The Kansas City Chiefs just won their second Super Bowl in the last four years and will again enter the 2023 season in a contending position, with an army of draft picks and quite a bit of roof space. But that doesn’t mean the Chiefs are without needs, making Kansas City’s first-round pick interesting for the future of the franchise.
Kansas City is likely to try to catch a young passerby at some point – Frank Clark he turns 30 this summer and is considered a cut candidate due to his large 2023 salary and Carlos Dunlap he’s 33 and will be a free agent, while the Chiefs are also likely to tackle the wide receiver position. Offensive tackle is also a possibility, with ESPN’s Todd McShay projecting the Chiefs in that direction.
“Yes, Jaelyn Duncan from Maryland,” McShay said. “And we really liked it for what it was, a day at the Senior Bowl? And he alone, for me plays with balance, has length. I think he will continue to improve. And if you’re the Chiefs, goal no. 1 is to protect your friend Patrick Mahomes. And I looked at other receivers, there weren’t any that jumped out and at this point I thought it was a really convenient choice.”
Mel Kiper Jr. has suggested that the Chiefs may go another way if either wide receiver falls on the Kansas City pick.
“Yeah, I’d like to see a little more consistency with Jaelyn DuncanKiper said. “The talent is certainly there, and no doubt being one late, one second early (round pick). You had Zai Flowers, I think Todd went before the Chiefs singled. So some of the Jaxon Smith-Njigba AND Zai Flowers off the board at that point, or Zai Flowers he certainly would have been in the discussion had he been on the board when Todd made the prank for the Kansas City Chiefs.
“No question,” McShay replied.
247Sports ranked Duncan as a four-star candidate, the No. 1 offensive tackle. 14 and player no. 151 in the class of 2018. Duncan enrolled at Maryland after playing less than an hour at Owings (Mary.) St. Frances Academy.
He won the starting left tackle job his redshirt freshman season in 2019, then started all five games in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, then 11 of the 13 games he played in, in 2021. He elected to return to school for his senior season, starting in all 12 games he played in and earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors.
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The Chiefs have some decisions to make on the offensive line after failing to reach a long-term deal with left forward Orlando Brown Jr. last offseason. Kansas City awarded the non-exclusive franchise title to Brown for this season, and after a slow start to the season, Brown played well down the stretch, including a strong Super Bowl effort.
