Why Tackle at #9 Isn’t as Crazy as You Think
The Chiefs released Jawaan Taylor, freeing up cap space and reopening a big question: does taking a tackle at pick #9 actually make sense? We break down the roster, the draft board, and why a right tackle at #9 might be smarter than you think.
Video Transcript
to the Arrowhead Addict podcast on this Tuesday.
Sterling Holmes, Josh Briscoe, follow him on the X at JB Briscoe, myself at home stretch, KC.
We're gonna have some fun today, semi-fun today, talking about tackle at number 9 and why it might not be as crazy as you think.
I know we had so many people, as I just said that, yell at me.
I didn't say I would do it.
I didn't say I want the Chiefs to do it, but you're already mad.
Calm down.
Let's talk this out.
Let's have some nuance.
Let's have some fun, Briscoe.
How are you?
Sterling.
You damn buffoon, you idiot, you fool.
You wanna do what at number 9?
You said you would choose what at number 9?
You said you'd rather draft a tackle at 9 than Ruben Payne or Carnell Tate.
Sterling, you numbskull.
I'm doing excellent.
It's good to be here.
Good to talk to you again.
I, uh love my Tuesdays with you, and I think everyone's blood pressure is gonna stay at a normal pace today.
My It's time to shave the mustache.
No, wrong.
I think it's mad.
I think it's time It's, it's, it's too thick.
Not true.
What, what you've done that's slightly different.
OK, everyone in the comments, stop thinking about the tackle thing for just a minute and just dial in on Sterling's mustache.
What's different about your mustache that I noticed today is that, and, and cause I've been, frankly, I've been thinking about this myself, but my, my entire beard, all my facial hair is just a little bit.
Too light for me to get too tight into the details like you can do.
You have a dark, thick mustache.
What you've done is you have allowed those corners to just droop around the edge just a little bit to frame.
Give us a big smile, Sterling, give us a big smile.
The mustache is still around the corners of your smile there.
So I just think you usually kind of go, I think of it more as the Burt Reynolds, that, that just kind of straight across, not quite Andy Reid, I guess, it's a little more tightly, um, a little more tightly kept than that.
Andy kind of does the, the push broom kind of thing, you know, where it covers that upper lip entirely.
You've just, you've just given your mustache, you know, a little bit of, uh, just some feet to stand on there.
I think it's a bold look.
I, I like it.
Thank you.
I, I felt bold, but I wanted some bend.
Like I want the Chiefs to draft an edge rusher with bend.
Uh, yeah, so Weston says if they take a tackle at 9, I will fume like Mount Vesuvius on Pompeii.
Uh , can I pet that dog?
Because let me stop you.
The title, tackle at 9 is absolutely dog scrap .
Uh, I'd be outraged.
Dude, again, this is, I'm not saying I want to tackle at 9, but I'm saying there is a greater possibility than I think most people are giving it.
And oh, by the way, what are we gonna do?
Does everyone yell and scream that no tackle is gonna be happening at 9?
No, I, I, because we'd be disingenuous.
So I'm gonna go through a few different things with you.
We are gonna bring in some fun with numbers, which I know people might not enjoy.
They might just say, hey, I don't care about the numbers.
Just give me the better player, and that's all I care about.
That's totally fine, but that's not the way that we're going to do it because that's not the way the NFL works.
It's all about money over value.
Value is the, That's how the best teams stay where they're at is value.
I mean, you can have great players.
But if you don't have the value of the players, if you don't have the quarterback, you don't have the the premium positions, well, you're more than likely not going to win ballgames.
Like this year was maybe the outlier of a season where the Seahawks, to an extent, didn't have the, the quarterback, if you will.
But they still had probably a top 3 wide receiver in JSN.
They have a damn good offensive line and their defensive line was incredible.
And oh, by the way, that secondary is absurd, right?
So, it's a, it's not like they spent all their money on linebacker, running back, and tight end.
If they thought their running back was such a good value, well, they'd probably franchise tag Kenneth Walker.
But from the reports, they're not franchising Kenneth Walker, which, oh, by the way, uh, did a little fun game today.
Do you know who has the most thousand-yard seasons out of ETN, uh, Bruce Hall and Kenneth Walker.
Total yards from scrimmage or just rushing.
No, it's total 1000 yard rushing seasons, rushing only.
Um, I think it, I think I'm gonna, I, I know the game we're playing here, but I think I would have said Breece.
I believe Brees is last.
Breece is last.
Bree, I bet, I bet Brees all-purpose probably makes up most of that gap there.
It's, it's ETN.
He has 33 to 4 years with 1000 yards.
That's, that is also surprising.
It, it's why I'm surprised that Kenneth Walker's gotten the, the talk that he has while ETN has been.
Obviously talked about a good amount, but I, I still feel like less so.
To me, it felt like Bruce Hall was getting too much love and I pushed back on that at the trade deadline of why I said a third-rounder, I'm out on, right?
That's because it's debit and credit, and I don't want to pay debit and credit for that.
But it feels like Kenneth Walker is only being remembered for, and again, he, he deserves this, but only being valued as his playoff performance was.
ETN's been the pretty much most consistent of the three players, and almost everyone has viewed him as the clear-cut number 3.
And I've just found that a little perplexing.
Again, when we see the outlier or, or a game that we all remember or a play that we all remember, well, we view him.
It's like Jadeveon Clowney.
We viewed every play he ever made and who he was gonna be based on him destroying that Michigan player and say, well, that's Jadeveon Clowney.
