Why did Chiefs trade up in Rounds 2-4 of NFL Draft? Brett Veach gave this main reason

The Kansas City Chiefs were not afraid to move on the second and third days of the NFL Draft.

After standing pat and taking Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah with their first pick at No. 31, the Chiefs proceeded to trade up for their second-, third- and fourth-round picks.

General manager Brett Veach, in a Zoom call with reporters Monday, said there was a primary reason KC used draft resources to go up and get their guys in those situations: The Chiefs trusted their player evaluations.

“You’ve got to believe in your (draft) board. You’ve gotta believe in your scouts,” Veach said. “But you ... can’t be reckless. You’ve got to take calculated risks, and I think you saw that.”

Each trade-up selection from Rounds 2-4 has a chance to play right away.

• SMU’s Rashee Rice is a contested-catch receiver that Veach compared Monday to former Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster. Veach said the team also was impressed by Rice’s ability to run after the catch.

Most draft-value calculators say the Chiefs gave up about the equivalent of an early sixth-round pick to move up eight spots to select Rice.

• Oklahoma tackle Wanya Morris should compete with Lucas Niang and Darian Kinnard for the right-tackle position, Veach said. Free-agent signing Jawaan Taylor, meanwhile, is slated to be the team’s left tackle.

KC traded roughly a seventh-round pick of value, according to draft-value calculators, to move up three spots to take Morris.

• Virginia Tech safety/cornerback Chamarri Conner should be an immediate special teams contributor while adding depth to the secondary at multiple positions. The Chiefs sent away roughly a sixth-round pick, according to draft-value calculators, to move up 15 spots for Conner.

Veach said the Chiefs had Morris and Conner valued similarly when they made their initial pick in the third round.

“We get back in Round 4, and you’re sitting there,” Veach said, “and once you get into that window where this makes sense for us — and he’s gonna be gone pretty soon — we went up there to get him.”

Veach said each trade-up was made because of how the Chiefs viewed talent tiers; those three picks were easily higher than other players remaining at their positions on the Chiefs’ board.

“So when we get aggressive, it’s because we spent all the time watching these guys, and we feel like (there’s a) drop-off or potentially ... he could be the last guy that we value in regards to a guy coming in and helping us Year 1,” Veach said.

Viewing the draft this same way — by tiers of talent — led the Chiefs to a different move later; they traded their sixth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2024 fifth-round pick, with Veach saying at that point the team felt more like the draft’s “skill set was all similar.”

The Chiefs’ current roster situation also is worth considering when gauging this year’s trade-ups. Because of last year’s drafting success, KC doesn’t have as many roster holes as a season ago, meaning it’s not as likely a large number of rookies will make the initial 53-man roster.

Veach admits there’s a balancing act, though. He said Monday he understands the “lotto aspect” of a draft and a widely held belief among analysts that making a volume of picks is wise because it allows a team more chances to hit the jackpot.

“But at the same time, we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t set the board, spend all that time doing the work, and if we believe in a guy, you can’t risk losing those guys,” Veach said. “There was a handful of guys this past weekend that we were trying to trade up for, and it didn’t work out, and they went. And that’s the way this works.”

Veach reiterated that KC tried to trade up in Round 1, though “the price was a little too high for us” when the Chiefs tried to move from 31 to the 18-23 range. Ultimately, Veach said the team had enough needs that it couldn’t sacrifice using multiple good picks to lock up one elite player.

“We were content (at 31) because we had a player in Felix that we liked,” Veach said, “and then we were able to do some maneuvering the next couple days.”

The Chiefs then gave up three additional draft picks to make their three selections in Rounds 2-4, consolidating draft capital to ensure their targets didn’t slip to other teams.

“Our staff ... we’re aggressive. We build our board, and we believe in our board,” Veach said. “And if there’s a range that we feel makes sense for us, we’ll certainly explore that.”