In an unusual joint mock draft, the Chiefs take a tight end

On Sunday, CBS Sports published a joint mock draft conducted by former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden and draft analyst Ryan Wilson.

Wilson picked first, sending USC quarterback Caleb Williams to the Chicago Bears. Then McFadden picked LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels for the Washington Commanders and Spielman selected North Carolina signal-caller Drake Maye for the New England Patriots.

Then they rotated through the rest of the first round. And when they got to the 32nd pick, McFadden made an unusual pick for the Kansas City Chiefs.

32. Kansas City Chiefs: TE Brock Bowers, Georgia

If Brock is sitting here at 32, that’s the easiest pick for me. He’s a difference-maker, and he’ll get an opportunity to learn from Travis Kelce. Whenever Travis Kelce decides to call it quits and get ready for his invitation to Canton in the Hall of Fame, you have his heir apparent right there WAITING in the wings, right there in the building. So this was super easy for me, and just imagine the offense that has Travis Kelce, Brock Bowers, Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, Isiah Pacheco along with everything they have along the offensive line. Good luck trying to slow them down.

To answer the obvious question: this mock draft was created before the weekend’s news about Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice became available; we don’t know if McFadden would have made a different choice if he had been aware of the situation.

And yes... it’s unlikely that Bowers — widely considered the top tight end prospect in this draft class — will still be available when the Chiefs go on the clock. The unusual nature of this particular mock makes Bowers’ availability possible — and reminds us that improbable things can (and do) happen during the first round.

So this mock is an outlier. But we’ll guess that picking Bowers at 32 would also be pretty easy for Kansas City general manager Brett Veach.