{"id":810626,"date":"2026-03-13T22:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/810626\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T22:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:55:23","slug":"chiefs-take-top-wr-exciting-defenders-in-latest-mock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/810626\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs take top WR, exciting defenders in latest mock"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 13, 2026, 3:46 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> general manager Brett Veach made bold moves to acquire top talent in the first week of free agency, and should have a better idea of which positions he will look to target with his picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

With two first-round selections to make, Veach will have an enviable flexibility on Day 1 and should be able to tailor his approach to maximize Kansas City’s draft capital.<\/p>\n

In this seven-round Chiefs mock draft, Kansas City targets a star wide receiver with the No. 9 selection before Veach begins targeting defenders:<\/p>\n

Round 1, Pick No. 9: Arizona State Sun Devils WR Jordyn Tyson\"Nov<\/p>\n

Tyson is an absolute dynamo \u2014 exactly the kind of wide receiver Kansas City needs to rejuvenate its passing game.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a>Round 1, Pick No. 29: Cincinnati Bearcats LB Jake Golday\"Oct<\/p>\n

This pick may be a bit of a reach, but Golday is an exciting linebacker prospect who should have no problem developing into a key difference-maker for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.<\/p>\n

Round 2, Pick No. 40: San Diego State Aztecs DB Chris Johnson\"Oct<\/p>\n

Kansas City needs to come away from this draft with a starting cornerback, and finds its man in Johnson with the No. 40 selection.<\/p>\n

\"Nov<\/p>\n

Veach picks back-to-back Johnsons on Day 2, this time turning to the Tree Planters State to find a running mate for newly acquired tailback Kenneth Walker III.<\/p>\n

Round 4, Pick No. 109: Florida Gators OT Austin Barber\"TALLAHASSEE,<\/p>\n

In a bid to shore up the Chiefs’ front-five, Veach targets Barber in Round 4 with Kansas City’s first selection on Day 3.<\/p>\n

Round 5, Pick No. 148: Notre Dame Fighting Irish TE Eli Raridon\"Nov<\/p>\n

Raridon isn’t the flashiest tight end prospect in this class, but he has the tools to develop into an interesting pass-catcher for Patrick Mahomes.<\/p>\n

Round 5, Pick No. 169: Michigan Wolverines DL Rayshaun Benny\"Michigan<\/p>\n

Benny should be among the best players available at the position when Kansas City is on the clock with the No. 168 selection.<\/p>\n

Round 5, Pick No. 176: Oklahoma Sooners OG Febechi Nwaiwu\"FRISCO,<\/p>\n

This would be an unexciting but productive pick for the Chiefs. Nwaiwu is far from a perfect prospect, but he may be able to compete for a backup role as a rookie.<\/p>\n

Round 6, Pick No. 210: Maryland Terrapins DB Jalen Huskey\"Nov<\/p>\n

Huskey joins Kansas City as the Chiefs’ final pick and gets a chance to compete for snaps in Steve Spagnuolo’s new-look secondary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 13, 2026, 3:46 p.m. CT Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach made bold moves to acquire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[95878,346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6,96828,96829,95882,95930,96540,98175,99118,99117,98341,95906,96099,96008,95883,95881],"class_list":["post-810626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-accessfree","tag-chiefs","tag-football","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-kansascity","tag-kansascitychiefs","tag-nfl","tag-sstssportsnflchiefs","tag-sstsnchiefs","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagbig-ten-conference-football","tag-tagkansas-city-chiefs","tag-tagkenneth-walker-iii","tag-tagnebraska-cornhuskers","tag-tagnebraska-cornhuskers-football","tag-tagnfl-mock-draft","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagsec-conference-football","tag-tagsmg-listicle","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}