Well, no, that was just a phenomenal play.
Yeah, no one else can make that play, but that's not going to be the consistent play, right?
That's the one-time play.
And so for me, I'm like, ETN's been healthy.
He's played.
The most games out of the three, most, uh, 1000-yard seasons out of the three, he can catch a lot of passes.
Yeah, was it concerning that they tried to move on from Tank Bigsby and then Bashel Tuton, but who kept being there at the end of the day ?
It was ETN and, oh, by the way, am I going to trust the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Is that the organization I'm saying they always get it right.
I, I feel pretty good on the ETN front.
I've kinda, I feel like I've been there for most of this free agency cycle now, Bruce officially getting the franchise tag, and the reports are they're working on a long-term deal there.
But I think he's also a very logical fit that way as well.
So, um, yeah, I, I feel pretty good about Etienne and, uh, I, I feel pretty good about what it seems like he would command.
I'm a little bit cooler on the IED.
There was the report earlier, I think today.
Like 14 to 15 or 12, I think the range was like 12 to $15 million for Kenneth Walker with the, the middle 13 or 14, uh, AAV being kind of the, the assumption.
I, I'd be, I'd be a little bit hesitant to give Kenneth Walker that number, I think, and also, it's just, it's.
He, he is a less obvious fit in what the Chiefs do offensively.
If they do something that changes from what their typical fit would be, then that might be, it might be informative of where this offense is going to go.
Maybe this is a place where Eric Bi enemy gets to cast a really strong vote in favor of one back or the other, but I, I would feel, I think I'd feel at least as good about the running back room with Etienne as I would with Kenneth Walker at this point, considering how the Chiefs particularly use those guys, even though Walker is the more sought after free agent right now.
Yeah.
So, I think this is an interesting talking point when it comes to tackle at 9.
Again, I'm gonna get into some numbers in just one moment.
And this might be just because I think it's great.
I don't want to forget this from Lucas here.
He says the biggest issue is that I don't think there's a right tackle worthy of the number 9 pick in this draft.
If Armand Mimbo was in this draft, well, then yes, you take him at 9.
I think that might be where I end up landing as well.
But if the Chiefs fall in love, let's say with like Freling, which would probably be a little bit of a reach, but he also has.
The reach that the Chiefs like to go after.
Well, there's something there.
For example, uh, what's it, uh, Fanu out of, out of Utah, who's traditionally been the guy, well, he has shorter-ish arms, which is a little bit of a pushback.
If I can add to this exact line of thinking, there was a story over on ESPN.
I think this is Jordan Reed with these combined thoughts.
Quick paragraph from this story.
At the conclusion of each workout, there are certain players requested by NFL teams to take snaps at center .
The reasoning behind this is to see how comfortable they are with snapping the ball or they simply have never played it before, and teams wanna see them there.
Thano was one name of note who was requested, which is interesting, since he's considered one of the top offensive tackles.
Going through this, uh, yeah, Matt Miller, Jordan Reed, Field Yates, all talking about all, it was, you know, kind of a, a collab post over on ESPN.
Uh, virtually, if not literally, every one of these offensive tackles has at least some mention of maybe they're a better fit at guard, or somewhere on the interior.
Um, now once you get to the guys with the longer reach, that might be a little more of a reach earlier on, as you so eloquently put, that's a, that's probably a tackle, but also probably not going top 10, like I just, I think that this particular draft class is a weird fit for this conversation we're having today.
So, I just wanted to get into it because with Jawan Taylor gonna be released, again, it will not be completely official because they're gonna try and find a trade partner first.
I can't imagine.
There's a trade that transpires.
Maybe a team, uh, maybe the Browns just did it.
The Browns did just do that, and I thought, oh man, I wonder if the Chiefs called, but he had a little more positional versatility.
Well, I, I thought maybe Houston, who needs to completely revamp their entire offensive line, that was already bad, and then now they're trading away starting offensive linemen like Juice Scruggs and Laremy Tunsil the year prior.
Do they try a Titus Howard, the Texans lineman that's now a Brown, by the way.
He's also a year older than Jawan Taylor.
By the way, again, uh, a lot of letters.
Uh, tackle at 90 heavens, Sterling, you nin and poop.
I'm not saying I want them to do it.
Sterling, you nincompoop.
I'm literally just laying out how and why it can be a possibility because I don't think anyone wants it to happen, but I think it's a legitimate possibility.
And again, here's why.
Jawan Taylor's not gonna be here next year.
They've already talked about this.
Jalen Moore, quite frankly, was a disappointment last year.
And I was a big Jalen Moore supporter.
His best game was the game he played was at left tackle when he filled in, uh, for Josh Simmons, and he found out right before the Lions game and he had just had a kid.
His wife had just had a kid and he was there like up all night, and then all of a sudden he gets there and goes, hey, man, you're starting.
And that was his best game of the season.
Well, Jay Moore is under contract for one more year.
It doesn't feel like he's going to be a candidate for a long-term extension here because at least what we saw last season wasn't great.
Well, then who are you gonna have at right tackle?
Esapole or is Esapole your UDFA, your developmental guy, more of a swing tackle in the future?
How much can you trust Josh Simmons?
I, I think Josh Simmons looks really, really good when he plays, but he also had injury concerns going back to college, and now we've seen it in the NFL.
I think the offensive line has been heavily invested in.
I think it's a really good offensive line on paper with all five healthy.
I agree with all of that.
Point remains though, you also look into 2027, there are some question marks.
It's not as simple as , oh, yeah, they're good to go, because 2027, you're probably looking at Pole as your right tackle.
