AP Draft Room: Looking at the strongest positions in NFL free agency

NFL Draft season is in full swing. Each Friday, the “Arrowhead Pride Draft Room” podcast drops a new episode that addresses prospects, team needs, and other storylines for the Kansas City Chiefs. I’m the emcee of the show, which rotates guests and co-hosts to bring some different perspectives.

On the latest show, Arrowhead Pride writer Maurice Elston joined me to preview free agency — but to also talk about the running back prospects in the upcoming draft.

That coincided with this week’s “Arrowhead Pride Film Room” show on YouTube, where we evaluated running backs that Kansas City could select during April’s NFL Draft.

Among all of that discussion, Maurice and I went through three of the strongest positions in free agency:

Running backs

There are a ton of exciting names among running backs who will be on the open market. The higher-profile players are Miles Sanders, David Montgomery and Devin Singletary — but that’s just the top of the class. Role players like Semaje Perine, Jamaal Williams and Jeff Wilson have proven to be playmakers in high-powered offenses — and could be the same in Kansas City.

With so many capable backs — on top of a draft class that appears to have legitimate difference-makers — it feels there will be some sort of crash in the market for free-agent running backs. If the Chiefs want one, that could be an advantage.

Safeties

This class of free-agent safeties is highlighted by the Cincinnati Bengals’ Jessie Bates III, who will be able to demand a top-of-the-market deal. Jordan Poyer and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson are other good starters who could be plugged into a Kansas City defense that relies on a strong group of safeties.

If the Chiefs don’t want to make a splash signing, veteran options like Kareem Jackson, Rodney McLeod, Duron Harmon or Devin McCourty — who announced on Friday that he is retiring — could play as situational third safeties while Bryan Cook steps into a starting role.

Defensive tackles

One of the positions that will need the most investment is the interior of the defensive line, where Chris Jones (and assuming he is re-signed, a recovering Tershawn Wharton) are the only two defensive tackles returning from last year’s active roster.

There are good starters out there like Javon Hargrave and Fletcher Cox, along with quality players like David Onyemata and Sheldon Rankins. These players can get after the quarterback — but if Kansas City wants to focus on a gap-stuffing tackle to complement Jones in the starting lineup, players like Greg Gaines and Dalvin Tomlinson could fill that role.

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