“With Alohi, just having, over the years, having a Tyrann Mathieu, then having a Justin Reid, just having a cerebral player there that sees the field, can be a leader back there, get everyone lined up. We lost Bryan Cook, too,” Veach said of his team’s safety position. “And look, it doesn’t mean we won’t add if we can get a similar player that has those leadership capabilities back there.”
Who best fits the description of that last sentence? Most likely Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who is considered a top-10 pick but could fall to the Chiefs at No. 9.
The Chiefs have bigger positional needs than safety — defensive end, receiver and defensive tackle are a few — but, in general, on Thursday, Veach didn’t rule out the possibility of taking a non-premium position early.
“I think our goal is to just make that selection and add a player here that is going to be an impact player on our team,” Veach said. “And I know it’s cliche-ish, but to really just add the best player available, right? You hear that all the time. But I don’t want to overthink that, and I don’t want to take a lesser player. Just someone that’s going to come in here, be an impact player, help us from day one. I think that’s extremely important to us.”