Is that who you trust?
Is that the way you're going?
Is that the way you're rolling?
And by the way, It's Patrick coming off of a torn ACL.
I get it.
It's not sexy.
It's not fun.
A running back is sexy.
A running back is fun.
But my point is I can take care of running back in the free agent market.
I ain't taking care of right tackle in the free agent market, which is why I'm going to get into this conversation.
How much did Jalen Moore go, go for?
It was about this year, this year's cap hit is about 18, so it was, it was about 2 for 30 something, yeah, and he was a backup tackle.
Because what, what did, what did Dan Moore go for?
More than that.
Don't remember exactly what, but, but yeah, it was about 20 plus.
It was basically Jawan Taylor contract, which brings me.
What did Jawan Taylor go for?
About 2, about 20 AP AP, about 20 APY, right?
Yeah, this is the point I'm making.
Those were almost all question marks.
You're not getting a really good free agent right tackle or tackle in general.
The Chiefs tried playing in that market with Trent Williams.
They tried once.
Well, what happens if you don't get that guy?
Well, now you pivot and now all of a sudden you're overpaying Jawan Taylor.
Well, then, what are your other options?
Trying to count on a, Donovan Smith for a year, you're just piecemealing it together year after year after year.
This offensive line is better than those offensive lines though.
The other four positions in question, agreed.
You can get ETN, a proven commodity for 12 million a year in free agency.
So where's the value?
Lavalley's not drafting Jeremiah Love at 9.
I like Jeremiah Love.
I don't argue that.
I'm not disagreeing with the fact that I think he's gonna be a really, really good player.
I think people who say he's Bijon and Jamir Gibbs are saying it's way too early.
I think it's been a little too premature, but I get the thought process behind it.
But you can get, what is that?
What would you say ETN is right now of Jeremiah Love?
What, what percentage of player, yeah, well, let's just, again, this is all hypothetical because we have no idea.
He's been 100% more in the NFL than Jeremiah Love has to this point.
So I mean that is tough to say, right?
The AAV for the Number 1 pick breaks out to 8 million a year.
First year, the cap hits about 6, and then it's like, 7.something like 99 overall pick would be their first pick, correct?
Yes, so yes, the 9th overall pick.
The 9th overall pick breaks out to about 8 million AAV.
Well, you can have the proven commodity of what you know with ETN for about what, 12 million a year.
You're not getting the right tackle who's a proven commodity in the draft, or I, I mean, in, in free agency for 9 million a year.
I just went through.
Dan Moore is going for about 20 million a year.
I, this is why I, when people say this and they get so angry and, and again, I'm not proving commodities either though.
That's the thing I have to push back on is that like the, the an offensive tackle, no, no, I mean an offensive tackle at 9, an offensive tackle you take at 9 is also pure projection at this point.
100%, but we're just, I, all I'm doing is the economics of value right here.
The, the point I'm making is the off but it's a stronger argument to make that about defensive end even than it is to make it about the offensive line, and we'll get to that in a second, but the point I'm making here is it is very hard.
Very hard to find productive tackle-free agents for value.
It is.
Reasonable to find very productive running backs for value in free agency.
So when I say I don't want to draft Love, it's because I think you've already draft or you've already taken care of the running back position heading into the draft by getting ETN.
So, when I see top-notch saying, what about Trey from the Bengals?
He'd be a game-changer, right?
Yeah, for 30+ million dollars a year.
That's also going to edge.
When you talk edge, Quitty Pay and Boe Mafe might go 15, 20+ million dollars a year.
Jalen Phillips might sign a 4-year, $100 million dollar contract.
It's why, by the way, I'm OK. With Bain if he's there at 9.
This conversation I'm having when it comes to tackle, a lot of it's predicated on the fact that Bain is gone.
Yes, you're correct.
I'll, I'll, I'll say it right now.
If the Chiefs draft tackle and Bain's sitting right there, or even Bailey, I would be having an aneurysm.
OK.
If Bain or Bailey are there and they draft tackle instead, I will not be happy.
But the point I'm making is, let's say if, let's say if Makai Lemon's on the board, Bailey and Bain are gone, it's Makai Lemon, it's Jeremiah Love, or it's the best tackle.
Well, I think I would look real long, real hard.
At the best tackle, I wouldn't.
I would have the card in for Lemon already.
You, you, that presser did nothing to change that, that guy looked to me like a wide receiver one diva right there there.
I know it sounds horrible.
I'll take a normal wide receiver one diva at this point, Stu, to be honest with you.
Diva, I can deal with, uh, a reckless existence.
I can't.
I don't, I mean, if there's more to that that I don't know about, then that's snake thing going on.
He's rocking when he's trying to answer questions.
That right there screams he's probably gonna be a good receiver and probably gonna be a head case.
That right there is all I needed to know.
Yeah, I can, again, there's a like they have a real, uh, wide receivers coach now too.
Like I just.
Some, I, I would like for you to finish your stage setting.
I'm just saying that would not be a challenge for me.
I would also take Jeremiah Love over an offensive tackle here.
That's my, my, my hot take that breaks my character is that I would, I would be more excited about Love at 9 than right tackle of the future at 9 .
So, and I'm not a Jeremiah Love guy in, in most senses.
Here is, I'm gonna, I have this pulled up here, so we're gonna go through some numbers, OK?
We're gonna go through the positions of how much the AAV.
It is gonna be math show.
I hope you guys are ready.
Get your calculator and also this player might not play in 2026.
