Kansas City Chiefs draft preview: Jamaal Charles needs some help

By Ross Jones
Published

The Kansas City Chiefs hold the No. 18 overall pick in the NFL Draft. In our 32-team preview series, FOXSports.com takes a look at their roster post-free agency and delivers a plan of attack for the last day in April.

Andy Reid embarks on his third season as head coach in Kansas City.

Year 2 was viewed as a letdown as Kansas City was coming off a postseason appearance. While the Chiefs enjoyed some success beating both participants in the Super Bowl, there was a lot left to be desired. Losing four of five games to end the season after a gritty Week 11 outing against Seattle, Kansas City fell flat in matching their postseason hopes.

To make matters more challenging for the upcoming season, they lost center Rodney Hudson, who signed a five-year, $44.5 million deal in Oakland.

Reid's first order of business this offseason has been identifying playmakers. Notably, no Chiefs wide receiver scored a touchdown in any game last season. By releasing the franchise's second-leading pass catcher in Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs unloaded $14 million against the cap. In doing so, the Chiefs re-signed veteran Jason Avant and lured an experienced pass catcher to town in Jeremy Maclin.

Maclin is intimately familiar with Reid's offensive system as he played for him in Philly for his first four seasons. Searching for a long-term solution in the draft, the Chiefs could add another target outside of Avant, Maclin, Albert Wilson, Junior Hemingway and Frankie Hammond.

Quarterback Alex Smith's favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce appears set to build off a breakout year in which he hauled in 67 receptions, 862 yards and five touchdowns. If there's an area of weakness, it's the offensive line. Smith, who was the fourth-most sacked quarterback in the league, couldn't finish last season because he sustained a lacerated spleen in Week 16, a result of playing behind a makeshift line.

On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on outside linebacker Justin Houston and re-signed playmaking safeties Ron Parker and Tyvon Branch. Employing the 3-4 defense, the Chiefs are in a position to add another athletic inside linebacker. When Derrick Johnson was placed on the injured reserve last season, it was viewed as a catastrophic blow to the defense.

With a solid foundation in the secondary, Kansas City has the luxury of addressing the front-7 and issues on offense.

Positions of need: OL, WR, DT

Three options to consider at No. 18

Cameron Erving, C: Losing center Rodney Hudson in free agency doesn't do Smith any favors. For a quarterback who was sacked 45 times, drafting Erving gives him a versatile linemen to play behind.

Dorial Green-Beckham, WR: Re-signing Avant and luring Maclin to town makes the wide receiving corps better, but getting a 6-foot-5 red-zone target for Smith would be ideal. Green-Beckham's off-the-field issues have been well documented, but his upside could be hard to ignore.

Malcolm Brown, DT: The 6-foot-4, 320-pound run stuffer has some scheme flexibility and could play the 5-technique in Bob Sutton's defense. With Dontari Poe playing at a Pro Bowl-level, adding Brown would be great value and instantly make this defense much more difficult to push around.