2024 Chiefs Re-Draft Provides Valuable Exercise in What Not to Care About

In a re-draft of the 2024 NFL Draft (yes, the one from less than three months ago), the fake-Chiefs did something silly. Thankfully, it's July.

Jan 16, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Fireworks go off as the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC Wild Card playoff football game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

We're all killing time waiting for training camps to begin around the NFL, and I'm no stranger to the ebb and flow of offseason content. July arrives with a thud, bringing a few rare weeks of quiet, forcing an internet full of analysts to find different things to discuss before teams start suiting up for practice. Not every breakdown is earth-shattering, but we find ways to fill the space before the Kansas City Chiefs report to St. Joseph, Missouri. Still, despite our best efforts, sometimes the content machine chugs too hard. This is one of those times.

In a new piece on Bleacher Report, author Matt Holder re-drafts the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft "after early offseason buzz." This concept is flawed from the beginning — public "buzz" isn't exactly behind-closed-doors intel — but the Chiefs' re-draft logic is especially bankrupt.

First, just to set the scene, humor me by taking a look at the author's first pick-swap, which comes at No. 3 overall. Instead of selecting quarterback Drake Maye, the New England Patriots now take offensive tackle Joe Alt. Why? Maye supposedly "stumbled during rookie minicamp" and isn't expected to start until mid-season. Now they'd have an immediate starter at tackle instead — a player they passed on in favor of the quarterback who will be at the center of their rebuild. Alt could be a Hall of Famer and Maye could be a bust, but there's no way the Patriots are experiencing buyer's remorse because of an underwhelming rookie minicamp.

With that frustration in mind, let's get to the Chiefs.

In the re-draft, the Chiefs didn't trade up to No. 28 overall, and wide receiver Xavier Worthy was still available at No. 32. They didn't take Worthy there, though. The hypothetical Kansas City Chiefs took Houston offensive tackle Patrick Paul.

Paul didn't go until No. 55 overall to the Miami Dolphins in the actual draft, and I was hopeful he'd be in the mix for the Chiefs in the late second round. KC ultimately hopped up one spot to No. 63 to draft BYU offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia, giving KC a prospect of a similar caliber to Paul at a late-second-round value. Regardless, the problem here isn't Paul at No. 32. That's reasonable, even though I thought the Chiefs nailed the draft board in terms of wide receiver and offensive tackle value. The problem is the logic:

"While the Kansas City Chiefs' wide receiver corps was lackluster last year and the front office likely saw some similarities between Tyreek Hill and Worthy during the pre-draft process, the Texas product hasn't gotten off to a good start in Kansas City," Holder wrote. "According to ESPN's Adam Teichner (sic), Worthy didn't practice much during OTAs and minicamp and was inconsistent when on the field. Meanwhile, the Chiefs also have question marks at left tackle. So, in this re-draft scenario, they pivot toward addressing the latter need."

With all due respect to longtime Chiefs beat reporter and all-around good guy Adam Teicher (no "n" needed), his name's misspelling isn't even the most frustrating part of that analysis. First of all, Worthy's limited offseason is a reasonable thing to keep an eye on but an extremely silly reason to bail on a 21-year-old's NFL career. His size and long-term durability questions were reasons he was still available late in the first round, but his hamstring tweak wasn't the result of him weighing less than 170 pounds. And I'm still annoyed!

Holder's analysis notes that the Chiefs "have question marks at left tackle," which is true enough while second-year third-round pick Wanya Morris competes with Suamataia. But in Holder's re-draft, KC would have answered their left tackle question with Paul, who ultimately went nine spots ahead of Suamataia. If KC had traded up to No. 55 for Paul, would they still have "question marks?" Of course! Even if they had taken Paul at No. 32, they'd still be working to get a not-top-tier rookie ready to protect Patrick Mahomes's blindside in Week 1! In that scenario, they'd still have "question marks" at left tackle and even more questions about their pass-catching future. Malachi Corley and Jermaine Burton were the first two receivers selected after KC picked in the second round. Worthy-Suamataia is a much better end result than Paul-Corley.

Again, it's fair to be disappointed by Worthy's absence throughout KC's on-field offseason activities, but it's foolish to think the Chiefs would be already regretting the selection of Worthy while Paul suddenly becomes a surefire solution due to "buzz" from practices where players aren't even allowed to put on pads.

Training camp cannot get here soon enough.

Read More: Chiefs MVP Prediction: Mahomes Alone at the Top, Who's Next in KC MVP Rankings?