Might not.
Or you are, or you are guaranteeing that you're going to once again have like the most expensive swing tackle in football this year, which is another bit of AAV that you've already committed for this season.
And I would also again say it's a sunk cost.
I, well, not if he's playing decent football.
If he's playing decent, but he wasn't playing very good football last year.
He was playing decent football, not great.
Here is what the average is gonna be.
So 8 million AAV because that's pick 9, OK. Running back 8 million gets you.
The 17th running back.
That's the value.
That's, that's, that's number 17, OK?
There are 17 running backs that are 8 million or more, OK?
Wide receiver There are 35.
35, 8 or more.
This one was surprising to me, Briscoe by a lot.
Edge for 8 million or more.
was 33.
While interior defensive linemen.
Was, uh 37.
Yeah, you wouldn't have think there's that many interior defense like Peter Woods style of guys.
It made, it made me more intrigued by Peter Woods, by the way, with, with that information.
Uh, and then going to tackle, um, tackle was.
Where's it at?
40.
40.
So again, I, I'm just going off of strictly value.
If you're looking at value.
Tackle is the best value.
The 2nd best value is shockingly defensive tackle, which I thought was surprising.
3rd was edge, 4th was wide receiver.
The point I'm trying to make with the running back is, I know it's going that way.
I understand that running backs are starting to get more valuable.
But why not still use your money on ETN and then use 9 and try to get the best differential monetarily speaking.
That to me makes the most sense.
That's just simple economics, my good Briscoe.
I mean, it's not, it's one factor of the economics.
The, the other thing is, again, we touched on this a little bit earlier, but if Penne Sewell was in this draft class, this is a different conversation.
If Joe Alt was in this draft class, it'd be a different conversation.
Right now, what I'm hearing on the offensive line front is a bunch of teams trying to talk themselves into this guy truly being a franchise tackle.
It doesn't seem like there's a strong argument to be made there.
And right now, I just think we, we pretty clearly know the Chiefs have, I think, 4 plus starters and 1/5 starter who has played games for the Chiefs before, who has played games for the Niners before, who I agree, like it, it wasn't a, it wasn't an enormously successful season for Jalen Moore last year.
He also handled it like a pro where like he was in a spot that he was not expecting to be in.
It sounds like he handled all of that really, really well in-house.
Give him the year at right tackle, and look, you said 2027 is not set in stone.
That's fine.
If, if you know, four of your offensive linemen are set in stone, 2026 and 2027, 1 of them can be set in stone for 206, this time next year, we will be talking about offensive tackle, or if they go tackle.
I, I would be hesitant right now.
I would be hesitant to go tackle in either of the first two days of the draft.
But if they had a guy who was available with their pick at 75 or somewhere around there, um, at the beginning of the third round, if they said, hey, we think this guy really, we were thinking about him in the 2nd round, uh, we don't need him to play this year, but we think this is our starting tackle in 2027 and beyond on the right side.
We're gonna take him here in the early 1970s and, and then move on with our lives.
I get it, like, again, it depends on how the board.
Falls.
Now, if that's your first offensive player of the draft, that's scary.
If you haven't taken a receiver yet, and now you're missing out on the receiver bubble, that's scary.
But at number 9, it just doesn't add up to me because it is not an immediate position of need, and it is not an impact position necessarily.
It can be value, right?
But like in terms of what you as a right tackle can do for this team today, I, I, I've heard it so many times.
The, well, you know, protect Patrick Mahomes and then they'll figure out the rest of it.
Now, look, the offensive line didn't stay healthy last year, there were a lot of issues amongst the wide receivers last year, so I'm not saying that that line of thinking is terribly foolish, it's not, it's a fine, it's a fine mindset to be in.
Protect Patrick Mahomes and make his life easier that way, and he'll figure it out.
You can also make his life easier with Carnell Tate, or Makai Lemon, or make the argument for, for Jeremiah Love.
You, you can find other ways, you can make Patrick Maholmes's life easier by giving him a pass rush on the other side when he's not on the field, but he doesn't need to be Superman every, every offensive drive.
So, I, I think that ultimately, you just want to make the best investment you can.
In terms of getting, for me, here's, here's where I, where I would really draw my hard line, and this is to me, how I could submit the card for Jeremiah Love or Sonny Styles, who I don't think we've said his name in one Tuesdays with Sterling yet.
I don't wanna draft a linebacker or a running back at number 9 overall necessarily, but if you say, hey, Sonny Styles is Fred Warner.
Or, or he is going to be a piece in Steve Spagnolo's defense that changes what this defense does for the next 5 years.
He's the last blue chip player available.
Do you want a blue chip linebacker or a red chip right tackle, who again, I just don't think you can assume that a red chip right tackle beats out Jalen Moore and Saint Joe.
He could, I don't think you can guarantee that.
So, if you're in a position like that, I, I'll take the alien linebacker, I guess I'll take the alien running back in that situation, even though I would much rather have it just to, just to kind of rattle off like a relatively easy list of David Bailey, Ruben Bain, Carnell Tate, and Makai Lemon.
Those four seem obvious to me, and Peter Woods is kind of interesting.
If you said, hey, the Chiefs love Kenyon Siddiq, I don't love taking a tight end at number 9 overall, the tight end out of Oregon.
Yeah, I know, I know.
I just, I thought you said who, and you went, oh, no, no, I went, I wouldn't, I was because I'm intrigued.
