Kansas City Chiefs: 5 2015 NFL Draft Sleepers to Target
Sep 29, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; An exterior view of Arrowhead Stadium before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to get back to the playoffs after a 9-7 season in 2014. The Chiefs have a ton of talent to build around, but they are missing players at key positions that have prevented them from becoming legitimate AFC contenders.
The Chiefs have already had an eventful off season that will help their team heading in to next season. Most notably, the addition of Jeremy Maclin to their receiving core should have a major impact on the team.
Maclin is coming off of the best season of his career where he hauled in 85 receptions for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns with the Philadelphia Eagles. The 26-year-old Maclin will be reunited with head coach Andy Reid, as he finally gives quarterback Alex Smith a legitimate number one wide receiver option.
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The loss of center Rodney Hudson will certainly be felt by Kansas City next season, but they did a nice job of bringing in offensive guards to help hide their hole at center. Ben Grubbs is a dominating force in the run game and will have a big impact at left guard next season, while Paul Fanaika will certainly play a nice role as well.
The Chiefs also signed safety Tyvon Branch this off season, and he will certainly have an impact on the team with his physical and athletic play at the position.
Aside from Hudson and the released Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs have a majority of their key players due back for next season. Because of this, they can use the draft to get better across the board, instead of filling in holes from players they lost in free agency.
On Monday, the NFL announced the destination for their 32 compensatory picks. Out of the 14 teams who received compensatory picks, the Chiefs may have received the best crop.
After losing numerous free agents last off season, the Chiefs were awarded with four compensatory picks. One after the third round (98th overall), two after the fifth round (172nd and 173rd overall) and one after the sixth round (217th overall).
With the additions of the compensatory picks, the Chiefs now have a ton of currency to work with in the 2015 NFL Draft. The 10 total picks will allow the Chiefs to go in many different directions in this draft. If they feel strongly about a prospect in the first two rounds, Kansas City will have plenty of ammunition to trade up and take their targeted player.
On top of that, the Chiefs will have many opportunities to find potential impact players later in the draft. Armed with so many mid-to-late round picks, the Chiefs will have many chances to target players who they feel have gone undervalued throughout the scouting process.
While the free agency period was mostly kind to Kansas City, they still have needs on their roster to address. Their first round pick should help them fill an immediate need, but there are plenty of other players throughout this draft who could help the Chiefs going forward.
Here are five mid-to-late round sleepers who the Kansas City Chiefs should target in the 2015 NFL Draft.
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