Chiefs Have Plenty Of Early-Mid Round Draft Capital, Mostly Needs To Be Used On Defense

The Kansas City Chiefs saw its decade-long playoff streak come to an end in 2025 for various reasons. All three phases of the Chiefs simply weren’t good enough. Offensively, even when star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was healthy, the passing game suffered due to injuries and drops.

The running game couldn’t muster explosive runs, and it caused the passing game to become more obvious and easily defended. The offensive line was fine performance-wise, but right tackle Jawaan Taylor was the second-most penalized player in the National Football League. Defensively, despite having an amazing defensive coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo who calls blitzes like no other, the Chiefs struggled to get home far more than it has in recent years.

Its best player, defensive tackle Chris Jones, is aging and while he’s still great, he doesn’t have the same finish he once did at 32-years-old. On special teams, kicker Harrison Butker had his worst statistical season, and the unit didn’t do a great job at finishing tackles. The unit could have been worse, but it could have been a lot better as well.

The Chiefs have a ton of draft picks to use in this year’s draft next week, including two first-rounders and four picks inside the first 75 selections. Kansas City doesn’t have to address the running back position after signing the reigning Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, Kenneth Walker III, but could use one of its mid-to-late-round picks on a big-bodied receiver with good hands to try to minimize drops. ESPN’s Ben Solak believes that would be an option that helps the Chiefs ace the draft, but he wants the team to focus on adding as many defensive players as possible.