To say this has been a surprising start to the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 NFL Draft would be putting it lightly. While not what some of us expected, at least it wasn’t boring.
We got to see the Chiefs move up to No. 6 overall and select cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU. We also got to see Kansas City make another first-round pick by taking defensive tackle Peter Woods from Clemson.
Then Day 2 started off with the Chiefs selecting edge rusher R Mason Thomas at No. 40 overall.
Here are five things we
learned from the first two days of the draft.
1. The Chiefs are following their game plan
With the exception of an unsuccessful attempt to pull off a trade with the Arizona Cardinals and move up to No. 3 in the draft for either Arvell Reese or David Bailey, the Chiefs’ draft seems to be playing out as the organization planned.
On the flip side, the way Kansas City’s draft has unfolded is not what I envisioned for the first three picks — but I am well aware my preference for the pick doesn’t matter; that’s someone else’s pressure to deal with.
So I’m willing to keep an open mind that the brain trust who brought us multiple Super Bowls has a plan to revamp this team and return them to contention.
Perhaps some of my discomfort with these picks is that I don’t see a clear vision for how they fit into what the Chiefs want to do on defense. But then again, my perception is based on my historical experience watching this team, and maybe the reason I don’t get it is that this team is planning to switch up its scheme.
In short, maybe I can’t see it, because I haven’t seen it yet.
2. The Chiefs value cornerbacks more than they let on
You wouldn’t know it when you look at general manager Brett Veach’s decision to trade away both Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed in recent years instead of paying a premium to extend them.
So perhaps it’s not that Veach doesn’t value cornerbacks, it’s that he values cornerbacks on a rookie contract. And why wouldn’t he, the Chiefs scouting department has an excellent track record of identifying cornerback talent on all three days of the draft and turning them into contributors.
So the argument here is that if you are good at identifying cornerback talent later in the draft, then why take Delane at number six overall?
And I guess the answer would be, that if we accept the fact this staff is good at evaluating cornerback talent, and they felt that they could not afford to wait until later in the draft to select a player—then why wouldn’t we take their evaluation at face value and trust that they know how deep this position group actually is?
3. It’s fair to question the Chiefs’ sense of urgency
When the Chiefs traded McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams, the 29th-overall pick was acquired, giving Kansas City two first-round draft picks. The expectation was that the Chiefs would use these picks to improve the roster to win now and hopefully compete for another AFC title.
And while the Delane pick reflects this, the selection of Woods is exactly the opposite.
Prior to the start of the 2025 season, Woods was considered by many to be the top prospect heading into the season. Unfortunately, Woods did not develop as expected and failed to live up to the expectations of his lofty preseason ranking. Due to this, Woods slowly fell down analysts’ draft boards as the season progressed, until at last settling somewhere near the bottom of round one.
The main reason Woods did not live up to his billing is that while he is athletically gifted and moves extremely well for his size, and shows flashes of brilliance, he lacks consistency and needs to further develop as a pass rusher.
And that’s my issue with this pick.
The Chiefs are acting like it’s affordable to develop a guy to be the heir to Chris Jones on the interior, instead of selecting a guy who could hit the ground running as an impact player next to Jones.
I could certainly end up wrong about Woods, but I don’t believe in his ability as a football player, regardless of his level of athleticism.
4. R Mason Thomas is a sign of change
What the Chiefs’ selecting him at pick No. 40 is actually signaling remains to be seen.
His selection could signal defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s willingness to shift from his status quo to embrace modern, multiple-front looks with more exotic pass-rush looks that mix quicker edge rushers with interior pressure and stunts. Or perhaps he plans to line up Thomas at linebacker and blitz him through different gaps along the line.
Or maybe, it’s a sign of a team realizing it needs to get more pressure on the quarterback, so Veach reached and took a player who is not really a fit for what they want to do, and Thomas will be a square peg in a round hole and never ascend past being a third-down situational pass rusher who struggles to produce in a defense that expects him to put his hand in the dirt and win one on ones against opposing tackles.
5. It’s hard to rebuild Rome in a day draft
But fortifying the defense isn’t a bad place to start.
Especially when you consider how many close games we lost, where we just needed to get a stop to win the game(IE Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars).
Let’s just hope this foundation they’ve laid is solid enough to stand the test of time.
