The Kansas City Chiefs made a total of six additions over the course of the 2018 NFL Draft this past weekend, bolstering the defense with five of the six selections.
Here is a collection of our coverage on Chiefs.com over the three-day event, including profiles on each of the newest members of Chiefs Kingdom.
Day 1
Before the action got started on Thursday, Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and his wife, Tavia, served as Honorary Co-Chairs of the annual MOCSA Community Luncheon. MOCSA, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, exists as the only community-wide resource exclusively committed to providing services in the area of sexual assault and abuse.
"MOCSA reached more than 56,000 people through education and outreach last year," Tavia Hunt said. "Their message is clear – sexual violence is never OK. It is never the victim's fault – they can tell someone and there are resources available that can help them become survivors."
Check out the story here.
The Chiefs didn't possess a first-round pick on Thursday, though there was still plenty to talk about heading into Day 2.
Speaking of trading up, Veach, who spoken often about being aggressive leading up to this year's draft, admitted that they had "dialogue" with teams from picks No. 27 to 31 in the first round about the possibility of moving up, but that it was never very close to coming to fruition.
"If you were to ask me what the odds were of me getting into round one, I would've said very low," Chiefs' General Manager Veach explained. "It didn't mean I wasn't going to try. We certainly had dialogue, but again, it has to make sense for us both now, and in the future.
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Click here to read the full article. For the transcript of Veach's entire Day 1 press conference, click here.
Day 2
Season Ticket Members had a chance to watch the Day 2 action from the Arrowhead grass on Friday during the seventh-annual Draft Fest.
For the seventh-consecutive year, the Kansas City Chiefs hosted a Draft Fest exclusively for Season Ticket Members, and it was the first year the event was held at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs made their first pick of the draft with the selection of former Ole Miss defensive end Breeland Speaks.
Speaks tallied 67 tackles (27 solo), eight tackles-for-loss and seven sacks for Ole Miss in 2017, earning second-team All-SEC honors. He put together his best game of the season against LSU, where he recorded a career-high 13 tackles (7.0 solo), two sacks and a quarterback hurry.
**Click here to learn more about Speaks.
Kansas City selected former Florida State defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi in the third round.
*Nnadi tallied 53 tackles (22 solo), 10 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble last season for Florida State, earning third-team All-ACC honors. He often saved his best performances for when the competition was greatest, recording six tackles against Alabama and four tackles against Louisville, including a sack of Cardinals' quarterback Lamar Jackson. *
Overall, Nnadi finished his four-year career with 165 tackles (74 solo), 17 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 48 games. He was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2016 and earned a spot on the Bednarik, Outland and Nagurski award watch lists prior to his senior campaign.
Follow this link to learn more about the Chiefs' new defensive tackle.
To wrap up Day 2, the Chiefs selected former Clemson linebacker Dorian O'Daniel.
O'Daniel established himself as one of the top linebackers in the country in 2017, recording a team-leading 104 tackles (72 solo), 11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, six quarterback pressures, two interceptions (each returned for touchdowns), three pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in 14 games for the Tigers.
His play earned national recognition, as O'Daniel was one of five finalists for the Butkus Award – given to the nation's top linebacker - and a member of Sports Illustrated's All-American team.
Click here to learn more about O'Daniel.
Amazingly enough, O'Daniel was high school teammates with Chiefs' cornerback Kendall Fuller. In fact, Fuller was with O'Daniel at his draft party when he received the call.
"When I called Dorian, Kendall answered and I thought I had the wrong number," said Chiefs' General Manager Brett Veach. "Kendall was screaming and hootin' and hollerin'. It was special. I knew they went to high school together and that they were close, so when I called and I heard Kendall screaming, it was a pretty cool deal."
Check out the rest of the story here.
Veach discussed Kansas City's three selections later that evening.
"These guys are physical players and they play that style that we want to emulate," Chiefs' general manager Brett Veach explained. "I always look at those Steelers teams and Ravens and how those guys just kind of rolled their sleeves up and played football. It's a four-quarter battle and that's kind of the mentality we want to have.
The full story can be found here.
Day 3
The Chiefs announced their Day 3 selections alongside our men and women in uniform at Fort Riley.
The Chiefs make their day three draft selections from the Fort Riley US Army base in Kansas.
Kansas City made its first pick of the fourth round with the selection of former Texas A&M cornerback Armani Watts.
Watts tallied 86 tackles (58 solo), 10 tackles-for-loss, four interceptions and two forced fumbles in 12 games for the Aggies in 2017, earning First-Team All-SEC and AP Third-Team All-America honors.
Learn more about Watts here.
The addition of Watts infuses a versatile defender into Kansas City's secondary.
Kansas City continued to bolster its secondary with the selection of former Central Arkansas cornerback Tremon Smith in the sixth round.
Smith tallied 41 tackles (27 solo), 16 passes defensed, five interceptions and 2.5 tackles-for-loss for the Bears in 2017, earning a spot on the AP FCS All-America Third Team.
It was a fitting exclamation point on a strong four-year career for Smith, who was a First-Team All-Southland Conference selection in each of the last three seasons. He wrapped up his time at Central Arkansas with 146 tackles (113 solo), 53 passes defensed, 15 interceptions, 9.0 tackles-for-loss and two forced fumbles in 48 games.
Click here to learn more about Smith.
With their final selection of the draft, the Chiefs selected former Tennessee defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie, who will make the transition to offensive guard in Kansas City.
Though he played defensive tackle for the Volunteers, McKenzie will make the transition to offensive guard as he starts his professional career in Kansas City.
Chiefs' area scout Pat Sperduto explained the team's reasoning following the selection.
"All the traits that you look at with him, you can see that this kid has a shot to be a really good offensive guard," Sperduto said. "If you look in the past, there have been guys that have (made the transition)…he has a massive lower body and he plays with such strong base, he might be a pretty good one."
Fittingly enough, McKenzie's father – Reggie – is the General Manager of the rival Oakland Raiders.
Learn more about McKenzie here.
Smith and McKenzie spoke with the media following the draft.
Also available to the media on Saturday were the area scouts that put in the work behind the scenes.
Click here for a full transcript of Saturday's media availability.
Finally, if their actions on social media are any indication, the Chiefs' draft picks are excited to get started.
