Latest news with #BrettVeach
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Should Chiefs Sign Long-Time Playoff Enemy?
One of the biggest criticisms the Kansas City Chiefs have received over the past few years has been the talent level in the wide receiver room. Injuries haven't helped their case either, as Rashee Rice and Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown were both taken down by injuries in 2024. Still, the Chiefs have not done a great job at surrounding Patrick Mahomes with pass-catching talent, especially after trading away Tyreek Hill. Skyy Moore has been particularly disappointing for the team, although the acquisitions of Rice and Xavier Worthy have given fans hope that general manager Brett Veach is still capable of identifying quality receivers. Advertisement In a surprise move, one former Chiefs' playoff foe is available, as the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they have released veteran wideout Gabe Davis. Davis famously dropped four touchdowns on the Chiefs during the famous AFC Divisional Round Game that has become known as just "13 seconds". The current receiver room features Rice, Worthy, Brown, rookie Jalen Royals, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Moore. Davis could fight for a spot on the depth chart immediately, especially as a red-zone threat. "Big Game Gabe" is a hulking 6-foot-2, 225 pounds. Entering his age-26 season, Davis played just one season with the Jaguars after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Bills. He struggled to catch on in the Jaguars' offense, catching just 20 of his 42 targets for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Davis was much more productive in Buffalo, his best season coming in 2022 where in 15 games he had 836 yards and seven touchdowns. With the Bills, Davis scored seven touchdowns in three out of his four seasons, with the sole exception being a six touchdown campaign where he made just four starts in his sophomore campaign. Advertisement Davis would be a low-risk, high-upside acquisition who at the very least could be a rotational piece in the red zone. He's entering his athletic prime at 26 years old, and would be entering a much more productive offensive system with the Chiefs than he faced with the Jaguars. It makes a lot of sense that the Chiefs would take a flier on him. Related: Kelce Keeps Taylor Swift Secret from Mom Related: Chiefs Patrick Mahomes Disrespected In QB Power Rankings I
USA Today
02-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kansas City Chiefs' 2025 rookie class among youngest in NFL
Kansas City Chiefs' 2025 rookie class among youngest in NFL The Kansas City Chiefs' front office has an excellent track record of finding undervalued talent from the college ranks and may have assembled their best rookie class in years during the 2025 NFL draft. While it remains to be seen how Kansas City's rookies will fare next season, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach set his team up for success by making savvy selections on all three days of the draft last week. According to Sports Data Analyst Daniel Griffis of Action News Jax, Kansas City's 2025 rookie class is among the youngest in the NFL, with an average age of 22.14 years old. Age isn't necessarily an indicator of value or future success, but it may prove to be advantageous for the Chiefs to select younger prospects, given that Kansas City's coaching staff generally tends to keep rookies on the sidelines in favor of veteran talent. With their talented crop of first-year players, the Chiefs are fully reloaded for an attempt to secure a spot in Super Bowl LX.
USA Today
28-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Watch Chiefs rookies get their draft-day phone calls from Kansas City's front office
The Kansas City Chiefs found valuable prospects on all three days of the 2025 NFL draft and are fully reloaded for another attempt to win a Super Bowl. Though the Chiefs entered the draft with relatively limited assets, general manager Brett Veach made a series of savvy trades to maximize Kansas City's flexibility throughout the Annual Player Selection Meeting. With a new crop of elite talent on both sides of the ball, the Chiefs should have no problem competing to avenge their loss in Super Bowl LIX next season. All of the rookies Kansas City selected seemed excited to join the reigning AFC champions, and several had their reactions to being picked documented in videos that circulated on social media sites. Check out every video of a Chiefs rookie getting their draft-day call from Kansas City's front office: Round 1, Pick 32: OT Josh Simmons Round 2, Pick 63: DT Omarr Norman-Lott Round 3, Pick 66: EDGE Ashton Gillotte Round 5, Pick 156: LB Jeffrey Bassa
USA Today
27-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UDFA Rumor: Former Fresno State WR Mac Dalena to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs
UDFA Rumor: Former Fresno State WR Mac Dalena to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs The NFL Draft picks this weekend satisfied many of the Kansas City Chiefs' roster needs, but the front office has also found undrafted gems in the general manager Brett Veach is hoping for success with the reported signing of former Fresno State wide receiver Mac Dalena, who was announced via Fresno State's X had a productive senior season for the Fresno State Bulldogs, tallying 64 catches for 1,065 yards and eight touchdowns. The career season has earned him an opportunity to be evaluated by Kansas City as an undrafted free reportedly ran an unofficial 40-yard dash time of 4.36 during Fresno State's Pro Day. The 5'11 ", 180-pound receiver will battle for a roster spot as offseason camps open soon around the league. The Chiefs have a significant number of options under contract at wide receiver. Still, the evaluation process this summer will likely trim that number down well before the start of the 2025 more Chiefs UDFA signings, follow our tracker.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why this Chiefs draft could get interesting — and right away, too
Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach talks about the upcoming NFL Draft during a news conference at team headquarters on Friday. Some top NFL Draft candidates for 2025, and potentially for the Kansas City Chiefs in particular, include (from left): Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III and North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton. Some top NFL Draft candidates for 2025, and potentially for the Kansas City Chiefs in particular, include (from left): Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III and North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton. Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach talks about the upcoming NFL Draft during a news conference at team headquarters on Friday. Some top NFL Draft candidates for 2025, and potentially for the Kansas City Chiefs in particular, include (from left): Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III and North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton. In the days ahead of this week's NFL Draft, members of the Chiefs' front office gather in a room and conduct the same exercise as thousands of others outside those walls. They'll attempt to predict the draft — in a sport defined by its unpredictability. Advertisement The Chiefs cycle through hundreds of possibilities with a clear purpose — to avoid getting stuck. They own the 31st overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, which places their fate in the hands of 30 predecessors. What will those 30 teams do? It's darn near impossible to say, much as we try, but that question dictates what the Chiefs can do. Like oh so many others, I've been toying with the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator — a terrifically entertaining way to burn far too much time. If you simulate enough of these things, what becomes most apparent is this: Some tricky situations could pop up. Certain players could fall to No. 31 and force the Chiefs to make some particularly tough decisions. Advertisement Do you draft based on need, or are you truly going best-player-available? I simulated the first round 100 times on the PFF tool to juice the sample size — though, to be clear, that is still a relatively small sample size. Let's tackle some of the most intriguing possibilities. Colston Loveland, Michigan, tight end During his pre-draft news conference last week, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach listed four positions atop the team's preferences: defensive line (which actually includes both edge and interior lineman), offensive line, cornerback and wide receiver. In that order, that's likely where the Chiefs will go. Advertisement That's where they should likely go. But this is about the unexpected situations — the situations that could make the Chiefs take a second look. The lead case: Colston Loveland. You'll notice that tight end is absent from those positional needs Veach mentioned, and, hey, with good reason. Travis Kelce is coming back for another year, and the team gave Noah Gray a second contract, too. So why even consider Loveland? He's a top-15 talent, and when you pick at the back end of the first round every year, you so rarely have the opportunity to pluck a top-15 talent. The statistics themselves don't wow you, but Loveland played in run-heavy offenses and still had nine touchdowns and 1,200 yards over 25 games as a sophomore and junior. Advertisement What I really like: He's more of a slot receiver than a traditional tight end, and this makes him a tough matchup. The tape shows him beating cornerbacks for jump balls and beating linebackers with speed. No, he's not Travis Kelce — far from it — but he's a weapon in the passing game. And it's hard to imagine how a Patrick Mahomes offense would function without a tight end who is a weapon in the passing game. Hard, because, well, we've literally never seen it. Even if Kelce is coming back for 2025, it's not as though he will play forever. Wouldn't it be great if your replacement's education on the NFL includes learning alongside one of the best tight ends in NFL history? Advertisement How frequently he was available at No. 31 using PFF Mock Draft Simulator: 32% Verdict: Draft him if he's available. Luther Burden III, Missouri, wide receiver In the simulations, he's there. A lot. When Burden began his junior year in Columbia, his average mock draft stock had him as a top-10 pick. The talent that drove him there didn't suddenly vanish, but a pedestrian junior year for a top wideout (676 yards, only 11.1 yards per catch) has him falling. His average draft position has fallen as far as 28 this month, per Grinding The Mocks. Burden has the size; he tracks the ball well; and he's just about as good as you could imagine with the ball in his hands. He runs tough after the catch but manages to keep his balance in traffic. Advertisement That package could be a natural fit in Kansas City, given the Chiefs so frequently throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage or within 10 yards of it. That indeed would be intriguing. But I'd be curious where exactly he would fit on the Chiefs' depth chart, for one primary reason: He has played almost exclusively in the slot, and that's the same spot where Rashee Rice sees the bulk of his snaps. Burden can do more. Rice can, too. But it's clear that's where both operate best. In the draft, there is a fine balance between directly duplicating a strong position and just simply adding good players. Burden is certainly the latter. Advertisement He's talented enough that the Chiefs ought to consider it, but only if their primary targets at other premium positions are gone. (Which, yes, is possible.) There are also some Day 2 possibilities to scoop up a wide receiver, so I'd be less inclined to consider it a need from the jump. How frequently he was available at No. 31 using PFF Mock Draft Simulator: 65% Verdict: Consider it, but only if top targets at other positions are gone. Omarion Hampton, UNC, running back Last week, Veach classified it as a 'good likelihood' the Chiefs finish the draft with a running back. It is the only position, in fact, that he categorized that way. Advertisement Hampton is a really good one. He led the ACC in rushing in back-to-back years — totaling more than 3,100 yards between those two seasons (25 games). And he's a good weapon in the passing game, too. What's not to like? Well, that's the wrong question in this scenario. The correct one: Who else is there to like? That list is lengthy. See, there's one more thing Veach said about this year's running back class — it's the deepest of any position. If you truly believe that — and many general managers and scouts do — then you'll have an opportunity to pluck another one in the third or fourth round, where it makes far more sense for this position anyway. How frequently he was available at No. 31 using PFF Mock Draft Simulator: 20% Verdict: Pass.
