Kansas City Chiefs check out Kansas LB Ben Heeney

The Kansas City Chiefs are checking in on some potential linebacker help in the form of Kansas product Ben Heeney, per Herbie Teope.

Heeney was one of the standouts at Wednesday's pro day for Kansas football, and several teams were interested in more information about the 6'1, 231 pound linebacker.

Also observed the #Chiefs spending time chatting with #Jayhawks CB JaCorey Shepherd in addition to Ben Heeney.

— Herbie Teope (@HerbieTeope) March 25, 2015

It's no surprise that the Chiefs would be interested in adding some linebacking help in the upcoming NFL Draft given that Derrick Johnson is returning from an Achilles injury and Joe Mays was released by the team. Josh Mauga was re-signed to a new three-year contract, but he's a special teams player who has yet to show he's ready to start on a defense that was already soft in the middle without Mays and DJ.

According to CBS, Heeney is projected as a fourth round selection and ranks No. 6 overall among inside linebacker prospects. NFL.com's grades aren't nearly as friendly.

Heeney was named to the All Big 12 First Team and was Honorable Mention for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year after starting all 12 games for the Jayhawks. He led the NCAA with 7.3 solo tackles per outing and finished the season with 127 total tackles, one shy of the Big 12 lead. He finished his career at No. 8 on Kansas all-time tackling list with 335.