The Kansas City Chiefs used their fourth round pick on a talented cornerback out of Colorado -- no, not CB Jimmy Smith, a first round pick. It was CB Jalil Brown who is a big cornerback with some versatility.
Brown's initial role with the Chiefs will be what a lot of mid-round picks have to do -- special teams. That's where he'll make his first mark on the field but he also has some skills in the secondary that are desirable to the Chiefs.
KC already has several corners that are ahead of him -- CB Brandon Flowers, CB Brandon Carr and CB Javier Arenas. They're all young and talented so at first it's hard to see where Brown fits in. For that answer, it's possible we have to look two to three years out and see where Flowers and Carr stand, both of whom are heading into the final year of their contracts. It's still early for Arenas and it's not the Chiefs style but sometimes I wonder if he's better off solely as a return man in order to avoid the Dante Hall effect -- where the more you're on the field at a skill position, the less effective you are at returner.
I think the best case scenario for Brown has him sliding into nickelback role early on. He can be a backup at safety as well if the Chiefs have a situation like they did in Denver last year where Donald Washington is your starter. The worst case scenario is that he turns into the 2009 fourth round pick and flounders for a couple of years without a defined role.
Because the lockout could limit how much preseason work Brown can get in, I'll predict he's not an opening day starter but he's in the mix at nickelback by midseason.