Todd McShay has a mock draft out and we know it’s early enough that his big board next April won’t look exactly like his does today. With that said, the McShay’s mock has the KC Chiefs taking a quarterback - North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky. He was named the best quarterback in this draft earlier in the year by Mel Kiper. He’s gone as high as the top 10 in other mocks I’ve seen.
In McShay’s mock, he goes 30th to the Chiefs and is the only first round quarterback in the mock.
Inside linebacker and safety will be bigger needs, but everyone knows how much Andy Reid likes to draft quarterbacks. Trubisky has some red flags as a prospect, including just 12 college starts to his name, but the opportunity to draft a quarterback to sit and develop behind Alex Smith could entice the Chiefs' front office. Trubisky has shown impressive accuracy (68.9 completion percentage) and an ability to limit mistakes (only four turnovers all season).
One thing I want to remember is that the Chiefs aren’t necessarily going out and looking for the next Alex Smith. Completion percentage and turnovers are areas where you want all quarterbacks to be elite but they don’t need to be just like Alex Smith. Andy Reid had Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and he liked Derek Carr. I’m not sure he has a “type” when it comes to quarterbacks, or at least he shouldn’t.
I do like the idea of drafting a quarterback early this year because Alex Smith is under contract through 2018. You could draft a quarterback in 2017 and have the option of sitting him for two full seasons or moving from Alex after one year or whatever. Alex is only 32 years old and we’ve seen other quarterbacks lately play well into their mid to late 30s. However, I think a big part of Alex’s game is running the ball, which he hasn’t been able to do much this year. I don’t think that will get better with age.