I wouldn't love the tight end at 9 overall, but if they say, hey, no, there's one tight end who matters in this draft class, and we need a plan for post Travis Kelsey, who can be a part of the offense now, and then can take that baton next year and Oh, I would throw Jordan Tyson on my list as well.
It just seems like the medicals are the question mark for him.
I don't get to see his medicals, so I would you throw Caleb Downs, because Caleb Downs seems to be the same thing where it's a, it's a premium player, maybe a top 3 player, because it seems like it does seem like it is Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, and Jeremiah Love might be the most talented 3.
But again, those are all, again, quote unquote, on premium positions.
Yes, and, and I, I did skip Downs on.
For the sake of, of Sonny Styles, because I think I've, Matty Lane from KCSN has been, uh, just a, a little, a little whisper in the ear on, I, I think his hesitance on Caleb Downs is that he is not an overwhelmed freak athlete from the safety position.
He has unbelievable production.
His brain is operating on every synapse possible.
And again, I'm, don't put words in Matty Lane's mouth.
He's not saying that he's not an awesome football player.
Right now.
But I, I find that argument to be a little bit interesting where it seems like Sonny Styles has the blue chip athleticism that goes with what his production was at Ohio State, and Downs would be, I, I think the logic with Downs is that you might get blue chip safety play out of him for 5 years, no question, and that should be good enough to be a top 10 pick, and I think that's totally fair.
Um, that, but that maybe his ceiling isn't quite as high , uh, or that his floor might come a little.
Earlier in his career cause he doesn't necessarily have an extra step to lose.
Um, I, I, but I still would also probably put Caleb Downs in that position.
I would, I think I would be, I would certainly be more excited on draft night, which doesn't mean that this is the right pick or the wrong pick.
I'd be more excited on draft night to see, uh, the, the, the Caleb Downs Chiefs jersey, uh, than I would to see, here's, here's your right tackle, um, cause again, I just, I need someone to make the case for me.
That any of these tackles are Penne Sewell, that any of these tackles who are going to be there at 9 are worth a top 10 pick.
And, and frankly, I, I, this is pure guessing, I don't know that we're gonna have a chance to talk about Jeremiah Love when the Chiefs are on the clock.
I don't know that we're gonna have a chance to talk about Sonny Styles, maybe even Caleb Downs, and As a person who really wants the best wide receiver or defensive end available, that's all good news for me.
I, I'd like for all those guys to go as early as, as, as humanly possible, and hopefully, at least, at least one of those tackles goes early, cause I just think at this point, Bane and Tate have kind of been my guys from the beginning of looking into all of this, uh, beginning of, of getting in the draft season, and I have not been moved off of those two for, for now at least.
Yeah, I, I want Tate for the fantasy football name, um.
Tate, it's close to, uh, jungle, another word for jungle bridge, and, uh, and then you can have that as your fantasy football name.
For jungle bridge, yeah, your, your taint tainted.
I, I don't, I've never heard the phrase jungle bridge.
Yeah, welcome to the club, pal.
Uh, so it could be like tainted love.
I don't know.
There's a lot we can use.
We can do the, the golden, the golden tate era that was back again.
Yeah, lick my golden tate was, was a fantasy.
That team won a, won a ring.
OK. That team won a ring.
Do you have an ad to do or something.
I do.
But real quick, final thing on this, I'm with you.
I really think that if it were me, it's Bain number #1.
Like Bain and Bailey are probably 12, and I do want to get into Siddiq in a little bit, Peter Woods in a little bit, because I think there's some fascinating conversations to be had.
Again, I just wanted to bring up the case for a tackle being a possibility, not my first choice.
But I think it's a choice that has a possibility.
Again, well, I think Jordan poop, not my first choice, but my first choice when I'm hungry, I don't have a lot of time and I want something healthy and delicious.
It's factor.
That's a blue chip player right there.
They, don't worry, Sterling, I'll take it from here.
They send just a big plate of blue chips to your door.
No, that's not true.
They send better food that Sterling will tell you about.
What they do on cold days and you have big goals with.
No time to cook.
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All right.
The issue I have with the tackle class, the issue I have with the defensive tackle class, the issue I have with the tight end class.
9 just feels too high.
9 just feels too high.
And again, I know I was the one trying to lay the groundwork of why tackle is not crazy.
I wouldn't love it, man.
I wouldn't love it.
It wouldn't, I wouldn't, Jeremiah, love it.
And I like Peter Woods a lot.
I like big citrus as Ronson Drake points out as well.
Big citrus rules.
I like Stowers.
I like Siddiq.
I don't like him at 9.
And this is where things get fun.
If Bain and Bailey are gone.
I want the Chiefs to trade back.
If Bade and Bailey are gone, especially if.
The Chiefs don't trade McDuffie, so they don't have an extra first-round draft pick.
They need to acquire some stuff.
And There's a lot of holes on this team that I think a lot of people are just saying, well, yeah, a running back's gonna fix it.
Uh, no.
Uh, oh yeah, wide receivers gonna fix it.
Uh, maybe 4 of them.
Uh, I'll take it.
Hey, I'll take receiver maybe solving 4 problems.
That's good for me.
That's good for my agenda.
A tight end's gonna fix it.
Well, if Kelsey doesn't return.
I think Kelsey returns at this point.
That's, that's where it feels like the signs are pointing to.
I don't trust Wiley.
He didn't like the draft pick.
I don't trust Noah Gray.
He might be released.
Uh, Jake Brennansto is a fun thought, but again, it's a thought.
Defensively, what do they do with McDuffie, with Watson, with Brian Cook at linebacker?
