It was said that the 2018 draft class was resembling the woeful 2013 installment this past summer, but I think some people need to walk back that statement a little.

It’s shaping up nicely. There’s a lot of good players that will be available to the Chiefs at picks 54, 78, 86 and beyond.

The Chiefs Draftmas List is designed to be a pool of players I would be excited for the Chiefs to take. It’s a combination of draft crushes and players that I think would be valuable additions.

Let’s take a quick moment to talk about my draft grades. A friend and I built a model to grade players by. We have weighted the value of traits and abilities for each position, and take into consideration injury history and athletic testing scores.

My final grades won’t be locked in until April, but what I share with you is what my current film grade on them is. You may see some adjustments over time. You may see some players I write about look unrealistic by the time Draftmas arrives.

One other note: most evaluators will not have 32 first-round grades, 32 second round grades, etc. on prospects in a given year. Even in a great class last year, there wasn’t 32 first-round grades on most people’s lists. They use their grading scale to determine the value of the player relative to other years, then rank players based off of that. All yearly top 100 prospect lists aren’t created equal. I currently have 14 prospects with first-round grades. That list will grow, but it won’t be more than probably 20 or so prospects.

Here’s how my grading scale plays out:

So today you’ll see a prospect with a third-round grade that will likely be taken in the second round. And I’d be happy if it were in KC. Meet...

Kyzir White, safety

6’ 3” 215, West Virginia

Projected Draft Range: second round

Games watched: Missouri 2016, Oklahoma State, Texas and Utah

Prospect grade (out of 100): 80.5

I would take him in the: late second/early third round

One sentence bio: Former JUCO standout whose brother is former Chicago Bears first-round pick Kevin White.

One sentence scouting report: A bully of a safety who has shown enough in coverage to be a versatile chess piece.

One play:

Why he fits in KC: After Eric Berry went down in Week 1 of the 2017 season, the safety group was in shambles. They were on of the most disappointing parts of the season. While a large portion of it was Berry’s contract, the Chiefs were first in the league in positional spending at safety.

The Chiefs need to get cheaper, younger and more athletic on the back end of the defense. Specifically, they need to be better in the run game in sub-packages. They need a physical presence. Kyzir White checks all of those boxes.

White is expected to play as a defensive chess piece, asked to play a multitude of spots on the field. He can blitz, is gap sound in the run game and makes plays in space. He is a physical presence on the field, who is looking to set a tone with hard hits. He gives outstanding effort at all times.

He moves well in underneath coverage, but you probably aren’t looking for him to play much deep. His coverage skills would benefit from working to gain a little more flexibility and agility in his body. Some have said he may try to put weight on to play as a hybrid linebacker. I could see it. Regardless, he would be an instant upgrade in sub-package run defense. He’s the kind of presence that could bring a new attitude and dynamic to the defense that they lost when Berry went down. White’s skill set is more narrow than other prospects, but he’s good at what he does.

D.J. Moore, wide receiver

5’ 10” 215, Maryland

Projected Draft Range: second round

Games watched: Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana

Prospect grade (out of 100): 86.0

I would take him in the: early second round

One sentence bio: Early entry into the draft who started 10 games as a freshman at Maryland.

One sentence scouting report: Smooth, fast, explosive receiver who could make an impact at several different receiver spots in an offense.

One play:

Why he fits in KC: The Chiefs felt more comfortable with moving pieces and parts to the offensive play calling when Albert Wilson was in the game. He lined up everywhere, and was still productive.

D.J. Moore is a bigger version of Wilson who should end up being better. He can take the ball out of the backfield, on end-arounds and bubbles, but that’s just the cherry on the top. Moore is a good route runner with a more developed route tree than you’re accustomed to seeing college athletes come out with. He ran routes inside and outside, and he won in a lot of areas of the field. He can win downfield, the intermediate and underneath.

The thing I love about the way Moore plays is how north-south minded he is with the ball in his hands. When he has the ball, he’s looking to get up field, and make only subtle adjustments to his route instead of trying to dance around defenders. And he does it successfully. He’s fast with great acceleration.

He displayed great hands and focus. He can win at the catch point well for a guy his size, run past you and run away from you.

Moore is the kind of receiver that could play a variety of roles and the Chiefs would be able to get him the ball in a lot of different areas. I could envision him winning downfield or Mahomes giving him a chance to accelerate out of a bubble screen. It would be fun.

The Draftmas List

EDGE Dorance Armstrong, Kansas

EDGE Hercules Mata’afa, Washington State

Guard Isaiah Wynn, Georgia

Safety Kyzir White, West Virginia

WR D.J. Moore, Maryland