1. Home
  3. Sport

Chiefs’ early draft strategy smartly boiled down to this: Help Patrick Mahomes

EditorLast Update :
Chiefs’ early draft strategy smartly boiled down to this: Help Patrick Mahomes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Unlike previous years, Patrick Mahomes didn’t watch the first round of the NFL Draft on TV.

Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, was in New York on Thursday night at Time Magazine’s annual 100 Gala, which celebrates tech titans, activists, actors, musicians, athletes and artists. Mahomes still found time to check his iPhone to see which prospects were selected in the draft’s first round. He sent a couple of text messages to general manager Brett Veach, too.

“Right around pick 20 or 21, he said, ‘Hey, how’s it looking? What are we thinking?’” Veach said of Mahomes. “Thirty to 45 minutes later, when we actually confirmed the trade with the league, before we turned it in, I shot a text and said, ‘I think we’re going to be on the clock here soon,’ and told him the pick. (He gave it) the thumbs-up emoji and was excited.”

The Chiefs’ first selection was Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who ran the 40-yard dash in a record-setting 4.21 seconds at the NFL combine in March. Veach made a trade to ensure the Chiefs acquired Worthy, the receiver Mahomes was eager to have as a teammate. The Chiefs called the Buffalo Bills — the AFC contender they’ve eliminated in the postseason in three of the past four years — to accomplish a swap of picks. The Chiefs sent the Nos. 32, 95 and 221 picks to Buffalo for picks 28, 133 and 248.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Chiefs 2024 NFL Draft takeaways: Improving on offense the clear priority

Mahomes reacted to the Chiefs’ selection of Worthy by posting a smiley face with sunglasses emoji on his X account.

“You have some coaches you work with where they find the good in everybody,” Veach said. “Pat is kind of that type of coach where he sees the good traits in everyone. He just talks about the guys he’s watching, how he envisions them in our offense. Certainly, Xavier is one of those guys.”

Entering the draft, Veach and coach Andy Reid believed the Chiefs offense had to improve for the team to have a legitimate chance to win a third consecutive Super Bowl.

The overall theme of the Chiefs’ draft class is that Veach and Reid did their best to support their quarterback further. Four of the Chiefs’ first five draft picks were offensive players.

“Patrick’s a football junkie,” assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi said Friday night. “He goes on his iPad and he watches the whole draft — and defensive players, too. That’s just Patrick. Anytime we can add weapons for him or protection for him, I think he’s going to be all for that.”

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Kansas City Chiefs NFL Draft picks 2024: Grades, fits and scouting reports

Midway through the first round, Veach and Borgonzi began calling teams to find a trade partner that would allow them to move up more than 10 spots. The first prospect the Chiefs targeted was Amarius Mims, the tackle from Georgia. Although Mims played right tackle in college, many teams believed he had the talent to be a starting left tackle. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Mims with the 18th pick.

The next best option, the Chiefs felt, was Worthy.

Led by Reid, the Chiefs have always prioritized receivers with plenty of speed and explosiveness to produce big plays. Paired with Mahomes, along with tight end Travis Kelce attracting attention in the middle of the field, Worthy can potentially be a big-play threat in the Chiefs offense with his rare speed.

Dane Brugler, The Athletic’s draft expert, had Worthy graded as the 50th overall prospect and the 10th-best receiver in this year’s class.

Last season, Worthy earned second-team All-America honors as a return specialist after leading the FBS in punt return yards (371), including a 74-yard touchdown. He was also named first-team All-Big 12 as both a receiver and return specialist. He recorded 75 receptions for 1,014 yards and five touchdowns.

When Veach and Reid evaluated Worthy on film, they believed his skills were similar to that of DeSean Jackson, who played in 15 seasons in the NFL.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

How BYU bond with Andy Reid helped Kingsley Suamataia land with the Chiefs

Before Thursday, Veach had never selected a receiver with a first-round pick. The position was clearly one of the Chiefs’ biggest roster needs entering the draft. Veach also understands that the Chiefs need to keep investing high-round picks in receivers, considering Mahomes is in his prime and Kelce will be 35 in October.

“The receiver market is going through the roof, and the guy in Detroit just got (his deal) done,” Veach said, referring to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who signed a four-year, $120 million extension with $77 million guaranteed. “There’s a premium on this league (with) speed and playmaking ability — and (Worthy) has that. The vision for him is we have him for five years now, and that’s a big deal for us, as we try to keep this thing together. Those playmakers are hard to come by and they’re expensive in the offseason.

“For this year, having him and (receiver Marquise Brown) and Travis and (receiver) Rashee (Rice), I think it’s going to be really exciting.”

One of the top prospects with a second-round grade on the Chiefs’ draft board was BYU left tackle Kingsley Suamataia.

When the draft reached the 53rd pick Friday night, the Chiefs began calling teams to pull off another trade, this time to move up in the second round. The Miami Dolphins, with the 55th pick, selected Patrick Paul, a tackle from Houston. At pick 59, the Houston Texans selected Notre Dame right tackle Blake Fisher. The selection that concerned the Chiefs the most was pick 62, which the Baltimore Ravens used to grab Roger Rosengarten, the versatile tackle from Washington.

To make sure they’d get Suamataia, the Chiefs traded their original second-round pick, No. 64, and No. 173 to the San Francisco 49ers for Nos. 63 and 211.

“He went through, with the coaches, the board and he did very well with all of that stuff, so we felt comfortable with the person and the football intelligence piece,” Borgonzi said of Suamataia’s pre-draft visit with the Chiefs. “That’s really why we targeted him.”

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Chiefs excited to see what Xavier Worthy can do with Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid

Veach, Reid and Mahomes believe Suamataia, at 6-foot-4 and 326 pounds, has the potential to become the Chiefs’ long-term solution at left tackle, the player responsible for protecting the quarterback’s blind side. Suamataia has above-average athleticism and was one of the youngest prospects in the draft (age 21).

Last season, Suamataia started 11 games at left tackle. Over the last two seasons, Suamataia played 701 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, allowing just 24 quarterback pressures and two sacks. He has above-average length (34 1/4-inch arms) and hand size (10 5/8 inches). Brugler had Suamataia graded as the 40th overall prospect and the seventh-best offensive tackle.

Suamataia is expected to compete with second-year player Wanya Morris for the starting left tackle job this year.

The success of Suamataia’s family in the league certainly didn’t hurt him with the Chiefs. Suamataia’s cousins — left tackle Penei Sewell (Lions), linebacker Noah Sewell (Bears), linebacker Nephi Sewell (Saints), and receiver Puka Nacua (Rams) — all reached the NFL and helped him with his development.

“You bet on the bloodlines,” Western regional scout Greg Castillo said Saturday. “It’s in his blood. When you look at the family background, you definitely weigh quite a bit, in my opinion.

“My dad (Juan Castillo) has been an O-line coach for years. One thing he preached to me was big, strong, long and athletic. Kingsley, to me, checks all those boxes. Most (offensive linemen entering the league) are going to need technique cleanup. He falls into that category. Is it more than most? Maybe so. The good thing is that Kingsley is very coachable and he’ll respond well to being coached hard.”

Mahomes reacted to the Chiefs’ selection of Suamataia by posting another smiley face with sunglasses emoji.

This time he also included four words with his post.

“I love Veach man!”

(Photo of Xavier Worthy: Matthew Visinsky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tagged
Related News