2019 NFL Draft: Worst pick for each AFC West team
Kansas City Chiefs, DL, Khalen Saunders (No. 84 overall)
The Kansas City Chiefs traded away their first-round pick, in addition to other assets, for Frank Clark. When they came on the clock in the second round, the Chiefs did the right thing by taking a player early who could “replace” Tyreek Hill. However, one of their biggest needs heading into the draft was at corner.
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Right now, Khalen Saunders will fight for playing time, but he’s likely to only see the field in running situations. With that said, the Chiefs could have waited for to draft defensive line depth with their sixth-round picks. With so many corners on the board when Saunders was taken, their third-round pick should have been Julian Love.
The Chiefs needed a corner who had excellent ball-skills. Love was a 2018 Thorpe Award finalist who had four interceptions and 32 pass breakups over two seasons. He’s a stocky cover guy who can play inside or out. Since the Chiefs are severely lacking in that department, he would have been a Day 1 starter. The same can be said for the eventual Lions fifth-round pick, Amani Oruwariye.
Unlike Love, Oruwariye is long, tall (6-2) with press ability, ideally suited to play the boundary. He has strong hands with great balance and technique in press coverage making him capable of starting early.
Likewise, Isiah Johnson, who went to the Raiders, has excellent length and physicality was also available. They needed to address the corner position early and didn’t, even though they had plenty of options.