General Manager Brett Veach has done an exceptional job building a championship-caliber roster with the Chiefs over the last four seasons. Part of that has been his ability to find quality gems through the draft.
For the most part, Veach usually has to wait until day two before making his first selection due to seldomly owning picks in the first round. Last season, the Chiefs didn’t draft their first of six rookies until 57 draft prospects flew off the board.
Kansas City mainly received positive reviews for how their 2021 draft class shaped up. Of course, nobody truly knows how any given rookie will transfer over to the pro side of football until they put the pads on during the regular season.
But now that it’s been almost a full calendar year and Kansas City’s latest draft class has put in a whole body of work from last fall, now is the time for a full review of each of the Chiefs’ 2021 draftees and the impact they made last season.
Nick Bolton, 2nd Rd, 58th pick
After patiently waiting for their turn to finally be on the clock, at 58th overall, the Chiefs took a local kid out of Columbia, Missouri, drafting Mizzou linebacker Nick Bolton. Bolton recorded 139 total tackles, four sacks, and two interceptions in three seasons with the Tigers. Leading up to the draft, experts described the twenty-one-year-old as an undersized linebacker with an explosive burst that made him good at stopping the run and getting after the passer on blitzes. He has the instinct to know where the ball carrier will be and has the closing speed to make a play, as seen below against Tennessee.
Since coming into the NFL, Bolton has made an early mark as a premiere run stopper. In Week Seven at Tennessee, the rookie set an early career-high 15 total tackles, including four tackles for a loss against one of the best rushers in the league in Derrick Henry. Below, you can see Bolton’s ability to shoot down through the hole Henry’s supposed to run through and stuff the play for a loss.
Through sixteen games and twelve starts last season, Bolton has made plenty of huge plays for the Chiefs in his young career and finished as the Chiefs’ leading tackler with 112 total tackles despite receiving only 60% of the defensive snaps. Paired with teammate Willie Gay and Jermaine Carter, who recently signed with Kansas City, the Chiefs’ linebacking core could be one of the league’s best next season.
Grade: A
Creed Humphrey, 2nd Rd, 63rd pick
It’s not often that a first-round talent falls to the second round, but that’s precisely what the Chiefs got when the opportunity to draft center Creed Humphrey presented itself. At 63rd overall, Kansas City found the staple to their newly rehauled offensive line, and by the end of the 2021 season, he was even better than that!
After three seasons at the University of Oklahoma, Humphrey graded as a first-round talent with the ability to get upfront very quickly with little effort. He also received praise for having outstanding movement skills for a 6-foot-5, 320-pound lineman. Humphrey also possesses great core strength thanks to his background in wrestling and good leadership and football IQ, calling the protection schemes while at OU.
Following a great training camp and preseason, Humphrey earned the starting role at center and started all 20 games for the Chiefs, including the playoffs, and was able to carry his talent and success from the college ranks to the professional level.
Humphrey’s name eventually was brought up in discussions for the Rookie Offensive Player of the Year award and arguably should’ve been voted to the 2022 Pro Bowl. Nonetheless, the Chiefs have the best center in the NFL (according to Pro Football Focus), and he will only get better!
Grade: A+
Joshua Kaindoh, 4th Rd, 144th pick
In the fourth round, Kansas City took Flordia State’s Joshua Kaindoh at 144th overall. The defensive end played four seasons with the Seminoles before coming to Kansas City. At 6-foot-5 and 262-pounds, Kaindoh is a raw specimen that possesses a quick first step and the physical tools to be an efficient pass rusher in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
His biggest problem, however, has been his inability to stay healthy. Kaindoh played just ten games in his final two seasons at Flordia State, and those issues appeared to have followed him to Kansas City. The 24-year-old suffered an ankle injury in October 2021 that landed him on the team’s injured reserve list for the majority of the regular season before he was designated to return to the active roster on January 11, 2022, in time for the playoffs. He did not take any postseason snaps.
Despite not having much of a rookie campaign, Kaindoh still has the talent to compete for a roster spot in 2022.
Grade: C-
Noah Gray, 5th Rd, 162nd pick
At 162 overall, Kansas City snagged tight end Noah Gray, who played four seasons at Duke, totaling 105 receptions for 948 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. As an athletic, pass-catching tight end standing at 6-foot-3 and 240-pounds, Gray made an excellent first impression that he’d be a good complement as a backup to Travis Kelce and gave the Chiefs offense the option to have two TEs on the field running routes on the same play.
However, reality set in that Grey was still a rookie and would need time to develop and get comfortable in Andy Reid’s offense. Because of this, he was gradually eased onto the field as the third tight end on the depth chart behind veteran Blake Bell.
Appearing in sixteen regular-season games, making one start, Gray saw 26% of the offensive snaps and 70% of the snaps on special teams. Gray finished with seven catches for 34 yards and one touchdown by the season’s end.
I’ve zero doubt that Gray will continue to get better and eventually be more involved on offense. While he might not be the answer for when Kelce finally calls it a career, he has the skill set to fill in for him when needed. He also didn’t get enough credit for his blocking ability. More prominent roles are sure to come in the future.
Grade: B
Cornell Powell, 5th 181st pick
Kansas City attempted to add another speedster to their arsenal by drafting Clemson wideout Cornell Powell at 181st overall. Powell spent five seasons playing for the Tigers but didn’t see an abundance of opportunities to catch the football, being so far down the depth chart. That changed during in final college season when he recorded 53 catches for 882 yards and seven touchdowns.
Unfortunately, Powell failed to impress during training camp and the preseason and did not make the Chiefs’ Week 1 roster. Instead, the 24-year-old spent his rookie campaign on the practice squad.
I am interested to see how he’ll develop following another offseason, and with Tyreek Hill no longer there, there will be opportunities to let his speed help him land a roster spot in 2022. Until that happens, this was not a good pick.
Grade: F
Trey Smith, 6th Rd, 226th pick
It’s usually not expected to land an absolute monster in the sixth round, but that is exactly what Kansas City got after drafting offensive guard Trey Smith at 226th overall. Smith played three seasons at Tennessee before entering the NFL and did so with the early reputation for being a mauler.
Smith carried a nastiness to his style of play along the offensive line during his college career and had no problem carrying it over to the professional level. His aggressiveness led to Kansas City awarding the 22-year-old the starting job at right guard.
After twenty starts, including the playoffs, Pro Football Focus gave Smith a 78.2 run-blocking grade, the highest-graded Chief since 2013. Overall, Smith gives the Chiefs’ offensive line a nasty edge on the right side and definitely has a bright future ahead of him.
