2023 NFL Draft: How teams should copy Super Bowl champion Chiefs by adding similarly skilled prospects

The Kansas City Chiefs gained the Super Bowl for a lot of causes and leaned closely on a rookie class after buying and selling Tyreek Hill. They confirmed that buying and selling away a celebrity and allocating new assets and freed up cash to switch mentioned celebrity and add to different areas of the crew can win the season’s final prize. 

That philosophy is now confirmed to be one of many some ways to assemble a Super Bowl-winning membership in at this time’s NFL.

Here’s a take a look at 2023 NFL Draft prospects who might carry out comparable duties to these carried out by Chiefs stars and very important role-players en path to successful the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in 4 years. It’s a listing different teams should be having a look at to copy the Chiefs via the draft.

Before I start, Patrick Mahomes won’t be featured on this column. He’s already monitoring towards changing into among the best gamers in NFL historical past. And sure, he began as a prospect like everybody else, a younger participant whom nobody wished to place too lofty of a comparability. If I believed there was the following Mahomes on this draft class, I’d say so. Spoiler: There is not.

Overwhelmingly large left deal with

• For Chiefs: Orlando Brown
• 2023 prospects to suit this function: Ohio State’s Dawand Jones, Tennessee’s Darnell Wright

The Brown commerce was the primary in some extremely polarizing strikes from Chiefs common supervisor Brett Veach, and whereas the previous Ravens third-round decide hasn’t been a dominant blocker, he definitely upgraded the very important place blocking one of many edges for Mahomes. 

Now, at almost 6-foot-8 and 345 kilos, Brown-sized blockers who’re really prime 100-caliber prospects do not come round typically. Jones matches the invoice. He measured in at 6-8 and 375 kilos on the Senior Bowl, and his movie is rattling good. He has stability, energy, and makes use of his size outstandingly, identical to he did at Oklahoma.

Wright is not fairly as large as Jones or Brown, however at 6-5 and 342 kilos with a wingspan near 83 inches, he is a mountain of a person, too. And he performs with misleading athleticism and NFL veteran-caliber hand work when battling edge defenders. 

Thick, super-experienced heart

• For Chiefs: Creed Humphrey
• 2023 prospects to suit this function: Minnesota’s John Michael Schmitz, Michigan’s Olusegun Oluwatimi, Arkansas’ Ricky Stromberg

Kansas City’s second-round number of Humphrey final 12 months was as very important as any acquisition Veach has made for the reason that Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers. The three-year starter at Oklahoma has been rock-solid at heart for Andy Reid’s offense for the reason that first week of his NFL profession. 

Schmitz from Minnesota in all probability will not take a look at fairly as amazingly as Humphrey did in 2021 however will really be extra skilled taking part in the middle place at a Power 5 faculty. Humphrey logged greater than 2,400 snaps with the Sooners from 2018 to 2020. Schmitz was proper below 2,500 for the Gophers. 

Oluwatimi has Humphrey-esque stability blocking for the run and cross. He’s unshakeable. Plenty to love about how he wins the leverage and angle video games on a routine foundation. Stromberg’s movie is a bit of messier than the 2 facilities from the Big Ten, however he typically simply will get the job achieved in opposition to large nostril tackles or fast below tackles alike.

Lightning-charged, later-round operating again 

• For Chiefs: Isiah Pacheco

• 2023 prospects to suit this function: Tulane’s Tyjae Spears, East Carolina’s Keaton Mitchell, Pittsburgh’s Israel Abanikanda

When all is alleged and achieved, Spears will in all probability be picked a lot sooner than Pacheco was (Round 7). However, they’re comparable operating again prospects who aren’t exceptionally large however run with a lot speed-to-power conversion. We usually use that time period strictly for defensive linemen, nevertheless it completely holds true with somebody who runs like Pacheco. Spears could be very quick within the open discipline — he’ll hit house runs within the NFL. 

Much of the identical is true for Mitchell, who’s a contact smaller and initially initiatives to a secondary again function within the NFL. However, one lower and he is gone if there’s area. Abanikanda, as an underclassmen, hasn’t gotten a lot buzz. Yet. He snuck via small areas to seek out daylight and hit a plethora of lengthy runs throughout his illustrious profession at Pittsburgh. He’ll in all probability be out there on Day 3 however completely is usually a RB1 on a high-powered offense as a rookie. 

Long, disruptive, athletic defensive deal with

• For Chiefs: Chris Jones
• 2023 prospects to suit this function: Georgia’s Jalen Carter, Bowling Green’s Karl Brooks, Texas’ Moro Ojomo, Oklahoma’s Jalen Redmond

I made the Carter-Jones comparability final week. It’s too good. And it is solely related for in all probability the golf equipment selecting within the prime 5. Carter strikes like a defensive finish however is highly effective like a nostril deal with and has a Jones-type lengthy body. Later within the draft — keep in mind, Jones was a second-round decide — I really like the upside of Brooks from Bowling Green, a 6-3, 303-pound hybrid who primarily gained with nice regularity as a stand-up rusher over the previous two seasons. There is main juice to his recreation, and he deploys his fingers like a sensei. 

Ojomo is that crazy-long, inside-out rusher who prides himself on entering into blockers frames first then using Jones-esque pass-rushing strikes to win into the backfield. Redmond was requested to eat blockers greater than anybody else on this group however flashed critical pass-rush capability due to his twitchiness when given a chance.