Do they bring back Drew Tranquil?
I would do it.
They're probably not gonna bring back Leo Channa because he's going to cost too much money.
And, oh, by the way, he's never going to be more than a 50% player in this defense because the Chiefs don't run a 3-4.
So what's that mean?
Oh, I haven't even gotten to defensive line.
The biggest issue that plagues this team.
There are so many damn holes on this team.
If this were a ship, it would be sunk.
The Titanic had fewer holes than this team right now.
So, I guess like, yeah, I mean, the Titanic kind of, at least for a while, I think just kind of had one big hole.
It's kind of one big hole.
It was, it, their, their hole was just running back.
They needed a running back.
They needed an offensive lineman.
They needed a center.
They really needed a center and he didn't block and the ice got in the way.
They needed a running back with the vision who could have seen to avoid the iceberg.
Pacheco thought he could just take the iceberg on.
He just, he just run angry through the ice.
He just, he's gonna angrily run through that iceberg and then shockingly.
Iceberg one, So I think there are a lot more holes than people think.
I, I, I, I just really believe that.
And so that's why at 9, if Bain or Bailey, which again, I think the big, I think the biggest issue is still edge.
are gone I'm really trying to consider a trade down.
To around 1314, 1516, around that line.
For the sake of me buying into your game, you wanna also say that Tate and Lemon are gone, just so I can join you here, cause I think if, if Tate or Lemon are there at 9, I'm not looking, I'm not necessarily feeling those calls, assuming that the Chiefs have given the all clear on both of those dudes for whatever reason, like, the, the, and, and like Arvel Reese is kind of in that mix, but I just, it just seems like he's almost certainly gonna be gone well before 9.
But it, it, my, my list would probably be Bane, Tate, Lemon, Bailey, and Reese, would be the five guys, or all five of those guys are off the board, I'm starting to get kind of sweaty, or when, when the clock is, is ticking down to pick 789.
If those five guys are all gone, I, I just can't tell, I don't know if they like David Bailey, I, it would be, he'd be so, he'd be such a different kind of fit for what Spags tends to look at, but I mean.
Bane would be different because his arms are 30 inches long, so, I mean, there's, there's always gonna be one of those questions.
But for me, if all 5 of those guys are gone, or essentially, if the, if the draft goes Mendoza, the 5 guys that I really think of as being real needs and premium positions.
And then you're in that spot at 9, I would also make that, I'd make those calls and I would see what's up.
I think it's gonna be a tough spot to trade back from, because I don't know who's, somebody's gotta be in love.
Someone has to be , no pun intended, Jeremiah Love.
Someone has to be in love with somebody to pay a real premium to jump from, say, 12 to 9, and yeah, if you move back and you added, you add a 3rd round pick, and then you end up with Sonny Styles anyway.
That's all right.
You, you, you add a, a couple of picks and you end up probably not with Caleb Downs, but maybe Peter Woods, yep, cause I think they could draft Peter Woods at 9 and it would be like a little bit, it would feel a little bit rich, but you would understand how they got there.
It would at least be, it would be reasonable, right?
There'd be, there'd be a good line of logic there as long as they don't pass on Bain to get, to get to Woods.
Hear me out.
Here, here's another scenario.
I mean, again, we're, we're having fun right now.
I hope everyone enjoys this too.
We're just having fun.
The boys are just boysing.
So, pick 9, rolls around.
The guys that you wanted.
The guys that you want, they're gone.
But Jeremiah Love's still there at 9.
But then the Peter Woods, the, the Siddiqs and someone, because I do, I do think someone might fall in love with Jeremiah Love.
I think it will.
I think it's gonna be in the top 8, yeah, probably the Saints, but, but normally bad teams fall in love with running backs.
Yep, I could see the Cardinals doing it.
I know no one's really, I don't think anyone's talking about it, but I could see the Cardinals just being like, hey, we need a star.
And then , and then now he's Ashton Gentini, and you're one with the Raiders, and you're putting him in a poor position.
Um, but anyway, sorry, I, I, I digress.
You're there at 9, Love's on the board, yeah, I would, I'd move back.
I, I would, I would try to acquire some more assets that way.
I don't think I would move.
I, I don't think I'd probably move beyond like 15.
Another name we haven't talked about at all, Mansor Delane, the number one corner out of LSU.
Maybe you do move McDuffie, you probably do part ways with at least him or Jalen Watson .
I know the Chiefs have only gone highly drafted on the cornerback one time, it also worked out swimmingly in, in Trent McDuffie.
I could see them doing, making that step back, adding a couple of pieces and, and still getting like real.
Useful parts of, of their defense long term.
So, pick 16, the reason I brought that up specifically, that's the Jets' pick.
The Jets have pick 2 and pick 16.
Would they try and do almost not quite the same, but to be at least that the Colts pick, the Colts would have been 16, huh?
Uh, I think it would have been the Colts' pick.
Yeah, gross.
I just hadn't thought about that.
Oh, Sauce Gardner, yeah, Sauce Gardner, some sauce.
Yeah, boy, I don't like anything the Colts are doing right now.
I digress again.
So when they went all in and, in an open year they go, Hey, the Chiefs aren't in the, aren't gonna make the playoffs.
We should go all in.
And then their quarterback gets injured and it goes, we shouldn't have gone all in.
We should have.
And now they're gonna give that guy $30 million for one year.
I don't know.
I, I.
And I think Chris Ballard's button mashing a little bit, but that's fine.
And so I think, uh, wait, who did that?
