NFL Draft: Todd McShay Predicts Chiefs Trade With Rival to Address Biggest Need
The Kansas City Chiefs made a shocking move this offseason, trading their best wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, to the Miami Dolphins. Now, the team must find a way to replace not only 111 catches, 1,239 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns but also the threat of game-breaking speed. To do this, ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay predicts the team will make a trade during the NFL draft with one of its biggest rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Kansas City Chiefs will try to replace Tyreek Hill in the 2022 NFL Draft
The good news for the Kansas City Chiefs is that the Tyreek Hill trade got them extra draft capital in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The bad news is that where the Chiefs now sit — at Nos. 29 and 30 — the best WRs will likely be off the board.
In the NFL draft at the end of April, teams will likely draft the consensus top four pass-catchers in the first 20 picks. This includes Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, USC’s London Drake, and Alabama’s Jameson Williams.
The next three top wideouts could all go shortly thereafter. This group includes Arkansas’ Treylon Burks, Penn State’s Jahan Dotson, and North Dakota State’s Christian Watson. In Todd McShay’s most recent mock draft on ESPN.com, this trio is off the board by pick No. 26.
That leaves the Chiefs with two options. The team can reach a bit and take a consensus second-round WR — Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore or Georgia’s George Pickens — or trade up into the top 20 to get one of the elite prospects.
McShay believes the Chiefs will choose the latter option, and they’ll need their AFC West rival LA Chargers to do it.
Todd McShay sees a trade between the Chiefs and the LA Chargers in the first round
Trading with an inner-division rival is always a dicey proposition. The team that loses the trade will have to deal with the consequences twice a season for years to come.
Despite the pitfalls, ESPN’s Todd McShay predicts a trade between the Kansas City Chiefs and LA Chargers. This trade would allow the Chief to move up to No. 17 and pick Alabama wideout Jameson Williams.
The NFL.com scouting report on the 6-foot2, 179-pound Williams describes him as a “linear route-runner with electric long speed to impact a game as a home-run hitter or decoy drawing defenders away from other elements of the offense.” That sounds a lot like Tyreek Hill, but with more size.
Williams could be the best receiver in the 2022 NFL Draft, but an ACL tear in the national championship game is causing his stock to drop slightly.
Pairing Williams with offseason acquisitions JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling and 2021 holdovers Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon could give the Chiefs the best WR unit they’ve had during the Patrick Mahomes Era, even without a top-end pass-catcher like Hill.
This trade could also work out well for the Chargers. It would allow them to move back and take a position of need while also adding more draft capital to continue building around Justin Herbert. In McShay’s mock draft, he has them doing just that, selecting Boston College guard Zion Johnson at No. 29.
Pick No. 29 in the 2022 NFL Draft has already been traded twice
If the Kansas City Chiefs do indeed trade pick No. 29 in the 2022 NFL Draft to move up, it would be the third time the pick was traded in the last year.
Ahead of the 2021 draft, the San Francisco 49ers traded their 2022 first-round pick to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 to draft North Dakota State QB Trey Lance. The 49ers also sent Miami their 2021 and 2023 first-round picks and a 2022 third (No. 102) to make this move.
A year later, the Dolphins used the 2022 No. 29 spot to acquire WR Tyreek Hill from Kansas City. Along with No. 29, the Chiefs also received second-round (No. 50) and fourth-round picks (No. 121) in 2022 and fourth- and sixth-round picks in 2023.
This pick isn’t the only 2022 first-round selection that’s changed hands multiple times, though.
The New Orleans Saints currently own pick No. 16. This spot was originally the Indianapolis Colts’, but it conveyed to the Philadelphia Eagles as part of last offseason’s Carson Wentz trade.
On April 4, 2022, the Eagles sent two 2022 first-round picks (No. 16 and No. 19) and a 2022 sixth-round pick (No. 194) to the Saints in return for 2022 first- (No. 18), third- (No. 101), and seventh-round (No. 237) picks, as well as a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick.
This year’s draft is still almost three weeks away, and these first-round picks have already made quite a journey. The wild part is that they could change hands again before the first night of the draft is over.
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