The Kansas City Chiefs have a penchant for landing steals in the NFL draft and the most recent draft could deliver them another stud player in the middle rounds.
Our sister site Draft Wire recently revealed their choices for the biggest steal in the 2020 NFL Draft for all 32 teams. Luke Easterling’s choice for the Chiefs was TCU OT Lucas Niang, who was selected with pick No. 96 in the third round of the draft. Here is what Draft Wire’s Jacob Infante had to say about Niang in their scouting report published in mid-March:
“Niang is a massive and athletic offensive tackle prospect who brings plenty of physical upside to the table. He plays with heavy hands and can move around well in space, giving him the raw power and the agility to project well at the next level. His technique could be improved, but the upside he brings should find him selected on Day 2 if the medicals check out.“
Niang was a three-year starter for the Bullfrogs at the right tackle position. During his career, Niang started 27 games for TCU and never allowed a single sack playing in 1,027 pass-blocking snaps. What makes that even more impressive is that he played through a hip injury during the 2019 season, one that vastly altered his pass-blocking sets.
The big question about Niang in Kansas City is where does he fit in right now. The Chiefs have two bookend offensive tackles in Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. Brett Veach has mentioned a switch to guard could be forthcoming in the 2020 NFL season, but to me, that feels like an attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole. His 6-6 315-pound size screams tackle and that’s where all of his experience in college football is at too. He has a really high ceiling assuming he makes a full recovery from that hip injury.
If Niang does turn out to be the biggest steal for Kansas City, I expect we won’t find that out in his rookie year on the team. I anticipate he’ll be a swing tackle for the Chiefs initially and move into a starting role when either Fisher or Schwartz move on in the future. In any event, you can never go wrong drafting more protection for Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes.
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