Peter Schrager’s latest mock draft sends an EDGE and CB to the Chiefs

On Tuesday, “Good Morning Football” co-host Peter Schrager published another mock draft on NFL.com. We continue to believe that Schrager has very good sources within the Kansas City Chiefs organization, so his newest mock — especially since it comes less than 10 days before the draft opens (a week from Thursday) — should be taken fairly seriously. With the team’s two first-round picks, Schrager projects an EDGE and a cornerback.

29. Kansas City Chiefs: EDGE George Karlaftis, Purdue

Karlaftis could go anywhere from the 20s to the 40s. If he’s still on the board at No. 29, the Chiefs could scoop him up; he’d be a good fit in Steve Spagnuolo’s 4-3 defense. Karlaftis, who spent his early years in Greece playing water polo, has emerged as a polished talent over the last few seasons in the Big Ten.

30. Kansas City Chiefs: CB Kyler Gordon, Washington

The Chiefs respond to the AFC’s arms race by adding another defensive back. Gordon is well-regarded around the league, with some teams liking him as much as his Washington teammate, Trent McDuffie.

Takeaway

When we last heard from Schrager on April 7, he was seeing the Chiefs hold at 29 — selecting Connecticut defensive tackle Travis Jones — and trade the 30th pick to the Seattle Seahawks, which they used to pick up Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral. That probably would have given the Chiefs either the 40th or 41st pick, along with the Seahawks’ third-round selection at 72nd overall.

Now, however, we see Schrager moving toward the idea that among the team’s most pressing positions of need (edge rusher, cornerback and wide receiver), it is the latter where Kansas City can best afford to wait until after the first round. Wide receiver seems to be where 2022’s draft class has the most depth.

With Schrager’s selections, the first-round picks in the 2022 mock drafts we’ve covered finally line up in what seems like the right way: EDGE as the most frequently chosen position, followed by defensive back and wide receiver.

A month ago — just before the Tyreek Hill trade — national mock drafts were using the Chiefs’ only first-round pick to send secondary players and edge rushers to Kansas City at an equal rate: 36%. Wideouts were being taken in 19% of the projections.

Since then, however, picks (usually two in the first round) have tended toward wideouts (37%) and edge rushers (31%), with defensive backs coming in at 24%. But as mock drafts have accelerated in the last week, pass-rushers (38%) have constituted most of the picks, followed by wide receivers (33%) and defensive backs (25%).