The Kansas City Chiefs will be contenders in the AFC, but some of the moves they made in the 2022 offseason could come back to bite them.
Nobody should feel sorry for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although there have been some major changes in Kansas City during the 2022 offseason, the Chiefs will remain one of the top contenders in the AFC.
Still, this team made some moves in 2022 that could end up being regrettable down the road. Let’s take a look at the top three moves the Kansas City Chiefs made in 2022 that they could end up regretting.
Kansas City Chiefs could regret passing on David Ojabo in 2022 NFL Draft
There was no doubt that the Kansas City Chiefs had to upgrade the EDGE position in the 2022 NFL Draft.
With such a deep class at that particular position, the Chiefs did the right thing — they stayed put with their second of two first-round picks and took the best player on their board.
That player was Purdue’s George Karlaftis, a player whose stock had significantly cooled down in the months leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft.
While everyone loves Karlaftis’ effort, his productivity could be limited at the next level by his lack of ideal length and overall diverse pass rushing skill set compared to some of the other guys in this class.
Specifically, I think the Kansas City Chiefs had a chance with about 97 picks in this year’s draft to take a calculated risk on a player like Michigan’s David Ojabo, who could be the total package off the edge.
Before the injury he suffered at the Michigan Pro Day, Ojabo posted elite metrics athletically:
David Ojabo is a DE prospect in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.35 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 94 out of 1428 DE from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/RSFRZEofQK #RAS pic.twitter.com/vaZ2xMh6pN
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 25, 2022
Would it have been tough to wait a year for Ojabo to get on the field?
Definitely.
Worth it?
We’re fixing to find out.
The top pass rushers in the NFL have a 10-yard split threshold of 1.61 and Ojabo clocked a 1.59.
Karlaftis clocked a 1.65.
It seems like a small or insignificant detail but the reality is, fractions of a second can make all the difference in the NFL.
Given the “ceiling” of Ojabo compared to Karlaftis — Ojabo was being predicted consistently as a top 10 pick before his injury — I think the Chiefs made a mistake here not going after the Michigan product even though there would have been no instant gratification.