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The Kansas City Chiefs landed an edge rusher in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft and one media outlet thinks they’ll land another in 2023.
With the college football season inching near, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller revealed some way-too-early predictions for the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. Miller dictates the NFL draft order based on where ESPN’s FPI projects the team to finish in 2022. In the case of the Chiefs, they’re picking at No. 24 in the first round.
Who do they select with this pick, though? Miller believes that they’ll target Pittsburgh DE Habakkuk Baldonado. Here is what he had to say:
“Even after drafting George Karlaftis in the first round in April, Kansas City could use another end with the future of Frank Clark in question. Baldonado is one of my favorite under-the-radar prospects, and I’m projecting a big year for him in 2022. He had nine sacks and a forced fumble last season.”
Baldonado (6-5, 260 pounds) had a bit of a breakout campaign in 2021, boasting an ACC-leading 48 total pressures. In the COVID-altered 2020 campaign, Baldonado was limited to just four wildly-ineffective games due to injury. As a sophomore in 2019, he appeared in all 13 games for the Panthers as a reserve defensive end, recording 30 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and a fumble recovery.
A native, of Rome, Italy, Baldonado has taken an interesting path to find himself playing college football. He learned of the game by watching it on Sky Sports as a kid. He began playing wide receiver at just 13 years old for the Lazio Marines — a team that former Chiefs special teams assistant Brock Olivo has both played for and coached. He only played there for a half-season before returning to other activities, but when he returned to football he’d grown and would play defensive end. Despite playing a single season of high school football in the states, Baldonado was heavily recruited.
Another successful campaign in 2022 could place him among the top edge rushers in the 2023 NFL draft. There’s little doubt that the Chiefs could use another young pass-rusher opposite George Karlaftis in the future too. At this point, it’s all about how Baldonado performs during the upcoming college football season.
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