Packers 2016 Draft: Last minute NFL mock draft
By Kenn Korb
Pick #28 — Kansas City Chiefs
Cody Whitehair
Despite a terrible 1-5 start to the year, the Chiefs finally got themselves off the skids last year and ended up winning 12 games in a row — including taking their first playoff game victory since the early 90s in dominant fashion.
In the next round against the Patriots however, we were soberly reminded of the flaws the team has as currently constructed.
Their offense is a mediocre at best unit, with a QB who is the very definition of game manager leading the charge for a group which has two legit weapons and not much else. On the other end, the defense is a dominating unit at times, but has exploitable holes that the team struggles to always cover up.
It makes things more difficult that they are unable to address much in free agency due to little cap room, but the draft is the perfect spot for a team in that situation, providing cheap talents for multiple years to fill those holes to varying degrees.
With that said, here are some holes they should look at filling with their top pick, based on what is left worth selecting:
- Cornerback. They lost Sean Smith to the rival Raiders, and have little in terms if high-end potential left outside of Marcus Peters; William Jackson III would be a nice player in the lengthy mold of the departed Smith to step in for them.
- Safety. Husain Abdullah is one of the latest to retire early before his health/ineffectiveness forced him out, so the spot next to Eric Berry could use a boost; Keanu Neal or Karl Joseph could be worth a look.
- Defensive Line. The team has underrated talent here, but if they want to prepare a year in advance for the possible loss of at least one of them, they could grab someone to jump into the rotation.
- Offensive Line. Yet another team who has failed to find a good core group to build around here; any of the remaining top line guys at guard or tackle would be good additions.
- Tight End. They have Travis Kelce (really good young player) but adding a second guy wouldn’t be bad. With the well-known lack of deep ball proficiency in this offense, having multiple talents who can attack in the short-to-midrange is a necessity, and a Kelce-Henry combo would have the chance to rival the best TE groups in the league immediately.
The defense is where the team is built, so I think they could withstand waiting a round to address the holes for now. The offense needs help in some form much more than that side of the ball, so that’s where they should be focusing.
Of the OL spots they need to improve upon, it is at guard where they have the biggest holes; Ben Grubbs is serviceable, but will need to be replaced in the near future, and beyond him there is nothing reliable right now.
Does that outweigh the need for another pass catching weapon though? I think it does.
This offense isn’t just not built for being a dynamic unit, they seem to plan on being the opposite of that. The philosophy the have is based in the idea of being serviceable and efficient, while relying on their defense to do the main heavy lifting; score enough and don’t turn it over, basically. It can and does work well if they play correctly (re: their winning streak in 2015), but that kind of style usually needs to have a strong line to be at its best.
Because of that, I see Whitehair coming off the board here.