The regular season is only a few days away, and the Kansas City Chiefs were able to get an early look at their 2026 NFL Draft class. Coaches and front-office members have spoken highly of several rookies' preseason performances.
"Yeah, so you're looking for guys that can come in and help and be a part of it and that you feel comfortable rotating into a game or starting in a game. I mean, we're coming out feeling pretty good about that, in quite a few of those spots," said Andy Reid during last Friday's postgame press conference. "That's a tribute to Brett (Veach) and his group there. I appreciate, again, the way the coaches have gone about teaching on top of that, but Brett has done a nice job; that's a lot of hard work. They cover a lot of ground
to make sure they bring in these guys, and a lot of hours go into that, and it looks like it's a pretty good class there. Time always tells on these, but right now, it sure looks like these guys will."
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach spoke with Ari Wolfe and Trent Green during Friday's preseason finale visit to the KSHB booth. He shared his thoughts on a few rookie draft selections and their performances.
"Mansoor (Delane) coming into the offseason and losing three pieces of our secondary, obviously Trent (McDuffie), Jaylen Watson, and Brian Cook. We certainly had a big void at the cornerback position, and Mansoor was a guy we were super excited about," said Veach. "In addition to that, with Omar Norman-Lott's injury and just returning Chris Jones, we were super thin there in the cornerback position; in the defensive line position, we were thin. We were happy to add both of them. Then R Mason Thomas, too. We got to the back end of the first round, and R Mason was in that group of three or four guys that were still on the board of discussion. We were happy to come away with both of them."
Chiefs will begin the 2026 regular season on September 14 at Arrowhead Stadium against the Denver Broncos.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Kansas City Chiefs rookies earn praise after preseason performances
