Kansas City Chiefs land ‘the best safety prospect since Eric Berry’ in latest Dane Brugler 2026 NFL mock draft

Could Ohio State S Caleb Downs wind up being the right pick at No. 9 for the Kansas City Chiefs?

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Jan 15, 2026 1:31 PM EST

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to pick at No. 9 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft in April.

It’s the first time they’ll be picking inside the top-10 of a given NFL Draft since the team traded up to select Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes at No. 10 overall in 2017. Should they stand pat and make the pick at No. 9 overall, it’ll be the highest pick they’ve made in the NFL Draft since selecting Eric Fisher at No. 1 overall out of Central Michigan in 2013.

The last top-10 selection before those two picks for Kansas City? You’ve got to go all the way back to 2010 when the Chiefs selected Tennessee S Eric Berry at No. 5 overall. He became a three-time All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowler, the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year (2015), and part of the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team during his tenure in Kansas City.

Now, one prominent NFL Draft analyst is suggesting the Chiefs could have a shot at landing the best safety prospect since Berry at pick No. 9 in 2026. Let’s dive in.

Chiefs pass on Miami DE Rueben Bain Jr. to land Ohio State S Caleb Downs in Dane Brugler’s latest mock draft

The Chiefs are desperate for defensive line help and need to add playmakers on offense, but that’s not the way they go at No. 9 in the latest mock draft from The Athletic’s top NFL Draft analyst, Dan Brugler. With Oregon QB Dante Moore announcing that he will return to school, Brugler released his mock draft 2.0 with an emphasis on how the decision impacts Round 1. Things fall about as perfectly as you could imagine for the Chiefs to land an impact pass-rusher, but guys like Jeremiyah Love, Jordyn Tyson, Carnell Tate, and David Bailey are already off the board. Miami DE Rueben Bain Jr. was still available, but Brugler passed on him in favor of Ohio State S Caleb Downs at pick No. 9.

“There certainly is a case to be made that a wide receiver (Tate, if he’s available) or tight end (Kenyon Sadiq) could be the weapon Kansas City has been desperately missing on offense,” Brugler wrote. “But Downs is a difference-maker, both with his impact on the field and within the culture of the team. One could argue that he is the best safety prospect since Eric Berry, a top-10 pick of the Chiefs 16 years ago.”

Passing on Bain Jr. because he’s a “polarizing player” due to concerns about his arm length won’t sit well with Chiefs Kingdom, but it’s hard not to love the fit of Downs in Kansas City. Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme relies heavily on versatile safeties who can do a little bit of everything, and that describes Downs to perfection. Is he the best safety prospect in the draft since Berry in 2010? I think some guys in the NFL like Derwin James would take exception to that, but it’s not outside of the realm of possibility.

Downs has range on the back end, offers physicality in run support, has incredible instincts, click-to-close quickness, can stifle tight ends in man coverage, tackles like a linebacker, and his football IQ shows up in his play. He’s the type of chess piece that the Chiefs really lack this year, with Justin Reid moving on to join the New Orleans Saints in free agency.

Now, will Downs eliminate every problem this team faced last season? Absolutely not. However, he’s definitely a blue-chip player in this draft class, and one that would make this team better in the long run. That’d especially be the case if the Chiefs can’t retain Bryan Cook. That’d leave a safety room of Chamarri Conner, Jaden Hicks, and Chris Roland-Wallace under contract for 2026.

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