What are Kansas City’s options in the draft after trading away All-Pro Tyreek Hill?

2022 NFL Draft Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City now has 12 picks in the upcoming NFL draft.

They’re going to need all of them after this week’s big trade.

The Chiefs traded receiver Tyreek Hill, a six-time Pro Bowl player, to the Miami Dolphins this week in exchange for the Dolphins’ first-, second- and fourth-round picks in this year’s draft along with Miami’s fourth- and sixth-round picks in 2023.

The 28-year-old former fifth-round pick in 2016 has garnered First-team All-Pro three times and Second-team once. Hill also made the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team.

In other words, it’s a major loss for the Chiefs, no matter who they replace him with or how many picks they received.

No problem – Kansas City can just draft a receiver with one of its two first-round picks, right?

Not necessarily, says Fanspeak co-owner Steve Shoup, as the top receivers could be gone by the time the Chiefs are on the clock. Kansas City now owns the No. 29 and No. 30 picks in the first round.

Six wide receivers are listed among the top 32 players in the latest Fanspeak-Jake Rigdon big board, with USC’s Drake London (No. 13) rated as the top WR. Penn State’s Jahan Dotson (No. 31) is the last of the top six receivers who are in the first-round range.

Over-drafting isn’t a great option, as the next-highest ranked receiver, North Dakota State’s Christian Watson (No. 66), is generally seen as a late-second, early-third round type of prospect.

Overall, 14 prospects are ranked in the top-100, including eight who are ranked between 66 and 100.

In other words, if a receiver doesn’t fall to the Chiefs in the first round, then they will likely have to wait until the third round or later to draft one.

But, as Shoup said, Kansas City has two other options: Trade for a veteran or package the Chiefs’ two late first-rounders to move up in the draft. The Chiefs recently signed former Pittsburgh receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and former Green Bay receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency.

The New York Giants, who own picks No. 5 and 7, have been mentioned as a potential trade partner with Kansas City.

From Shoup: “Yeah they (definitely) could go that route. Might need to do both to be honest. Very big shoes to fill.”

According to Calculator Soup, New York would come out on top in a trade for its pick at No. 7 for Kansas City’s picks at 29 and 30.

Still, if the Chiefs are desperate enough, it’s conceivable that they might be willing to part ways with both first-round picks to move up.

And, given the lack of available free agents and quality drop-off after the top six receivers are off the board, it might be Kansas City’s best option to find a replacement for Hill.

 

What would a Kansas City draft look like if the team bypassed receiver in the first round? Find out here in Fanspeak’s latest mock draft.

 

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