Going into the draft I thought secondary and receiver were the Chiefs's biggest holes. O-Line is a close 3rd. (Even though they're necessary, I'm always bored and disappointed with offensive linemen picks.)
After all that the Chiefs select at 23...a pass rusher, Dee Ford.
This exchanges is a nice summary of the contrasting opinions on the pick.
On the one hand, I think Dee Ford is a good player. He could be the next Tamba Hali in a few years. And last year the Chiefs had great success when Houston and Hali were healthy and rushing the passer, and struggled when injuries decimated our pass rush. (Of course, it might be simpler to say we started losing when we had to play good teams.)
There's no way to know if this is actually a good pick or not, but my instant reaction is that of the last comment pictured above.
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It's not really fair to look back in 3 years and spot the Pro Bowler at pick 56 and say I can't believe the Chiefs passed on This Amazing Guy to pick Dee Ford. Instead, I'll simply note the players that the fans were talking about, so in a few years we can fairly evaluate the pick.
First here are the picks that fans wanted that were already gone by 23:
Odell Beckham Jr, WR, Giants, 12th pick
CJ Mosley, ILB, Ravens, 17th pick
Calvin Pryor, S, Jets, 18th pick
Brandin Cooks, WR, Saints, 20th pick
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Packers, 21st pick
They're interesting to track but I don't think the Chiefs should have moved up to get any of them.
Here are the players that were available at 23:
Darqueze Dennard, CB, Bengals, 24th pick
Jimmie Ward, S, 49ers, 30th pick
Terry Bridgewater, QB, Vikings, 32nd pickMarqise Lee, WR, not drafted in the first round
Derek Carr, QB, not drafted in the first round
Looking at that list, it seems like Dennard, Ward or Lee would have been the next people up, if Ford had gone before 23. I probably would have picked Dennard but there's a reason why I'm not running a team.
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