The 2017 NFL draft will be looked back on by many as the most important draft in Kansas City Chiefs franchise history.
The Chiefs, of course, traded up in the first round with the Buffalo Bills to acquire star QB Patrick Mahomes. It was a decision that helped this team take the next step— going from just a winning team to a playoff-winning team and then a Super Bowl-winning team. They brought home the Lamar Hunt Trophy twice and won the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in 50 years, in part because of that decision to get Mahomes.
Speaking on a conference call this week, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah was asked to reflect on the Chiefs’ 2017 NFL draft. Jeremiah used to be a college scout for teams like the Ravens and the Eagles, so he has some unique insight into the NFL’s process. The first thing that he recalled was how wrong he was about Mahomes.
“Yeah, well, what I remember more than anything else is, dang, I was way off and way too low on Patrick Mahomes,” Jeremiah said. “More than anything else that was my biggest takeaway from that. I’d like to have a do-over on that one.”
Jeremiah didn’t have Mahomes in his top-50 and had him behind both Deshaun Watson and Mitchell Trubisky. He is probably not alone in his regrets there because a lot of people missed on Mahomes. But what about the rest of the draft class? Four years removed from the and Mahomes is the only player remaining on the roster from the Chiefs’ 2017 NFL draft class.
“Look, the goal every year, the teams I worked with was like three to four
starters,” Jeremiah explained. “Your goal was to get three to four starters out of every draft. So if you look back three years after the fact, those guys need to be starting football players.”
In the case of the Chiefs, they landed three players who became eventual starters Mahomes, Kareem Hunt and Tanoh Kpassagnon. But the latter two didn’t work out long-term and that could be perceived as a problem.
“Some of those, like they gambled on some upside there with Kpassagnon,” Jeremiah said. “The Kareem Hunt situation, that was unique. He’s a really talented football player who’s playing really well for the Cleveland Browns. But Kpassagnon which is kind of an upside pick, and then after that now you’re talking about picks 139 and beyond where that’s a crapshoot.”
Here’s something to illustrate how much of a crapshoot those later rounds actually are: With Pick No. 139 the Chiefs took Michigan WR Jehu Chesson. Seven picks later the San Francisco 49ers took Iowa TE George Kittle. Chesson is unemployed. Kittle is a two-time First-Team All-Pro.
At the end of the day, the move to get Mahomes will be what the Chiefs’ 2017 NFL draft is remembered for. At the same time, it’s hard to call the rest of that draft a success. Knowing what Jeremiah shared, it’s probably not viewed as a complete success internally, no matter how incredible Mahomes is.
“They went all in to go get Mahomes, and that draft will be viewed as probably the best draft in Chiefs’ history.”