future Hall of Famer. North Carolina State's Justin Joly has become a quiet name in the pre-draft process, but he is one of the best prospects at tight end this offseason.

An overview of Joly

Joly Chiefs — Feb 26, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; NC State tight end Justin Joly (TE09) speaks to members of the media during the NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

Joly comes into the NFL with roughly 2,000 career receiving yards. After becoming a standout pass-catcher at Connecticut, the former Huskie transferred to Raleigh, North Carolina, to join the Wolfpack and quickly shone with over 600 receiving yards as a junior. While the former two-star recruit was unable to match the production in his senior season, Joly was still named a first-team All-ACC tight end as he enters the draft as an intriguing prospect at the position.

Joly's strengths

If you want to like Justin Joly, this is your game. pic.twitter.com/H718MMN2gt
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) March 12, 2026

Joly is a compact and well-built player with a strong lower-half and a wingspan of over 79 inches. The catch radius quickly pops up on tap with some of the best ball skills and contested catch ability in the entire draft, showcasing incredible strength at the catch point to pair with elite concentration skills, body control, adjustment skills, and tracking ability that translates very well to the next level.

Furthermore, Joly is creative in the open field. He offers the fluidity and quickness in space to make a defender miss on the initial angle, allowing him to generate a chunk play. As a route runner, Joly wins with impressive deception at the top of his routes, generating good burst out of his breaks to garner separation quickly while using subtle movements to keep defenders on their heels.

Joly won't be known for his blocking at the next level, but he certainly has the capability to grow in this area as he flashes the heavy hands, grip strength, and hand placement to assist on stretch runs, as seen from N.C. State's zone blocking system.

Joly's weakness

At just over 6-foot-3, 241 pounds, Joly is a smaller tight end for the position, which may have some turnoffs for teams looking for size thresholds at tight end. Joly may create big plays, but he does not run away from defenders, who can catch him from behind fairly easily, lacking the third gear to truly be a complete game-changer.

There are moments where Joly struggles against physical coverage, especially when facing press defenders. As a blocker, he still has room for growth as he could add more play strength to become a displacement blocker in the run game to fit gap blocking systems.

What Justin Joly could bring to the table

Joly projects as a starting F, or move, tight end at the next level with the skill set to develop into a more all-around blocker. He’s the best at his position in contested catches with impressive route-running ability, though he lacks the juice to run away from defenders.

If drafted by the Chiefs, Joly would fit the role that is currently bestowed by Kelce. At this point in their respective careers, Joly would be the better blocker of the two and could earn a significant role on the offense in his rookie season to allow for more 12 personnel usage under offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.