{"id":851290,"date":"2026-04-03T14:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851290\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T14:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:02:16","slug":"2026-nfl-mock-draft-kansas-city-chiefs-select-caleb-downs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851290\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL mock draft: Kansas City Chiefs select Caleb Downs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">When I found out I\u2019d be drafting for the Chiefs I thought the biggest need would be at CB after losing both Trent McDuffie and Jaylon Watson to the Rams. Fans and writers on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arrowheadpride.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arrowhead Pride<\/a> were seemingly unconcerned with that as the Chiefs always seem to find good CBs in the middle rounds of the draft. The fans were salivating for an edge rusher as there isn\u2019t much besides George Karlaftis and Ashton Gillotte. Another big need is a RT. LB and safety are also options after the losses of S Bryan Cook and LB Leo Chanel in free agency. Also needed is a true X receiver that doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be a speed demon, but someone that can get open and beat press man coverage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">The draft didn\u2019t play out too well for me. Arvell Reese, David Bailey, and Rueben Bain are all gone. Pick 9 is too high for me to select from the next tier of edge rushers. My top two choices at WR are gone. I seriously considered Francis Mauigoa but most on Arrowhead Pride considered that a lower priority and I can find a RT later. My final two players on my wishlist were Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs. I went with Caleb.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">Want a box safety? He does it as good or better than most safeties in this draft. Want to run two-high safety? He\u2019ll excel on his side of the field. Want a nickel CB? He can blanket most TEs in man coverage. He would be a day one starter for any team in the NFL. He is an excellent tackler and can almost play like an extra LB as a box safety. He almost has the fluidity in his hips of a CB. He\u2019s also an excellent blitzer. His ceiling? If he stays healthy I could see him as a contender for DROY and the defensive centerpiece of the Chiefs secondary for the next decade. He\u2019s a Swiss Army Knife who excels in all areas needed from a safety. I\u2019d take Caleb Downs over any CB in this draft and he\u2019s one of my favorite players in this entire draft class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I found out I\u2019d be drafting for the Chiefs I thought the biggest need would be at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,448,5105,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-851290","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-detroit-lions-draft","10":"tag-detroit-lions-mock-draft","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-kansas-city","13":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","14":"tag-kansascity","15":"tag-kansascitychiefs","16":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116341148914554348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851290","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=851290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}