The Kansas City Chiefs made a big move in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by trading up four spots to pick Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy. But according to Nate Taylor of The Athletic, Worthy was a sort of consolation prize.
“Halfway through the first round, Veach and Borgonzi started calling teams to find a trade partner that would let them move up more than 10 spots. The first player the Chiefs focused on was Amarius Mims, the tackle from Georgia,” Taylor wrote on April 29. “Even though Mims played right tackle in college, many teams thought he had the talent to be a starting left tackle. The Cincinnati Bengals picked Mims with the 18th pick.
“The next best choice, the Chiefs thought, was Worthy.”
Chiefs Still Filled Important Roster Gap Without Using First-Round Draft Capital
If the two-time defending Super Bowl champions had chosen Mims, it wouldn’t have immediately fixed their starting left tackle problems.
Mims had very little playing time as a starter in college — he only had eight career starts at Georgia. So, it would have taken at least a year of development before the team could trust him as a full-time starter, especially because Mims — who played right tackle in college — would have transitioned to left tackle if he played for the Chiefs.
Instead, the Chiefs waited until the second round to address the position when they picked LSU OT Kingsley Suamataia 63rd overall. Suamataia, even though he might not have as much potential as Mims, can become a high-quality starter for Kansas City within the next 1-2 years as well. So, the team addressed an important roster gap without using a day one draft pick on it, and can potentially depend on Wanya Morris in the meantime unless Suamataia can beat him out this summer.
Though the first round of the draft didn’t go exactly as Kansas City wanted, getting Worthy in the first round and Suamataia in the second round was a great Plan B.
Brett Veach: Chiefs Had Kingsley Suamataia ‘Really High’ on Draft Board
Speaking to the media on April 29, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach talked about Suamataia and what the team’s plan for him is.
“We had him up there (on the draft board) obviously really high. (You) have to be prepared for all types of scenarios. Depending on how the draft unfolded, you never know,” Veach said during his press conference. “I think we had a pretty good indication with the number of quarterbacks this year and the number of other offensive linemen that there would be a chance that a player like Xavier (Worthy) might slide to where we picked. But he (Kingsley Suamataia) was certainly in one of those top 25-40 considerations.
“He was possibly a consideration at number 32, and he was possibly a consideration if we traded down,” Veach continued. “To have the draft unfold like it did and be able to pick him at 63, we feel very fortunate and lucky. As far as position, he’s played both left and right tackle. I think plans are to put him right there at left tackle and let him compete and battle with Wanya (Morris). We’ll see how it goes. I mentioned before the draft that we certainly like some of the things we saw out of Wanya last year, and it was our job to bring in competition. I think those guys will be excited to compete with each other. We look forward to that battle at training camp. We also know that Kingsley has played on the right side too, so I think there is a lot of versatility and value there.”
