Arrowheadlines: Chiefs’ 2021 draft class named NFL’s best

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Chiefs’ 2021 Rookie Class Ranked as the Best in the NFL | Chiefs.com

It’s an established fact at this point that the Kansas City Chiefs came away from the 2021 NFL Draft with a tremendous haul of talent, and according to the folks at NFL.com, it was the top class in the league.

League analysts Nick Shook and Gennaro Filice ranked every rookie class from best to worst this week, assigning the Chiefs the No. 1 overall spot as the only team to earn an “A” grade.

“Kansas City’s grade is all about maximizing picks,” Shook wrote. “The Chiefs sent their first-round pick in 2021 and other selections to Baltimore to acquire left tackle Orlando Brown (assets well spent), then nailed their second-round pick by choosing linebacker Nick Bolton, a Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team selection who graded out as the 13th-best linebacker in the league, per Pro Football Focus. Kansas City followed that up by finding its center of the future in Creed Humphrey, who began his NFL career by performing better than any other player at the position, per PFF. He also earned PFWA All-Rookie honors.”

Top Candidates to Fill the WR2 Need for the Chiefs This Offseason | Sports Illustrated

JuJu Smith-Schuster

This move would make a ton of sense for both the player and the team. Smith-Schuster was on the Chiefs’ radar last season and nearly chose Kansas City before returning to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal to run it back with the Steelers in Ben Roethlisberger’s final season. Smith-Schuster is a 6’1”, 215-pound receiver that can play either in the slot or on the outside. He could also fill the X-role for the Chiefs. Despite his injury history, Smith-Schuster does have some upside at age 25 and his prime could still be ahead of him. He also had his best seasons when he wasn’t the featured option. In his rookie season, he hauled in 58 catches for 917 yards and seven touchdowns before really taking a step forward in his second season, catching 111 balls for 1,426 yards and another seven touchdowns. During those seasons, he was the second option in the offense behind Antonio Brown. If Smith-Schuster joined the Chiefs as the third option behind Hill and Kelce, there is a great chance he could shine again in the support role.

AFC West 2022 offseason needs: Big-name receivers likely headed to quarterback-rich division | CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs
Team needs: CB, WR, EDGE, LB, S

The Chiefs fell short of their goal of making it back to a third straight Super Bowl in 2021, but they did become the first franchise to host four consecutive conference title games. If they want to make it back to the big game, the Chiefs will have to bolster their pass rush after recording just 31 sacks last offseason. To help fill this void, two of our draft experts have the Chiefs using the 30th overall pick to select Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis, who tallied 14 sacks and 29 tackles for loss as a Boilermaker.

With Tyrann Mathieu set to enter free agency, one of our experts has the Chiefs selecting former Michigan safety Daxton Hill in the first round. At cornerback, the Chiefs will likely look to take advantage of a solid market that will likely include J.C. Jackson, Joe Haden, Stephon Gilmore, and Kyle Fuller, among others.

It will be really interesting to see what the Chiefs do at receiver as Demarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle are both set to enter free agency. The Chiefs may again choose to pursue Smith-Schuster, who turned down their one-year offer last offseason. They may also try to re-sign Sammy Watkins, who played an integral role on the Chiefs’ 2019 Super Bowl-winning team. Other options at receiver may include Odell Beckham Jr., Allen Robinson, Chris Godwin, and Mike Williams. Any of these wideouts would be a huge addition for a Chiefs offense that already includes Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.

Looking at Chiefs’ potential free agent options at defensive tackle | Chiefs Wire

Ndamukong Suh

At 35 years old Suh is still a productive player. He is coming off of back-to-back six-sack seasons and has complied 71 total tackles during that two-year span. Suh would bring instant leadership and an attitude to the Chiefs’ defense. At this point in his career, Suh isn’t going to command top dollar and will be looking at short-term contracts. He has done a terrific job staying healthy, only having missed two games in his 12-year career.

Report: How Patrick Mahomes Feels About Matt Nagy Hire | The Spun

The former Chicago Bears head coach previously spent five years with Kansas City, starting as a quarterbacks coach before getting promoted to offensive coordinator for 2016 and 2017.

While Patrick Mahomes didn’t take the reins until 2018, he worked with Nagy as a rookie understudy to Alex Smith. Per ESPN’s Josina Anderson, bringing back Nagy was “very well-received” by the superstar quarterback.

This aligns with past comments from Mahomes.

“Obviously he was an awesome, awesome coach and he helped me out a ton, helping explain things to me as I was coming from a totally different offense to this one,” Mahomes said. “He really helped me with just presenting it in different ways that I understood and was able to pick up so I could have success whenever I was in practice or in preseason games or the last game of the regular season. I mean he’s a great human being and a great coach and he really understands how to get the best out of his quarterback.”

