It’s Kansas City Chiefs mock draft time! Dynasty fantasy football is a year-round affair. A sharp manager will be thinking about all aspects of the dynasty season. Those managers keen enough to look ahead will be the ones that can grab themselves an edge over the competition. Managers will spend much of the dynasty off-season discussing incoming rookies and the related topic, the NFL draft. It is easy for us to fall in love with the next workhorse running back or prototypical alpha wide receiver, but a manager in tune with the entire draft class will find themselves ahead of the game. Whether it is the next road-paving interior offensive lineman or genetic freak edge rusher, we can find ourselves at quite the advantage come April by building an entire picture of how the 2023 class will play out.
Credit for the mock draft simulation goes to ProFootballFocus. The team needs have come from this site. Compensatory picks have been assigned and are included in this exercise.
2022 Season Recap
The 2022 season was a resounding success for the Kansas City Chiefs, again crowned Super Bowl Champions. This championship is their first title since the 2019 season. It wasn’t an easy ride, as many experts doubted the offense could continue producing at an elite level. The departure of Tyreek Hill was supposed to hamper the passing attack, and the defense was set to regress. Neither of those things came true.
2023 Free Agent Departures
The Kansas City Chiefs have several contributors to hit free agency this offseason. It is also the first year that the new Mahomes’ contract will kick in. Mahomes will account for almost $50 million against the cap leaving Kansas City with about $15 million. That can all change with a restructuring, obviously, a tool that general managers can use to create more cap space now at the cost of less cap space.
Multiple major offensive pieces will be hitting free agency this offseason. This group includes tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie, wide receivers Juju Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, and running back Jerick McKinnon. Brown and Smith-Schuster are younger players who found their next big payday elsewhere, as the Chiefs weren’t ready to offer those deals. McKinnon could be looking for a last contract to end his career with another Super Bowl title.
The defensive side of the ball has fewer players hitting free agency. That would be defensive ends Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap. Although, there are rumors that defensive tackle Chris Jones could be on the chopping block to save money. Lots of moving pieces, but thankfully Kansas City has ten picks to work with in this class. Let’s see what they do!
1.31 – Dawand Jones, T Ohio State
Who better to replace a 6’8″ and 345-pound tackle than a 6’8″ and 360-pound tackle? Dawand Jones from Ohio State is a mammoth of a man. He can be drafted to replace Orlando Brown Jr. Jones will probably project best as a right tackle, but the Chiefs can use the savings to find a replacement-level left tackle in free agency that won’t suck up all of their cap space for 2023. Hopefully, Jawaan Taylor can fill that role, although a few left tackles are still available on the open market.
2.63 – Michael Wilson, WR Stanford
The Kansas City front office taps into Senior Bowl talent with Stanford wide receiver Michael Wilson. Wilson could be the player the Chiefs receiving room needs to advance and help Mahomes continue his run of elite play. Wilson is highly athletic and can add the speed that the team requires. That is, if his medicals all come back clear. Wilson dealt with a slew of injuries to end his college career. He looked explosive and healthy at the Senior Bowl earlier this month.
3.95 – Moro Ojomo, DL Texas
It is finally time for the Chiefs to address the defensive side of the ball with the selection of Texas defensive tackle Moro Ojomo in the third round. Ojomo is a fifth-year senior but is only 21 years old, as he enrolled at Texas when he was only 16 years old. Ojomo is effective against both the passing and running game. He uses his athleticism and size to win in his attacks consistently. His main concern is his positional alignment with a tweener status. This can quickly be hammered in once he lands in Kansas City.
4.123 – Dorian Williams, LB Tulane
The Chiefs continue the defensive run with one of the most athletic linebackers in this draft class. His 8.77 ranked amongst the best RAS (Relative Athletic Score) at the combine. Where he needs to improve in skill is field awareness. Williams can immediately contribute to special teams while learning the NFL game as a rotational linebacker. The hope is that his football IQ can match his athletic skill with some time and become a true difference maker for this Chiefs defense.
5.167 – Jerrod Clark, DL Coastal Carolina
Clark has one of the more exciting careers in this draft class. He initially committed to Coastal Carolina as a tight-end before undergoing a body transformation and switching to a nose tackle in 2019. He added 85 pounds to his body and made a difference along the defensive line as a three-year starter. Clark is a very raw prospect with only three years of experience. However, in the fifth round, the investment is worth it if Clark develops into a starting-level defensive lineman.