Uh, yeah, well, it didn't work for the Giants, but it might work for us.
So pick 16.
That's the one I would probably circle as one.
I think my lowest number I'd dropped back to because I think there's about 16 guys I've looked through.
I mean, there, there's a top.
7, that makes sense for for, for Kansas City.
And there's a chance that those top 7 are gone because there's not really any quarterback outside of Mendoza.
There's not many tackles.
At all.
So if you move up to 16, that's when I think you get, again, you're not quite getting that blue chip player that I think we all wanted and hoped for if Bain and Bailey are gone.
If Bain's there at 9, this entire conversation that we've been having for, it's gonna be months is all moot.
And if they pass on Bain, I'm gonna write a strongly worded letter to Brett Veach.
Probably Spags because I'll say, stop it with the, the, the, the damn short arms.
He can play.
I don't care.
He is the outlier.
That is Dwight Freeney, OK?
So stop it.
Kind of turn to Nick Saban there.
So quit asking.
You might be able to move back to 16 and then feel a little bit better about Jordan Tyson if again, if you do have some questions on the medicals, but you like him as the player, if you move back to 16 and Sadiq is there, yeah, or Peter Woods, like you said, uh, what you get for moving back obviously matters.
And again, this is just, we, everybody in draft season talks about their team moving up or back, and the other side of that is you always need another, again, the Jets aren't trading up for Jeremiah Love if they, if they get a long-term deal done for Breece Hall, right?
So who Who are you in love with to trade up to 9 with the Chiefs, and why are the Chiefs not in love with that same guy?
Sure it, man, it really stinks to not have at least 2 top 5 quarterbacks in this draft.
Um, it really stinks that none of these linemen are demanding that kind of attention, but I, I think you probably need.
I don't know .
I'm, I'm, I'm curious to see, I, I'm, I can't wait every year for Dane Bergler's The Beast draft guide to come out, and of course, KCSN's draft guide is immaculate as well.
I'm really curious to see where those like high-end first-round grades, how many high-end 1st-round, I think, I think Dane does top 10.
Grades, 1st round grades, and then 1st, 2nd fringe grades.
I'll be very, very curious to kind of see where that settles, cause you don't learn a ton from your average mock draft, you just, you, you have the players on the board and everybody's probably taking 25 of the same guys in the top 32, and all of the same top 15, um.
But I'll be really, really curious to, to see where some of the people who just bathe in this stuff even more deeply and, and follow college football all year round for this purpose.
I'll be very curious to see, are there, are there 9 top 10 grades this year?
And a lot of times there aren't, and right now, it, it feels like it's really hovering right around that number, and that some of those definite top 10 grades belong to a safety and a linebacker and a running back.
So, before we get out of here, How concerned are you at Brett Veach getting it right if he does go D-line?
Like, I know it's easy to say, well, yeah, Bain.
Oh, yeah, Bailey, or, oh, yeah.
The issue is we think they're gonna be good.
We have no idea if they're going to be good, which is the obvious conversation that we have in March, March 3rd.
But the reality is he needs to get it right and he has struggled because I want to go back to something that he , Allegedly Wanted to do?
Remember when he, the rumor was he wanted to trade up and draft, draft Mozzie Smith?
Yeah, I do.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, he ended up with FAU.
We , we, we, we, we know FAU.
We know how that went.
But the rumor was he was gonna trade up and draft a different defensive lineman, defensive tackle.
Well, Mozzie Smith has been maybe worse than FAU.
Uh, that can't be.
I mean, FAU just hasn't played, but yeah, I mean, it didn't go well.
Mozzie Smith hasn't.
But, but that's kind of my point is, well, the other guy he was looking at the defensive line was maybe the same level of bust.
That's not a good, that, that doesn't give me warm fuzzy feelings of, oh, he wanted to trade for, I don't know, a stud, and you're like, OK, well, yeah, well, that made sense.
Like the, the story Sean Payton tells 8 times every radio row he can publicly find about how bad he wanted Patrick Mahomes.
He's like, I want Patrick.
Oh, well, we didn't get him.
Well, I knew it was gonna be good.
OK, well, good job, Sean.
You got Bo Nix.
Nice.
And you can somehow now talk smack and we would have liked that matchup if we would have played the Chiefs.
Uh, so I guess for me, you, you, you look up, I don't know, even like later on, but like Ke'Andre Coburn didn't even make it out of what training camp.
I mean, a 6th-rounder, I get it, but, but the point still remains like BJ Thompson was an edge rusher 5th round.
Tano Passino.
Um , second rounder was Tana Passino.
That might have been, I think, I think Passino might have been.
Passino was technically a Dorsey pick.
That was Dorsey because Breland Speaks was the first.
Uh, Derek Noddy is like by far the, I guess, uh, George Carloftis is now probably the, has probably succeeded.
Derek Noddy in terms of successful D-line draft picks, but of course, um, but Natty was the, is still the best pick out of that draft class, and he was probably the best draft pick on the defensive line.
Um, Colin Saunders was, was a success story at '84.
He went around where they took Naughty, um.
But yeah, no, I think, I mean, it , it will obviously for me it'll depend on who the actual player is.
Like I have a hard time seeing them go with Mezador, Bain's teammate at Miami at 9 because Mezador is 25 years old.
It's the age.
It's, it's just that's, that's some, if you're picking at 32, you say, hey, well, he's older than, he's older than Carloftus, right?
Carloftus isn't 25, is he?
I think Carloftus is 24 still.
Hold on everybody.
Who's football reference Mezador or George Carloftus?
