It is probably the hardest question to answer but the one on every Kansas City Chiefs fan’s mind.
When can we expect each draft pick to play in 2018?
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was asked about that on his Monday morning conference call with the local Kansas City media. Here were his answers for all six picks:
Round 2 - No. 46 - Mississippi LB Breeland Speaks: potential defensive starter
“We think Breeland (Speaks) is a guy that could come in and play and help us on all three downs.”
Round 3 - No. 75 - Florida State DT Derrick Nnadi: defensive contributor
“Derrick Nnadi is a guy that from the first time he stepped on the field at Florida State he played. I think he played and started 38 of 39 games. That guy went from high school right to Florida State and got on the field and played. Obviously, this guy will be able to come right in and be able to play for us and help us out.”
Round 3 - No. 100 - Clemson LB Dorian O’Daniel: all-four special teams units, occasional defensive contributor
“Dorian O’ Daniel, as I mentioned in the post-presser, we have a vision for him. We know when we go into our sub-stuff, he’ll be able to come in there and utilized as a coverage backer, can match on some tight ends, play in the passing game, has range, has speed and then all four phases of special teams.”
Round 4 - No. 124 - Texas A&M S Armani Watts: some special teams, occasional, defensive contributor
“Armani Watts is a guy we just think will be a matter of just grasping the checks and the adjustments and be able to call the show back there, but he’s another guy who will be able to come on here and play on teams and work in with Dan Sorensen and those guys—you have EB (Eric Berry) that will be there, but then Eric Murray and you have Sorensen and then you kind of work Watts in there and let him get his feet underneath him and let him grasp the system. It’s a little bit different for those safeties because they’re sometimes like the quarterback there on the defense, so they have to know where to line up people and call in adjustments. That’s no different than any safety, even if you’re drafted in the first round, just being able to go out there and line people up and all that kind of stuff.”
Round 6 - No. 196 - Central Arkansas CB Tremon Smith: wait and see
“I’ve seen it both ways. I’ve seen these small-school guys come in and just be able to play right away. I’ve also seen these guys come in and take a year or two to be ready to be able to help. A lot of times these guys are contributors on special teams and they kind of work their way to sub-packages and get more experience and get their feet under them and they’re ready to go, so just because of the level of competition, there may be some adjustment period.”
Round 6 - No. 198 - Tennessee G Kahlil McKenzie: redshirt ‘18 season
“When you look at the guys we selected and you want to go back and talk about guys that might take some time, I think, naturally, (Kahlil) McKenzie will make sense because he hasn’t played offensive line, right? So that’s a guy we don’t know how long it will take. It may take some time, but we just know that he hasn’t played offense in years. The ability is there. We’ll be patient with him and we’ll be able to work with him on that.”