Three new mock drafts — and what recent ones say about the Chiefs at 32

The NFL Draft starts on Thursday evening, and NFL analysts across the country have been turning in their final mock drafts. Here’s what the most recent are saying about what the Kansas City Chiefs could do with pick 32:

Like some others, NFL.com’s Charles Davis sees the Chiefs going with a running back.

RB D’Andre Swift (Georgia)

The Chiefs could go big and target the offensive line with the last pick in Round 1, but the allure of Swift in this offense might be too much for GM Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid to pass up. Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock from TCU makes sense here, too.

At The Undefeated, Domonique Foxworth thinks the Chiefs will go with a cornerback.

CB Jeff Gladney (TCU)

You can never have too many corners. That’s especially true for the Kansas City Chiefs, who have a high-powered offense that will force opponents to throw the ball often to try to keep up. Gladney is a cornerback with a short memory. In college, receivers found it almost impossible to get away from him. That’ll be different in the NFL, but he will make more plays than he gives up.

CBSSports.com analyst R.J. White likes a cornerback for the Chiefs, too — but a different one.

CB Trevon Diggs (Alabama)

The Chiefs are well-positioned to add some much-needed corner talent with this spot, even with the run at the position earlier in the round. Diggs can contribute immediately and eventually lock down a starting role on the outside.

Of course... no analyst ever gets everything right; even one bad pick in the first few selections is likely to crash the most seasoned analyst’s projection.

So I wondered what it would look like if I combined these three mocks with the most recent ones published by Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News, Mel Kiper, Jr. of ESPN, Todd McShay of ESPN and Peter King of NBC Sports — a mock-draft-by-committee, if you will.

In this table, I’ve also shown the picks made by the Arrowhead Pride Nerd Squad in their final mock draft last week. Their picks are not included in the calculation, but are displayed for reference (in parentheses) in the first column.

These seven writers picked 48 players for the first round, making this a round-and-a-half prediction. This mock draft isn’t likely to be exactly correct, either — but it does give us a sense of what the national analysts are thinking as a group, giving us an idea what players might be available when the Chiefs pick at 32.

From five picks before the Chiefs’ turn to five picks after, we find WR Tee Higgins, CB Jeff Gladney, G Cesar Ruiz, WR Brandon Aiyuk, CB Jaylon Johnson, RB D’Andre Swift, ED Zack Baun, OT Austin Jackson, CB Kristian Fulton, S Antoine Winfield and DT Ross Blacklock.

In other words... when it’s time for the team to turn in its card for round one, they’re likely to have an option for every position of need (or desire) on the roster — except linebacker. And every one of these players has been picked for the first round by at least two national analysts.

That’s bad news if you were hoping for a really good linebacker with the 32nd pick. But it does show that even with only five bucks in his pocket, general manager Brett Veach might be able to get his shopping done before the store closes on Saturday night.