Chiefs go EDGE with 30th pick in Lance Zierlein’s mock draft 1.0

An NFL.com analyst thinks Kansas City will go with a pass rusher in the opening round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

On Tuesday, NFL.com ‘s Lance Zierlein published his mock draft 1.0 for the 2022 season. In his original estimate of how the first round will go, he starts with offensive tackle Evan Neal of Alabama — the first of eight offensive linemen he picked in the opening round. He also grabbed six edge rushers — the last of which he allocated to the Kansas City Chiefs.

30. Kansas City Chiefs: EDGE George Karlaftis, Purdue

The Chiefs will need to address their secondary this offseason, but it might be tough for them to pass on Karlaftis. He has the ability to collapse the pocket with his power-rushing acumen as either a hand-down or stand-up rusher.

On Tuesday, we published a roundup of some other early mock drafts. Two of the six we highlighted also chose an edge rusher — although they were San Diego State defensive end Cameron Thomas and Florida State EDGE Jermaine Johnson II. In a poll, more than half of our readers said that this is the position they’d like to see Kansas City select at the 30th pick. So far, the writers agree: 43% of the national mock drafts we’ve brought to you have had the Chiefs take an EDGE with their first-round pick.

And yes… in 2022, we’re keeping track.