Kansas City Chiefs' Day 3 pick, Year 1 starter: CB Kamal Hadden

Chiefs rookie Kamal Hadden might be Steve Spagnuolo's next great cornerback.

Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA

Steve Spagnuolo became the Chiefs' defensive coordiantor in 2019, and over the time since, Spags and his staff have been pretty amazing at taking later-round defensive backs and turning them into stars. That really began in 2020, when the Chiefs selected Louisiana Tech's L'Jarius Sneed with the 138th overall pick in the fourth round. Sneed worked his way up to the Pantheon at his position, which is why the Titans traded for him this last offseason, and then gave him a four year, $76.4 million contract on April 1.

After Sneed, it's been hit after hit -- fourth-rounder Joshua Williams out of Fayetteville State and seventh-rounder Jaylen Watson from Washington State in 2022. Fourth-rounder Chamarri Conner out of Virginia Tech in 2023. The Chiefs have a great way of taking their kinds of toolsy, aggressive cornerbacks and making them tantpole players in Spags' set of schemes.

When we turn to the 2024 draft, it's pretty easy to see Tennessee's Kamal Hadden as Kansas City's next "Where did THIS guy come from?" cornerback. The Chiefs got Hadden with the 212th overall pick in the sixth round, which defies explanation when you watch his tape.

The Chiefs have created their own cottage industry of later-round CB stars. Tennessee's Kamal Hadden could be next man up. Last season, he allowed 12 catches on 33 targets for 96 yards, 55 yards after the catch, no TD, 3 INT, 6 PBU, and an opponent passer rating of... 7.0. pic.twitter.com/yj9XKqdH9n

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 28, 2024

Hadden did have a season-ending shoulder injury in 2023, but when he was on the field, he was certainly showing off. And I think his relative lack of deep trail speed is overstated.

"It's another opportunity, you know, another guy that can come in and show up and show Spags, he can really go out and recruit and he can see talent, even late rounds, he can go get guys and develop guys," Hadden said at his rookie minicamp. "I met [him] on my [pre-draft] 30 visit, it was just a connection there, I knew him and he worked with my DC at Tennessee before, so it was just a great thing and it's a great opportunity to go in there and fill those shoes and just go out there and be able to play under a coach like Coach Spags."

Add in Sneed's absence, and the need for another outside cornerback, and Hadden could see serious snaps in his rookie season. Right now, the plan is to move Trent McDuffie more to the outside, but as McDuffie might be the NFL's best slot defender, maybe that plan will change over time. Might that make Hadden Spagnuolo's next great project? Don't be surprised if it happens.