6.177 – Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR West Virginia
Ford-Wheaton quickly becomes one of the best late-round wide receivers in this draft class and lands with the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round. Ford-Wheaton posted a 4.38 40-yard dash, 41″ vertical jump, and a 4.15 short shuttle at the combine. These marks were all top-three in the class. You put all of those together, and Bryce had a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 9.96, which puts him among the top twelve for wide receiver prospects of all time.
Besides athleticism, Ford-Wheaton also benefits from being one of the few large receivers in what is generally a smaller receiver class. He measures 6’4″ and 221 pounds, which puts him near the top of the 2023 draft class in size. He does have a drop issue, hence falling to the sixth round. However, if he can fix that issue, we may have a great late-round rookie for our dynasty fantasy football drafts.
6.216 – Trevor Reid, T Louisville
Trevor Reid was a two-year starter at Louisville and has shown enough upside to be selected here as a developmental piece. Reid lacks strength on his 6’5″ and 307-pound frame, but that can easily be fixed during his first summer as an NFL player. If coaches can bring out the potential in Reid, he could transform into an effective depth piece along the offensive line. This is a great player to spend a late day three pick on to get in the door.
6.218 – Nick Hampton, LB Appalachian State
Hampton is a freak athlete. He was recruited out of high school at 210 pounds but put on enough mass to weigh in at 236 pounds at the combine. Despite the added weight, Hampton scored top-five in this linebacker class in RAS score. Although listed as a linebacker, Hampton profiles best as an edge defender at the next level. Similar to Alabama’s Will Anderson. For a sixth-round pick, a raw upside athlete is a move a savvy general manager should be making.
7.250 – Mohamed Ibrahim, RB Minnesota
The Chiefs were able to hit on a running back last year in the seventh round, so back to that, well they go. Isaiah Pacheco was a massive hit in his rookie season. He was the starter in the Super Bowl and has given the Chiefs the option of moving off of Clyde Edwards-Helaire as early this year if they can find the right trade partner. However, Pacheco could use a running mate in the backfield, where Ibrahim will enter the picture.
Ibrahim is a senior running back from the University of Minnesota who was highly successful in college. He rushed for over 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns in his senior season alone. However, there are some concerns due to his injury history and doubts that Ibrahim could carry a full workload. That is why he will make a great back to pair with Pacheco for the Chiefs in the next few seasons.
7.256 – Carrington Valentine, CB Kentucky
With the final selection of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs grab a developmental corner. Valentine played only one season at the cornerback position before enrolling at the University of Kentucky. He did contribute a bunch on special teams for the Wildcats. That is how his NFL career will begin. Carrington will be a solid special teams contributor and can develop enough at corner to climb the depth chart.
2023 Fantasy Outlook
The Kansas City Chiefs had the best team in the league last season—confirmed by the Lombardi trophy that now resides at Arrowhead stadium. For a team so good, keeping the status quo and building for the future should be the two main goals of the draft. The Chiefs can accomplish both things in this mock and add a few fun fantasy assets.
New Top Dog?
Wilson will be the big riser based on this landing spot. He would fight with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, and Skyy Moore for snaps and targets. MVS will be 29 during the 2023 season, and the Chiefs can move on at any point with a minimal dead cap hit. I can easily see a scenario where Wilson has a “redshirt” rookie season before being fully engrained in the offense in 2024 and beyond. He would make a great trade target during next year’s rookie draft season, as owners will be disappointed he didn’t see the field a ton.
Sleepers
Ford-Wheaton and Ibrahim are the other viable fantasy assets from this mock draft. These players land positions where they would qualify as “late-round flyers.” Ibrahim may be nothing more than a simple handcuff to Pacheco, who would never really carve out a prominent role for himself. Bryce Ford-Wheaton would be the player I would be most excited to draft from this class. He has elite athleticism and is one of the few receivers in this class to be big enough to play a traditional ‘X’ role. I would grab him with my late third-round picks in every rookie draft.
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I hope you enjoyed this piece in our Offseason Primer series. Be sure to check back often, as I will cover all fantasy-relevant positions. For more content like this, follow me on Twitter @DanT_NFL. DMs are always open for questions, comments, or craft beer recommendations!