Uh, yeah, Carloftus.
Well, now I'm gonna, it's so close.
I'm gonna have to check.
Carloftus turns, uh, 25 in April.
OK, in a month, in a month.
Um, Mezador.
Turns 25 in April.
OK, hold on.
What day?
April 5th, 2001 for Mezador.
April 3rd, 2001 for Car Loftus.
So George Carloftis is two years older than, thank you.
Important correction from you, Sterling.
It really, me misspeaking there really undercut all the work we've done.
Uh, George Carloftis is two days older than likely first round pick Akeem Ezador out of Miami, and that's where.
Carl Loftus still made a lot of sense, and while Mezador did, and why I like Mezador a lot, but for Car Loftus, was it like makes sense because you're still getting it, you're not expecting that that's going to go into his declining 30s like Sterling and I are both in, um, yeah, no, that's uh it's not the roaring 20s anymore, it's the declining 30s.
Yeah, yep, that's where we're right.
So again, the defensive line is the only spot that I would say I have concerns with.
He's not hit there.
That's the, that's the one spot that's been, I mean, even wide receiver, you can say what you will about Nicole Hardman.
He was at least a viable wide receiver.
You can say what you will about Xavier Worthy.
He's at least been a viable NFL wide receiver.
Rasheed Rice just can't.
He's been a viable wide receiver when healthy or available or available to, I think available is doing the, the, the heavy lifting there.
D-line outside of Carl Loftus, it's been a, Dumpster and we'll see what Glati and Omar Norman Lott, right?
Yep, Gillati seems like he's on a track to be like, again, we we keep pumping him to Mike Dana.
We haven't seen Omar Omar Norman Lott play significant football games, um, something crazy.
Just do you, including the playoffs, include the playoffs.
How many games has Rasheed Rice played for the Kansas City Chiefs?
Wait, one more time.
How many games has Rasheed Rice played for the Kansas City Chiefs, appeared in , not even started.
How many games now, including the playoffs?
How many games has he, has he appeared in for the Chiefs?
Uh, I'm gonna say something along the lines of, what's it like 3 years.
Uh, I'll say like 27, including playoffs, 32, 28, including regular season.
He, cause he, he played, he, he showed up in 16 games as a rookie, but then it was 4, I, I guess you could say in the last 2 years, how many has he played, uh, because if you think, there hasn't been a lot of Rasheed Rice in 2024 and 2025, uh, 12 games total, cause obviously he didn't play in the playoffs for them, either of these last two years.
Rasheed Rice has played in one playoff run, he all four games in 2023, of course, but wild.
Wow What's going on with him?
Anybody heard anything?
I saw he's promoting apps on Instagram, promoting apps on Instagram, which I thought he got his phone, um.
Like hacked.
I thought for sure it was gonna be a, hey, sorry guys, I got hacked.
And no, that apparently allegedly looks like he's doing that now, which is always good when you're wide receiver one.
You don't see many tight ends or offensive linemen.
Why is it wide receivers?
It's, it's just, that's the archetype.
And that's why I don't think you have any reason to be scared of Makay Lemon.
Makai Lemon's, maybe he might have crazy eyes.
He's not promoting, he's not promoting pay to play apps on.
How do cornerbacks, why are most of the cornerbacks normal?
Is it just the catching aspect of things?
Wide do receivers and cornerbacks are like, hey, we, we played the same thing and all of a sudden, I don't have as good of hands, so now I play defense.
But like you do a lot of the same.
Like things, quarters, corners are also kind of built that way, but like receivers are on fantasy football teams, receivers sell more jerseys, like, I, I think that's kind of quarterbacks have to be the leader, you know, so one, I think once you, once you sell jerseys, but you don't have to be the face of the franchise, I think that's probably, that allows for the most um.
Extracurricular personality.
Wide receivers, we're psychos, uh , tight ends.
We just eat crowns and, and drink beer together.
You say that word that way.
That's interesting.
crayons, crowns.
I don't know.
I wasn't judging you.
I just, I, I, it's an interesting word that people pronounce differently.
Uh, quarterbacks are like, we give coach speak at all times and running backs are like, I'm gonna run through you.
Correct.
Yeah, no, we, the archetypes are strong at this point.
I feel like you just gotta, if you could just scout Twitter timelines, I think I could probably have like a 60% level of accuracy.
Like, guess the position.
That'd be pretty good.
Guess the position with on random tweets.
I like this.
We could do this.
Uh, this was fun.
Appreciate everyone hanging out with us on March 3rd right here.
It's trade day 3-3, right?
Kind of fun.
Uh, make sure you follow Briscoe on Twitter at Jimmy Briscoe, myself at home stretch KC.
Give us 5 stars wherever you.
Um, get your podcasts, leave us a comment, a review, but 5 stars.
We'll answer your questions.
I like answering questions that you guys leave.
It's fun.
This is your show as well.
It's all of our shows.
Can I make a Tuesday show.
Yeah, go ahead.
Last stop.
I think you're a nincompoop for winning the Chiefs take an offensive tackle at #9 overall, Sterling Holmes, and I can't believe you forced that upon all of us today.
I can't believe you believe that.
Nin can poop.
You're a liar and a felon.
Whoa, I am one of those things, but I'm not gonna tell you which one.
I did not say the Chiefs should nor need to draft a tackle at 9.
I was laying out the case that it's a possibility and that it's not as crazy as blow my nose think, man.
Hurry up.
Finish this out.
I surrender.
Like your boogers, we are out.
That's good.