Who are analysts selecting for Chiefs at pick No. 30? | Chiefs Wire

Help at EDGE seems to be consensus pick for Chiefs ahead of the combine

Dismal sack numbers in the pass rush were part of what kept the Chiefs from competing in a third straight Super Bowl, and if the experts’ analysis is any indication, they’ll look to beef up the defensive line in April’s draft. They still have the premium talent of Chris Jones to eat up blocks in the middle, and could potentially bring back Melvin Ingram in free agency. However, a move to draft an edge rusher in the first round would spell certain doom for veteran Frank Clark, who was flat-out bad last season for Kansas City.

Experts predicted no less than four different first-round pass rushers could make their way to the team in this week’s mocks, and exactly which might get the nod would likely come down to who falls to them at the 30th pick. Though concerns in the secondary have made for popular picks at cornerback and safety in recent weeks’ mock drafts, this new batch seems relatively certain that Kansas City will try to find their next menace to opposing quarterbacks.

Around the NFL

Cowboys ‘Would Love to Sign’ Chiefs’ Tyrann Mathieu | Cowboy Maven

The Dallas Cowboys roster is considered “loaded’’ by many, and in 2022, at the safety position, the team got particularly grabby, adding recognizable names on budget contracts, all adding up to nice results.

And now comes a suggestion that they do it again, only with a bigger name and bigger money.

“Find a long-term solution at safety,’’ writes ESPN’s Bill Barnwell in a piece addressing the top needs of all the NFC East teams. “The Cowboys would love a safety such as Tyrann Mathieu ...’’

We’re not sure where Barnwell is getting the information that Dallas would “love Mathieu,’’ given the fact that they have repeatedly passed on him when he’s hit free agency.

We can say that we would like Dallas to add a playmaker like Mathieu; after all, he is ranked by PFN as the No. 5 player in this free agency class. But we would also add that as he comes free from the Kansas City Chiefs, he’s coming off a $14 million salary for 2021 and is projected to get a contract in the range of three years and $46.2 million

And that’s not generally the way Dallas rolls, especially at safety.

Buccaneers’ Pro Bowl guard Ali Marpet announces retirement after seven seasons | NFL.com

Ali Marpet is coming off the best season of his career. He plans for it to be his last.

The Buccaneers guard announced via Instagram on Sunday that he is retiring from the NFL. The 28-year-old Marpet was a Pro Bowler in 2021, his seventh season.

“After seven formidable years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I’ve come to the decision to retire from the game that has given me so much,” he posted. “This organization and the people surrounding it have helped not only fulfill a dream, but also helped build me into the person I am today. I’ve made Tampa Bay my home and I look forward to serving this community in the coming years. To the coaches and teammates, family and friends, an Instagram post simply can’t express the profound impact you’ve had on me. I’m eternally grateful. Thank you Tampa Bay.”

Colts Submit Proposal To Change Current NFL OT Rules | Stampede Blue

After one of the greates ptost-season performances we’ve seen from teams in some time, which saw the game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs go into overtime, changing the league’s overtime rules became a heavily discussed topic amongst thousands of fans.

Some believed there shouldn’t be any significant rules changes because a touchdown is needed to win the game, and a team is given the chance to stop an opposing offense from scoring. Other fans felt like each team should be granted one possession, even if a touchdown is scored.

In order for the change to go through, 24/32 votes are required, according to Ari Meirov.

We’ll have to see if any other teams join in and propose either the same change or something similar.

If 24 votes are received, perhaps the league could make the change for a season and see how it goes, similar to what they did a few years ago with challengeable pass interference calls.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Here’s why Eric Bieniemy isn’t going anywhere — and likely never was

Could Bieniemy’s success also be mostly because of Reid’s offensive influence? Of course, it can! Truth be told, it is simply impossible to accurately separate Bieniemy’s contribution from those of his head coach and quarterback.

Despite all the “he doesn’t interview well” narratives, this could easily be the primary reason that he has been unable to land a head-coaching position: because there’s just no way to tell how Bieniemy could perform without them.

Right now, the only thing that really matters is that Bieniemy — for whatever reason — has been unable to obtain a job as an NFL head coach. Rumors and rumblings of a rift between him and Reid — or between him and Mahomes — shouldn’t surprise us. After all, why wouldn’t there be an argument among the team’s offensive leaders after they failed to leave the field with even a field goal after being first-and-10 from the opponent’s 15-yard line with 13 seconds left in the first half? Isn’t such an argument exactly what we should expect within a championship team playing for the right to return to a third straight Super Bowl?

If that incident occurred — and it represented a serious, long-term disagreement between Bieniemy and anyone else — then it’s simple: he would now be gone. For all of his gentlemanly demeanor, Reid didn’t get where he is by tolerating flat-out mutiny among his assistant coaches — or, for that matter, by firing them when they have been performing at a high level.

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