We are two sleeps away from the start of the 2024 regular season. As the defending Back-to-Back Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs will enter the year as favorites to win the AFC West and the Super Bowl. If that happens, the rookie draft class might be the key to winning it again.
Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach has been a roster-building machine for the last three years. Primarily focusing on the NFL Draft, he’s found starters at every defensive position and a few on the offensive side of the ball.
We all know that draft picks are like playing the lottery regardless of the round. In reality, there are far more losing tickets than ones that yield cash winners. In NFL terms, Veach has flipped that narrative, and since 2021, he added three starters; in 2022, he found eight starters; in 2023, he landed two; and in 2024 where he’ll add another three likely; that’s an extraordinary amount of success for a General Manager.
So, as the Chiefs begin their quest to become the first Three-Peat Super Bowl champions, the 2024 rookie class will likely play a critical factor in their pursuit of NFL immortality.
Xavier Worthy has shown all the accolades you want from your first-round draft pick. He comes from a great family, one of the best college football teams in the country, Texas, and the God-given speed that very few mortals possess.
Though he struggled in the off-season nursing a hamstring injury, he has already shown in practice and in the Chief’s second preseason game that he intends to be that down-the-field pass catcher Kansas City has not had since Tyreek Hill.
Worthy will allow Mahomes to return to his 2019-2020 level, which created more 20-yard plays than any other team in the NFL. Worthy is a rookie but will also be a force in this offense.
Kingsley Suamataia will be given the task of protecting the Mahomes franchise. As the left tackle, his job is to protect the blind side of the NFL’s best player. The rookie from BYU has all the tools to be a solid left tackle at the next level. However, the Chiefs are throwing him into the fire, and as a second-round pick, that’s a lot to ask.
The knock on Kingsley has been his footwork. Though he excels at run blocking, he struggles in pass protection when defenders split the tackle and guard. On outside rushers, he’s adept at using his leverage to derail their efforts to sack the quarterback.
Still, the Chiefs feel comfortable enough to throw him to the wolves to learn the position on the fly. It’s a considerable risk; honestly, it’s a lot to ask from the young man. Yet, he has the support and confidence of his head coach and quarterback. Some rocky roads are ahead, but he should be settled into the job by mid-season.
The Chiefs didn’t have a pick in the third round, but if they did, their fourth-round pick, TCU Tight End Jared Wiley, might have been their selection. The highly-rated pass catcher and athlete dominated the Horn Frogs last season. He has traits similar to those of a young Travis Kelce, such as his pass-catching abilities and speed.
The excellent news for Wiley is that Kelce remains the starter this season and can learn much from the most outstanding tight end of all time. If he’s indeed the heir apparent, then the lessons and work habits he learns from Kelce will be similar to those that Alex Smith gave Patrick Mahomes.
Kansas City has been searching for a Kelce clone for the last couple of years, but the NFL draft didn’t go their way. Wiley didn’t do much in the preseason. Yet, if I know Reid, the team did an excellent job hiding the impact they expect him to make this season.
Center Hunter Nourzad and Guard C.J. Hanson made the final 53-man roster. Despite being fifth and seventh-round picks, they represent most of the interior depth on the roster.
Both were starters in college, and they each had skills that needed developing. However, they’ll be asked to play without NFL experience if injuries occur. Andy Heck does an excellent job with his offensive linemen, and while both Nourzad and Hanson might not be ready for prime time, they could certainly fill in a pinch.
Lastly, Cornerback Kamal Hadden didn’t make the roster. It was shocking, but the Chiefs are loaded at the position. Honestly, his attitude and work ethic, which haunted him at the scouting level and made him a sixth-round pick rather than a second-rounder, landed him on the Green Bay Packers practice squad.
Time will tell how the 2024 class fairs, but it’s certainly conceivable that this year’s rookie draft picks will contribute from game one and beyond.
