Chiefs would have pick No. 15 in 2022 NFL draft if season ended today

The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of season left to turn things around, but here at Chiefs Wire, we’re always looking ahead to the upcoming NFL draft. We’ve already taken a look at eight different groups of potential 2022 NFL draft prospects, with more to come each Saturday leading up to the draft.

With the conclusion of Week 7 of the 2021 NFL season, the Chiefs find themselves moving up in the 2022 NFL draft order. The past two seasons they’d been slated to pick near the end of the first round. However, if the current season ended today, they’d own pick No. 15 in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft.

You have to go back to the 2017 NFL draft to find the last time Kansas City made a top-15 draft selection. That was back when they traded up with the Buffalo Bills to select star QB Patrick Mahomes. The last time the team organically had a draft pick in the top-15 was the 2013 NFL season when they selected LT Eric Fisher with the No. 1 overall pick following a 2-14 season in 2012.

The Chiefs have held the No. 15 pick in the draft twice in the past two decades. In 2005, the Chiefs selected LB Derrick Johnson, the franchise tackle leader at pick No. 15. In 2008, the Chiefs selected OT Branden Albert, who spent six seasons as the starting left tackle in Kansas City.

Should the Chiefs continue to struggle, the only saving grace is that their draft choice in 2022 will improve. They’ll have a chance to select an impact player at the top of the draft for the first time in quite a while.

List

5 takeaways from Chiefs HC Andy Reid's Monday media availability