FanNation NFL Mock Draft 2023: Chiefs Solidify Position of Need at No. 31

Projecting the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the people who cover the teams, leaving an early-impact player for the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 31 overall.

As the 2023 NFL Draft approaches, Sports Illustrated's FanNation publishers went pick-by-pick through the first round of action, with the goal of providing some insight into how the first round action could fall through the eyes of the people covering the teams on a daily basis.

This is one of my favorite ways to do mock drafts. In Kansas City, it's evident that the Chiefs have a few clear positions of need: wide receiver, defensive line and offensive tackle. Every team in the league has a list of needs and priorities, but what happens when that leads to first-round chaos?

Here's every pick, as made by each team's FanNation site, leading up to the selection and the logic for the Chiefs at No. 31. For more analysis on every selection from FanNation publishers, click here. For the Chiefs' pick and my extended analysis, just keep reading.

1. Carolina Panthers (from Chicago)

Pick: C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State

2. Houston Texans

Pick: Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

3. Arizona Cardinals

Pick: Will Anderson Jr., EDGE, Alabama

4. Indianapolis Colts

Pick: Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida

5. Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)

Pick: Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia

6. Detroit Lions (from L.A. Rams)

Pick: Tyree Wilson, DL, Texas Tech

7. Las Vegas Raiders

Pick: Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon

8. Atlanta Falcons

Pick: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois

9. Chicago Bears (from Carolina)

Pick: Paris Johnson Jr., T, Ohio State

10. Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)

Pick: Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern

11. Tennessee Titans

Pick: Jaxon Smith Njigba, WR, Ohio State

12. Houston Texans (from Cleveland)

Pick: Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa

13. New York Jets

Pick: Will Levis, QB, Kentucky

14. New England Patriots

Pick: Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State

15. Green Bay Packers

Pick: Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia

16. Washington Commanders

Pick: Brian Branch, DB, Alabama

17. Pittsburgh Steelers

Pick: Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland

18. Detroit Lions

Pick: Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Pick: Nolan Smith, EDGE, Georgia

20. Seattle Seahawks

Pick: Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson

21. Los Angeles Chargers

Pick: Calijah Kancey, DL, Pittsburgh

22. Baltimore Ravens

Pick: Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College

23. Minnesota Vikings

Pick: Jordan Addison, WR, USC

24. Jacksonville Jaguars

Pick: Darnell Wright, OL, Tennessee

25. New York Giants

Pick: Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU

26. Dallas Cowboys

Pick: Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE, Northwestern

27. Buffalo Bills

Pick: O’Cyrus Torrence, OL, Florida

28. Cincinnati Bengals

Pick: Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah

29. New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco through Miami and Denver)

Pick: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee

30. Philadelphia Eagles

Pick: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State

31. Kansas City Chiefs

Pick: Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma

Analysis: After letting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. walk in free agency before signing former Jaguars tackle Jawaan Taylor to a four-year, $80 million deal, the Chiefs still have questions at offensive tackle. With Harrison at No. 31, the Chiefs land two young, high-ceiling, versatile tackles in one offseason.

Harrison could allow Taylor to remain on the right side, where he played in Jacksonville, or Kansas City could stand firm with its belief that Taylor can be a high-level left tackle and introduce Harrison to the NFL from the right side, despite the fact that he played the vast majority of his snaps on the left side at Oklahoma. Either way, Patrick Mahomes should expect tremendous pockets behind this revamped offensive line.

Anton Harrison RAS so far.

With correction for arm length.https://t.co/nC2iEGaG4Y #RAS pic.twitter.com/b6S7tK1AVx

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 5, 2023

The case for Harrison to KC is ultimately a very simple one: he's a big man with plenty of quickness to thrive in Andy Reid's offense. As noted in Dane Brugler's The Beast draft guide, Harrison played in an "up-tempo, RPO-based scheme," which complicates his evaluation. For the Chiefs, that shouldn't provide much reason for pause as offensive line coach Andy Heck would have plenty of athleticism to work with if asked to turn Harrison into a Week 1 starter for the Chiefs in 2023.

What does this pick do for KC's roster? If Harrison's learning curve really is steep enough to keep him off the field in Week 1, he'll have a worthy competitor in Lucas Niang, the Chiefs' former third-round pick out of TCU. Niang has been impacted by injuries and Andrew Wylie took hold of the right tackle job in 2022, but the Chiefs seem to see Niang as a legitimate option on the right side. If wide receiver Quentin Johnston or Kansas State EDGE Felix Anudike-Uzomah would have fallen a bit further, the Chiefs could have been comfortable preparing Niang to start at right tackle while another position of need would have been addressed. That's the beauty (and the chaos) of the NFL Draft.