Yesterday, we broke down by position all the draft prospects the Kansas City Chiefs have been reportedly interested in. No surprise that offensive line and linebacker led the way.
Then we looked at the players the Chiefs have worked out that could be the third overall pick.
Today, we're perusing our Chiefs Draft Interests page and highlighting all the players the scouting staff has looked at that are projected to go in the second or third round. If you're watching the Draft on Saturday, and at 3:20 PM you hear the Chiefs have traded down, there's a likelihood they'll know who to pick considering they've focused heavily on players in this draft range.
The list of players below is one of the biggest reasons so many folks across the league expect Scott Pioli and the Chiefs to move out of the third overall pick and collect more picks in the late first to early third round range.
OFFENSIVE LINE
OT Michael Oher (Ole Miss, Rd. 1) - Spoke with at Senior Bow/Attended Pro Day (March 31)/Scouted in person in 2008
- *Oher settles in at the tail end of the top ten range to the high teens. If the Chiefs are looking at him as a tackle opposite of Albert (right or left), then they'll need to likely target the Buffalo Bills 11th overall pick.
OT Eben Britton (Arizona, Rd. 1-2) - Private workout (Reported March 25)
- *Could be a right or left tackle (6'6", 310 pounds) and could be taken as high as the late teens in the first round.
DEFENSIVE LINE/LINEBACKER
OLB Brian Cushing (USC, Rd. 1) - Spoke with at Senior Bowl/Attended Pro Day (April 1)/Scouted in person in 2008
- *Brian Cushing is projected to be a first round pick and would be of interest to the Chiefs if they were able to trade down. He, along with his USC counterparts, could be a tremendous help to the Chiefs and a great value if they were able to drop into to the bottom half of the first round.
DE Connor Barwin (Cincinnati, Rd. 1-2) - Visited with the Chiefs (April 2)
- *The Patriots are reported to have a lot of interest in Barwin as well. He's had arguably the best post-season workout run as any player in this draft class. Capable of playing as an OLB (1 year at Cincinnati) or a TE (3 years at Cincinnati), Barwin has been drawn comparisons to Chiefs' Mike Vrabel. He won't make it past the Patriots or Browns, early in the second round.
LB James Laurinaitis (Ohio St., Rd. 1-2) - Visited with the Chiefs (April 2)
- *Came in on the same day as Brian Orakpo and Connor Barwin. It's strange...if Lauriniaitis have come out last year, he was projected to be as high as a top ten pick. Now, he's fallen to the tail end of the first round, possibly as low as the second round. He seems to have the Pioli mentality when it comes to football.
LB Larry English (Northern Illinois, Rd. 1-2) - Private workout (Reported April 8)
- *English has been shooting up draft boards, possibly into the first round. He's been reported to have drawn the interest of the Patriots in addition to the Chiefs. He's projected as an OLB in the Chiefs' 3-4 scheme.
- *Another interesting prospect as he's projected to go as high as 25th to the Dolphins and as low as the middle of the second round.
LB Clint Sintim (Virginia, Rd. 2) - Visited with the Chiefs (April 7)
DE Jarron Gilbert (San Jose St., Rd. 2-3) - Private workout (April)
- *Another guy gaining a lot of steam, maybe even into the end of the first round. Click the link above to see a cool video of him jumping out of a pool (Okay, that sounds weird. Just watch it if you haven't already).
NT Sen'Derrick Marks (Auburn, Rd. 2-3) - Private workout (March 30)
- *Nose tackles are hard to come by but one of Marks' biggest knocks is that he's not big enough to handle larger defensive linemen. Not a characteristic a defensive lineman wants. He's likely to be available when the Chiefs pick in the third round.
DT Fili Moala (USC, Rd. 2-3) - Spoke with at Combine
- *The Chiefs could be looking for another defensive tackle - though I would imagine they would prefer it to be a more traditional nose tackle.
DE Paul Kruger (Utah, Rd. 3) - Private workout (1st week of April)
- *From Utah and is projected as an OLB. He's quick and has the frame to get bigger. The Broncos and Chiefs both worked him out.
SECONDARY
CB Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio St. Rd. 1) - Scouted in person in 2008
- *I wouldn't read much into this. The Chiefs scouted him way back when we weren't sure if rookie Brandon Carr could handle the corner job opposite of Flowers (he can).
CB Mike Mickens (Cincinnati, Rd. 2-3) - Scouted in person in 2008
- *Director of college scouting says he has the "temperament" to be an NFL corner.
CB Keenan Lewis (Oregon St., Rd. 3) - Spoke with at the Senior Bowl
- *From Oregon State and had an interview with the Chiefs at the Senior Bowl. Haven't heard any news on him since that.
QUARTERBACKS
QB Chase Patton (MU, Rd. 7) - Rumored interest
- *We just learned tonight the Chiefs have requested a contact number for Patton on Draft day so that's a good sign that he's on the Chiefs radar.
QB Josh Freeman (K-State, Rd. 1-2) - Attended local Pro Day
- *Didn't even work out at the Chiefs complex. Nothing to see here. Move along...
QB Pat White (WVU, Rd. 2-3) - Spoke with at Senior Bowl
- *Since the Senior Bowl meeting, we haven't been able to get a confirmation of Pat White working out with the Chiefs. He's been linked to the Patriots and Vikings, among other teams.
RUNNING BACKS/WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
TE Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma St., Rd. 1) - Scouted in person in 2008
- *The Chiefs could have been doing their due diligence last season when they scouted Pettigrew. Remember, last October, in the height of college football season, Gonzalez was publicly asking to be traded.
TE Chase Coffman (MU, Rd. 2-3) - Attended local Pro Day
- *Coffman is an intriguing pick due in large part to the fact that he's local. Though Pioli has picked three tight ends in the first round while in New England, I expect him to hang onto Gonzalez in 2009 with Brad Cottam as his eventual heir.
WR Mike Thomas (Arizona, Rd. 2-3) - Private workout (March 24)
- *Both the Chiefs (Pioli) and Broncos (McDaniels) set up a private workout with Thomas so maybe there's a bit of the 'Patriot Way' in him. His skill set is in a Wes Welker type mold, meaning he's a small and quick possession/slot receiver.
RB Andre Brown (NC State, Rd. 2-3) - Private workout (Reported April 16th)
- *And here's my "Chiefs work out a RB...replacement for LJ?" post...
It can't be used as a legitimate clue into the Chiefs' front office because our Chiefs' draft interests page is ultimately incomplete, but only two offensive linemen that have been reportedly worked out by the Chiefs are expected to be in trade down territory.
Of these 20 prospects, nine of them were defensive linemen and linebackers. A sign that the Chiefs will be going defense in the even to of a trade down?
Taking the table from Chris' post yesterday where he broke down all the Chiefs draft interests by position, we can see the Chiefs are focusing their reported scouting efforts of defensive linemen and linebackers projected to be selected later in the first round to the third round.
| Offense | Defense |
| OT (10) | LB (11) |
| WR (4) | DE (6) |
| QB (3) | DL (5) |
| OG (3) | CB (4) |
| RB (2) | |
| PK (2) | |
| FB (1) | |
Out of the sixteen reported DL/LBs on this list, nine of them would require the Chiefs trading down. That's quite the due diligence.