PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 27: A view of the stage prior to the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
In 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Patrick Mahomes in the first round. However, what if they had the chance to re-draft the rest of their choices?
The Kansas City Chiefs did well for themselves in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Kansas City traded its first-round and third-round choices along with its 2018 first-round selection to the Buffalo Bills for the 10th-overall selection. They took Patrick Mahomes.
The draft could’ve ended there for the Chiefs, and it would’ve been historic.
Today, Mahomes is the best quarterback in football, already winning a Super Bowl, MVP honors and Super Bowl MVP. If only the poor Chicago Bears had known how good Mahomes would be, they could have traded up to select him at No. 2 pick instead of Mitchell Trubisky.
In that reality, it might have been the Bears raising the Lombardi Trophy at the end of 2019 NFL instead of the Chiefs.
Looking back and wondering what might have been is fun (or painful depending on your point of view), which is why we re-drafted 2017for the Chiefs.
No, the first-round pick doesn’t change, but had the Chiefs been granted the gift of hindsight back then, the team could have done even better.
Round 1, Pick 10
Original Selection: Patrick Mahomes, QB – Texas Tech
New Selection: Patrick Mahomes, QB – Texas Tech
There isn’t a lot to say here. Mahomes has been a revelation since taking over for incumbent starting quarterback Alex Smith in 2018. The Chiefs did absolutely everything right here. Then-general manager John Dorsey waited until pick No. 10 to make his move and get his guy, saving valuable future draft capital.
It would have been much more expensive for Kansas City to move up into the top five. Hell, the Bears traded the San Francisco 49ers their first, third, and fourth-round selections (3rd, 67th, and 111th) as well as a third-round selection in 2018 to move up one spot.
Once Mahomes got to Kansas City, head coach Andy Reid wisely had his new quarterback sit and learn from Smith for the entirety of the season. The Chiefs knew what they had in Mahomes but used incredible restraint, avoiding rushing him into action too early.
Mahomes has often credited his year learning from Smith as a big key to his early success.
The results? A championship.