NFL Draft rumors are so much fun because you start to imagine all the possibilities if you add a certain player to your team. That's the way I'm feeling with this report that the Kansas City Chiefs are meeting with the player Mike Mayock called the "most explosive tight end in this year's draft", Miami's Clive Walford.
UM TE Clive Wafford has visits or workouts set up with the Saints, Falcons, Dolphins (next week), 49ers, Ravens, Chiefs and Tampa Bay.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) April 1, 2015
The Chiefs can work out as many players as they want but can only bring in 30 players to their facility for a visit so there is a difference.
NFL Draft Scout has Walford, 6'4 and 251 pounds, projected as a second round pick. The Chiefs have this guy named Travis Kelce who is awesome. Adding another top tight end would make for a very interesting passing game in Kansas City. Even with Kelce I don't think taking a tight end fairly high in the draft is out of the question. It's clearly an important position for Andy Reid and he's creative enough to use both of them effectively. The KC Star's Terez Paylor once mocked a tight end to the Chiefs in the first round.
Walford's NFL.com profile says the same thing about those two tight end sets.
A combo tight end who can help a team in the running game and through the air, Walford can be moved around the field. He lacks the elite athletic traits to be a game-changer at the position, but he is becoming a premium blocker. With teams looking for versatile TEs to create matchups in two-TE sets, Walford's stock should be high.
NFL Draft Scout has some good nuts and bolts on Walford as a player.
After showing constant improvement while playing 37 consecutive games at Miami, Walford injured his knee in the 2014 regular-season finale against Pitt. He underwent surgery and, somewhat surprisingly, took part in the Senior Bowl in January. Still, teams will be especially interested in his medical report from the combine. Despite the injury, Walford's final season was his most productive as he used his huge hands (10.5 inches) and long arms (34 inches) to catch 44 passes for 676 yards and seven touchdowns. Walford, a star basketball player in high school, improved year after year in college and last season played faster and with more confidence as a receiver.
Also, imagine this lineup:
Clive Wafford and Kelvin Benjamin played on the same high school team. Biggest receiver/ tight end duo I've ever seen in HS
— Jason Pugh (@JPughNBC4) November 3, 2013
I am intrigued.