NFL 1st-round draft picks from KC include Felix Anudike-Uzomah... and these others

With the final selection in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City, the hometown Chiefs scoured the college football landscape and found their choice ... 15 miles from Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who played at Lee’s Summit High, got the call from his hometown team and is the latest player from a KC-area high school to become a first-round draft choice.

He’s the first player from a KC-area school taken by the Chiefs in any round since offensive lineman Donald Stephenson in 2012. Stephenson played at Blue Springs High and the University of Oklahoma and was selected in the third round.

Here’s the list of KC’s pro football first-rounders, with year, pick, name, position, high school, college and NFL team:

1944: 9th, Ray Evans, TB-HB, Wyandotte, Kansas, Bears

1962: 10th, John Hadl, QB, Lawrence, Kansas, Lions

1968: 4th, Russ Washington, DT, Southeast, Missouri, Chargers

1978: 15th, Steve Little, K, SM South, Arkansas, Cardinals

1980: 8th, Mark Haynes, DB, Harmon, Colorado, Giants

1980: 11th, Brad Budde, OL, Rockhurst, USC, Chiefs

1981: 10th, David Verser, WR, Sumner, Kansas, Bengals

1982: 24th, Roy Foster, G-T, SM West, USC, Dolphins

1991: 3rd, Bruce Pickens, DB, Westport, Nebraska, Falcons

2009: 17th, Josh Freeman, QB, Grandview, Kansas State, Bucs

2011: 7th, Aldon Smith, DE, Raytown, Missouri, 49ers

2015: 23rd, Shane Ray, LB, Bishop Miege, Missouri, Broncos

2017: 22nd, Charles Harris, DE, Lincoln Prep, Missouri, Dolphins

2020: 8th, Isaiah Simmons, LB, Olathe North, Clemson, Cardinals

2023: 31st, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Lee’s Summit, Kansas State, Chiefs