Very few teams will be more closely watched in the coming 2022 NFL Draft than the Kansas City Chiefs. After moving on from some of their biggest stars during the first years of the Patrick Mahomes era, the team currently has 12 picks in this year's draft -- and plenty of roster holes to work on filling. So is it more likely they'll try and target one of the best wide receiver's in this year's class? Or hope that a star pass rusher falls to them late in the first round? Talking on 610's The Drive, The Ringer's NFL analyst Benjamin Solak gave his take.
"I do think you have to say that wide receiver is a bigger need," he said. "Because as of right now, the only receivers under contract after 2022 -- so in the 2023 season and beyond -- are Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and that's the whole list. That's everybody … this is a position that's influx, so you need to get bodies in the room. With that said, if you're asking me where I'd prefer to have a star, where I'd like to trade up for a guy, it would be at defensive end. Obviously Frank Clark hasn't been exactly what the Chiefs traded for. Behind him, with just Mike Danna, with Alex Okafor maybe back for another year if they want to do that. They really don't have a running mate for Chris Jones. Defensive line is a place where getting a really good number two magnifies -- multiplies -- the effect of your star, your number one. You have to have two dudes. You can't let teams get away in the playoffs by spending all those resources on Chris Jones and not getting punished by anybody else. It's a lot harder to slap it together with duct tape at pass rush, as opposed to doing it at wide receiver."
You can listen to Solak's entire interview in the player below:
