Chiefs 2023 NFL Mock Draft Roundup 3.0

With less than a month until the draft, let's see who KC could take at pick No. 31 overall.

As the calendar gets ready to turn from March to April, preparations for the 2023 NFL Draft are beginning to heat up. For the Kansas City Chiefs, this means juggling hosting duties as a city and finalizing prospect-specific rankings all in the same month. April 27 will be here very soon, and draft season is hitting its complete stride just in time. 

Mock drafts continue to roll in, with recent ones having Kansas City rolling the dice on a handful of different prospects in the first round. Who's projected to become a Chief at pick No. 31 overall? Let's find out in Mock Draft Roundup 3.0. 

All mocks are updated as of March 29.

The Athletic: Mazi Smith (DT, Michigan)

In The Athletic's latest mock draft, Diante Lee and Nate Tice teamed up to predict how the first round could go. Their pick for the Chiefs at 31 is Michigan interior defensive lineman Mazi Smith, who started 14 games this past season and recorded 25 pressures in total. The 6-foot-3, 323-pounder has long arms and solid hands that allow him to remain sturdy and pack a bit of a punch as needed.

Smith is one of the better athletes among all defensive tackles in this year's class and while he needs to get stronger in order to serve as a traditional nose tackle at the next level, he's well on his way to becoming a productive player despite this value potentially being a bit underwhelming at this exact spot. Here's Tice on his reasoning:

Smith has excellent size with plus athleticism and will likely be a traditional interior plugger who will make running the ball a chore for offenses. Pairing him with the disruptive Chris Jones on the inside while keeping linebackers Nick Bolton and Willie Gay clean to run around and make plays in the run game is an appealing proposition. And forcing offenses into third-and-long will surely make Steve Spagnuolo giddy to get to his Rolodex of blitz packages. — Tice

Pro Football Network: Smith

Joe Broback of Pro Football Network also has the Chiefs spending their first-round pick on Smith, citing his "freakish athleticism" and power as reasons why the selection might be worth it:

Mazi Smith might not be as polished as some of the other defensive tackles in this class, but he’s well on his way. His freakish athleticism and power help him stand out, and the Kansas City Chiefs have plenty of veterans that can help him unleash that on a consistent basis.

NFL.com: Adetomiwa Adebawore (DL, Northwestern)

In Bucky Brooks' mock draft 3.0, he predicts that the Chiefs will bring in a hometown prospect to be their first-round selection in late April. Adebawore doesn't carry a prototypical interior defensive lineman's profile, but testing at that position allowed him to have one of the better NFL Scouting Combine performances in recent memory. He could be a bit of a tweener at the NFL level but even at his size, his athleticism and motor give him a relatively high floor as someone who should be able to impact the game as a pro either on the edge or when kicked inside. More from Brooks: 

Finding a replacement for Frank Clark is a pressing need for the Chiefs. The Northwestern product is an outstanding athlete with cat-like quickness and dynamic pass-rush skills.

ESPN: Deonte Banks (CB, Maryland)

Instead of going with what he thinks teams will do once the first round rolls around, ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum conveyed how he'd approach each Day One draft pick. For the Chiefs, he adds to an already impressive cornerback room by sending Maryland's Deonte Banks to Kansas City. The positional need isn't severe and the value may not be ideal, but Banks has solid size and would be a good fit in Steve Spagnuolo's defense that asks its corners to play with a physical nature. Below is Tannenbaum's decision-making thought process:

The Chiefs performed well against the pass last year, allowing the seventh-fewest yards per pass attempt at 6.7. And they loaded up at cornerback in the 2022 draft, selecting Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson. But I don't think Kansas City could pass on the value of Banks, especially with L'Jarius Sneed in the last year of his deal. Banks performed well at the combine and allowed 20 completions last year. He has all the makings of a future starting corner. And you can never have enough of those, especially in the AFC West.

Pro Football Focus: Felix Anudike-Uzomah (EDGE, Kansas State)

Adebawore isn't the only local prospect being mocked to the Chiefs as of late. For PFF, Brad Spielberger sends Kansas State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah to Kansas City at pick No. 31. Anudike-Uzomah is light for a traditional Spagnuolo defensive end but is an impressive speed rusher who also has a high motor and sufficient arm length for his height. There may be a bit of untapped potential in his profile that is already more than solid. Here is Spielberger's reasoning behind the pick:

The Kansas City, Missouri, native did not test at the NFL Combine but displayed great bend throughout the 2022 season and could be the quick-twitched pass rusher Kansas City needs opposite 2022 first-round pick George Karlaftis. 

The true junior is just 21 years old, and while there isn’t the largest sample of plays here, his 34.0% pass-rush win rate on true pass sets in 2022 ranked eighth among FBS edge defenders and his 28.0% pressure percentage placed seventh. 

CBS Sports: Dawand Jones (OT, Ohio State) and Jalin Hyatt (WR, Tennessee)

Of all of CBS Sports' mock drafts, two of them have been updated within a day or two of this article being published. Ryan Wilson has the Chiefs taking Ohio State offensive tackle Dawand Jones, and Will Brinson projects Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt to be their pick. Below is Wilson on the Jones selection:

The Chiefs lost left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency and signed Jawaan Taylor, the former Jaguars right tackle. The plan is to move Taylor to the left side, which means there's a need on the right, even if Lucas Niang is currently penciled in there on the depth chart. Dawand Jones had a great season and it was hard to overlook just how dominant he was in one day of practice at the Senior Bowl. Yes, his footwork needs some fine-tuning but his huge frame, long arms and enormous wingspan more than make up for what he lacks in quickness. He's block-out-the-sun big, even when standing next to his offensive linemates.

And a couple of sentences from Brinson on Hyatt: 

Big-play speed at wide receiver for an Andy Reid offense that's continually morphing? Yes please.

The Draft Network: Nolan Smith (EDGE, Georgia)

Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith is far from a typical Spagnuolo defensive end, as he could be a better fit in a 3-4 defense at the NFL level due to his light frame. That isn't stopping Keith Sanchez of The Draft Network from not only predicting that he'll fall to the end of the first round, but also become a member of the Chiefs. This would be a near-home run of a pick for Kansas City even with an imperfect scheme fit, and Sanchez buys Smith's upside:

The Chiefs appear to just be hitting their stride at the start of a dynasty. They’ve done a masterful job of adding new young pieces and addressing the right positional needs. With this pick, they continue to add to the defense and draft Georgia edge rusher Nolan Smith. Smith is an elite-level athlete that, if put in the right situations, can develop to one of the best pass rushers in the NFL.