Chiefs Seventh-Round Pick C.J. Hanson on Pre-Draft Journey, Talks with KC

Kansas City's final pick of the draft didn't always know the NFL was a serious possibility for him, but he's excited about everything coming together when it did.

Holy Cross' C.J. Hanson lifts Jordan Fuller while Christo Kelly looks on after Fuller scored his fourth touchdown Saturday at Fitton Field. / Photo/Alan Arsenault / USA TODAY NETWORK

In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs spent three picks on fortifying their offensive line. With the selections of Kingsley Suamataia, Hunter Nourzad and C.J. Hanson, the team has a good mix of athleticism, short-team projectability, upside and intrigue.

Hanson, the club's final pick at No. 248 overall and one of the 12 former FCS players picked in the draft, may have a combination of all four.

While the Holy Cross product always had dreams of going to the NFL, Hanson didn't know it was a real possibility for him until recently. Describing the pre-draft process as "tremendous" for him, it allowed him to get on teams' radars with his workout and interview performances. Speaking to the media after hearing his name called on Saturday, Hanson paid homage to the journey.

"I think since I was a kid, I've always had the thought," Hanson said. "I was always like the 99th percentile in height. My mom's a big part of my life, and she's always thought it as well. But I had no clue this was an opportunity until, really, the start of this year. I didn't have an agent hit me up until after the third game. It just hit all facets, and these last couple of months have gone super fast. I've been just enjoying the time the whole time. It's been great."

Without his stellar athletic testing, Hanson very well may have been on the undrafted free agent market. His 9.84 Relative Athletic Score was the byproduct of a five-second 40-yard dash, a 33.5-inch vertical and a nearly 10-foot broad jump. At 6-foot-5 with 32-inch arms, Hanson has the ability to play any interior offensive line spot.

Another part of the process Hanson believed helped him was simply getting to meet people. Things like being able to put his talents on display at the East-West Shrine Bowl and attending the NFL Combine, he thinks, were his favorite elements of the process.

"I think just relationships and meeting new people and getting to talk football with them," Hanson said. "Even just training, like, being able to work out with different guys every day from different schools [and] different perspectives, it's so cool. I was blessed to have the opportunity to do everything here. Just meeting people and making relationships, I think, is the coolest part throughout the process."

For most of Kansas City's 2024 picks, familiarity was a theme. Many of their draft picks spoke about how their interviews with the reigning champions went. Suamataia and Nourzad, both linemen, come to mind. Hanson says communication with the Chiefs went swimmingly in recent weeks, which absolutely factored into the pick being made.

Now, it's a dream realized and full speed ahead.

"Our conversations have been great, I've talked to them multiple times," Hanson said. "But you never know until you know, and I'm coming to a back-to-back Super Bowl-winning team. There's a standard there, and I'm going to have to definitely get to that standard and excel past that standard. I'm looking to come in here and give it my all and hopefully help this team out and make it even better than it already is. I'm in a Super lucky position to be here, and I couldn't be more excited."

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