Chiefs go wide receiver in Mel Kiper’s new mock draft

After going with a different wide receiver to Kansas City in his first two mocks, the ESPN analyst picks a third one.

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper released his latest mock draft on Tuesday. Kiper now believes three quarterbacks will be selected with the first three picks of the NFL Draft in Detroit (followed by three wide receivers) before offensive tackle Joe Alt is taken with the seventh pick. Three more wideouts come off his board before the Kansas City Chiefs are on the clock to take the draft’s seventh wideout.

32. Kansas City Chiefs: WR Adonai Mitchell, Texas

Kansas City signed speedster Marquise Brown to a one-year deal in free agency, but that shouldn’t prevent the franchise from adding another receiver early. Mitchell is a rising prospect who could complement Brown and Rashee Rice. He ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the combine and had an 11-foot-4 broad jump, which tied for second among all prospects. He has excellent hands, catching 11 touchdown passes last season. He can make defenders miss after the catch, too.

I also thought about offensive tackle for the Chiefs, but I just slotted in seven above this pick. The last time there were eight OTs taken in Round 1? The 2008 draft. Kansas City has a hole at left tackle if it doesn’t bring back free agent Donovan Smith.

So far this offseason, we’ve covered 46 mock drafts from around the Internet. A whopping 70% of them have now projected a wide receiver to Kansas City in the first round. (Kiper himself went with Oregon’s Troy Franklin in his 1.0 list from late January, followed by Texas’ Xavier Worthy in his 2.0 mock on February 28). As Kiper notes, the Chiefs have now made a significant move at the position in free agency. But the outside perception remains the same: that Kansas City will use its first-round pick to get another wideout on the roster.