{"id":838886,"date":"2026-03-28T12:17:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/838886\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T12:17:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:17:32","slug":"chiefs-moves-in-free-agency-revealed-obvious-direction-for-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/838886\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Moves in Free Agency Revealed Obvious Direction for Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 A former college quarterback from Patrick Mahomes<\/a>\u2019 old stomping grounds. A player from Kenneth Walker\u2019s high school who played collegiately in Travis Kelce\u2019s neck of the woods. A tackles-for-loss machine who played with Xavier Worthy. <\/p>\n

Oh, there\u2019s also the other Justin Jefferson, plus Jeffrey Bassa<\/a>\u2019s former teammate at Oregon. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Those are five legitimate linebackers the Chiefs could draft to replace arguably the biggest question mark<\/a> in their defense: The job vacated when Leo Chenal<\/a> signed this month with the Commanders. <\/p>\n

Kansas City addressed most of its holes in free agency, but not linebacker. As a result, the Chiefs clearly signaled a direction they\u2019ll take in next month\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

And after Ohio State linebackers Arvell Reese<\/a> and Sonny Styles fly off the board, probably even before the Chiefs are on the clock at 9 overall, the draft has five attractive targets for the Chiefs on Day 2. Kansas City has the ninth, 29th, 40th and 74th overall selections. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNathan Giese\/Avalanche-Journal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Mahomes visited the Red Raiders\u2019 pro day<\/a> on Thursday, but he knows all about Jacob Rodriguez. A 6-1, 231-pound rock, Rodriguez began college as a freshman quarterback at Virginia before converting to linebacker at Texas Tech in 2022. Including a medical-redshirt season, he played five years in college, leading the Big 12 in solo tackles each of the last two. He also posted six career interceptions, four in 2025.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Doster-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJake Golday, Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Kelce left the Bearcats to join Andy Reid<\/a> in 2013, but the tight end remembers every play Golday made at Cincinnati over the last two seasons. After transferring from Central Arkansas, Golday posted five sacks in two years in a Bearcats uniform. He seems to fit Steve Spagnuolo<\/a>\u2019s vision for the hybrid role Chenal played so well in Kansas City. Plus, he graduated from Arlington (Tenn.) High School, which also produced Walker. The two had the same high-school head coach, Adam Sykes. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJerome Miron-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnthony Hill, Texas<\/p>\n

Worthy\u2019s teammate in 2023, Hill dominated at Texas over his three seasons. He led the SEC in tackles for loss with 16\u00bd in 2024. He also posted three career interceptions and 17 sacks. The Chiefs will take a long, hard look at Hill before they\u2019re on the clock in the second and third rounds.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJustin Jefferson, Alabama<\/p>\n

Not to be confused with the Vikings\u2019 All-Pro wide receiver, Jefferson is an intriguing prospect for the Chiefs. He\u2019s smaller than the others (6-0, 223) but Spagnuolo would love his nose for the ball. He forced three fumbles during his Crimson Tide career. His ability to cover tight ends and larger receivers will be key in where the Chiefs grade him, whether he\u2019s a Day 2 or Day 3 projection.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBryce Boettcher, Oregon<\/p>\n

One of the more fascinating prospects, Boettcher is a linebacker on some draft boards while other teams consider him a defensive back. Spagnuolo loves versatility in players, allowing the Chiefs to keep offenses off balance, so Boettcher should get legitimate consideration. Another unofficial Chiefs scout, Mahomes, will love Boettcher\u2019s college baseball experience. The Houston Astros drafted Boettcher in 2024 but he opted to return to Oregon. Plus, he played with Bassa in Eugene, a player bidding to start in Chenal\u2019s job with the Chiefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 A former college quarterback from Patrick Mahomes\u2019 old stomping grounds. A player from Kenneth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-838886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116306765378706883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838886","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=838886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}