Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach has consistently shown an aggressive approach to building the roster. What might he have up his sleeve come April 25?
Rumors have been swirling that Veach may have major trade plans in the works for the coming month. In fact, when head coach Andy Reid was asked about it this past week, he didn’t exactly steer attention away from the possibilities.
Now, although a trade for an established veteran contributor remains a viable option, we will be focusing purely on the first round of the draft for the time being. The Chiefs currently hold the 29th overall pick in the 2019 draft along with two second-round selections after receiving the Rams choice in the Marcus Peters trade over a year ago. They also hold a third round selection that could be quite valuable in any potential trade negotiations.
Veach loaded up with more future draft assets when he traded Dee Ford to the San Francisco 49ers for their 2020 second round draft choice just a couple of weeks back. Now sitting with nearly $22 million in cap space (and $9.5M more on the way come June 1 due to Eric Berry’s release), the Chiefs have the financial flexibility and draft capital in tow to make aggressive moves in upgrading their roster.
With all that said, we now take a look at five first round prospects who Veach and Reid could have their eye on as trade up targets in 2019:
Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
You can find Ferrell’s name all over the place in various mock drafts that are out there, as no one seems to be able to come to a consensus on where to rank the edge rusher. So why does he fit with the Chiefs? Ferrell’s size stands out as a highly-attractive attribute for Steve Spagnuolo and his 4-3 under base scheme that he will be implementing this season for Kansas City.
At 6-foot-4 and 264 pounds, Ferrell’s frame is extremely similar to newly-signed defensive end Alex Okafor (6-foot-4, 261 pounds). Ferrell is the type of all-around edge defender who could be a building block for the style of defense Spanuolo is looking to build. He can be very disruptive bursting through the line for a one-gap scheme, and his long arms can be used to shed blocks quickly off of the edge.
With Brendan Daly coming over from New England as the new defensive line coach in Kansas City, we can expect to see some unique pressure packages with disguised fronts that would maximize the effectiveness of a player such as Ferrell.
Although he would almost certainly play the weak-side defensive end position in KC, he could be moved all over the place to create pressure. To acquire Ferrell, a trade into the top 20 would likely be necessary.