Chiefs 7-round 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Brett Veach's early free agency decisions sets Kansas City up with new priorities
The Kansas City Chiefs had an active 2025 NFL free agency period through legal tampering, re-signing a number of their own, and adding some new pieces to the puzzle. The team added new faces at left tackle, running back, and cornerback, who all should have an opportunity to contribute, if not start games for Kansas City in 2025. They […]
The Kansas City Chiefs had an active 2025 NFL free agency period through legal tampering, re-signing a number of their own, and adding some new pieces to the puzzle.
The team added new faces at left tackle, running back, and cornerback, who all should have an opportunity to contribute, if not start games for Kansas City in 2025. They also lost several key pieces, such as S Justin Reid and DT Tershawn Wharton. What did Brett Veach's decisions during the past two days tell us about the Chiefs' focus in the 2025 NFL draft?
With compensatory picks awarded and the entire 2025 NFL draft order now known, here's a look at our latest mock draft for Kansas City. . .
31. Michigan DT Kenneth Grant
It'll be hard to truly measure Grant's draft stock until the Michigan Pro Day on March 21. He only participated in the bench press at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, but at 6-foot-4 and 340 pounds, he's expected to be an elite athletic tester. It's easy to see why when he puts stuff like this on tape:
What I love about Grant is that he's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades along the defensive line. You can play him as a zero technique, all the way out to five techniques, and he'll succeed. He's very strong and borderline immovable at the point of attack in the run game. His quickness and power catch some offensive linemen by surprise, which leads to a really disruptive presence on the D-Line (see 11.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks over the past two years). He gets his hands up when he can't get to the football, which we know Joe Cullen will love (see 11 passes batted over the past two years).
How do we figure he might be available at this pick? He's currently the 21st-ranked player on the A to Z Sports Mock Draft Database with an early pick range of 9, a median pick range of 19, and a late pick range of 35. If the Pro Day goes as planned, he might solidify himself as a top-15 pick. If not, he'll probably hover around the mid-20s in mock drafts up until the real thing. It'd be worthwhile even if the Chiefs needed to manufacture a slight trade-up for this one.
63. Georgia OL Tate Ratledge
This isn't exactly the best interior offensive line class, so if the Chiefs want to snag somebody who can be a piece of the post-Joe Thuney puzzle, they must act fast. Ratledge has played practically the entirety of his last three seasons at RG for the Georgia Bulldogs. He can provide insurance if Trey Smith's long-term negotiations don't go as planned. They can move him to the left guard position in the pros and have him compete with Mike Caliendo and Kingsley Suamataia.
The 23-year-old is listed at 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds and proved to be one of the most athletic players regardless of position at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine this year, running a 4.97s 40-yard dash with a 1.72s 10-yard split, in addition to a 32-inch vertical and a 110-inch broad jump.
How that translates on the field is an explosive, quick, and violent athlete. He's given up just two sacks in over 2,000 career snaps playing in the SEC against some of college football's best opponents. His aesthetic is perfect for the offensive line, and it feels like he'll fit right in alongside guys like Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith.
66. Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson
Even with the addition of Elijah Mitchell in free agency and some wishful thinking regarding Isiah Pacheco in a contract year, the Chiefs need to add to their running back room in the draft. This is the perfect year to do so with a historically deep draft class.
With 262 touches in 2024, Johnson recorded 1,725 combined rushing and receiving yards and 23 total touchdowns. Andy Reid will love him for one reason: He accomplished all that without fumbling. At 6-foot-1 and 224 pounds, he's elusive and one of the toughest running backs to tackle in this draft class.
Johnson's 2024 college football season was hyper-productive, which may be a turnoff to some when you look at his first two seasons at Iowa. I look at it differently when comparing him to guys like Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson, and Quinshon Judkins. The 21-year-old is the only one of that group with less than 540 touches in his career, meaning he's got tread left on the tires.
95. Ole Miss EDGE Jared Ivey
Ivey feels like the perfect Steve Spagnuolo edge rusher. He has the requisite size at 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds. At Ole Miss, he would reduce down and play on the interior in clear passing downs, but honestly, some of his best snaps from those alignments came against the run. Over the past two seasons for the Rebels, Ivey has generated 23 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, four passes batted, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, and a defensive touchdown.
If the Chiefs miss out on re-signing Charles Omenihu, I could see Ivey plugging into that role for Kansas City near-immediately.
133. Rutgers OT Hollin Pierce
One of the most incredible stories in the 2025 NFL draft, Pierce is a former walk-on who arrived on campus at Rutgers weighing 455 pounds. He recreated his body, now weighing 6-foot-8, 341 pounds with 36-inch arms and nearly 87 inches of wingspan. All of those measurements rank somewhere within the 90th percentile for offensive tackles. He started 50 games across his four-year collegiate career with the Scarlet Knights. His towering frame gives him a huge advantage in the passing and run games, often out-leveraging defenders. He often just washed defenders right past the quarterback and his drive blocks are something to behold. Get him with the right coaches and he's a future All-Pro.
226. Boston College DT Cam Horsley
One of the most underrated run-stopping defensive tackles in this class, getting Horsley at this point would be an absolute steal. At 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds, Horsley was moving during the on-field drills at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. He doesn't have a whole lot of pass-rush tools, with just 3.5 career sacks across five seasons, which is probably one of the reasons he's looking at a Day 3 selection. However, with his athleticism, movement skills, and brute strength, I think there's more than enough to work with here.
251. Nevada DB Kitan Crawford
Crawford fills that hybrid nickel-safety role nicely. He's a very instinctual defender with big-time play recognition that translates to making big-time plays on the field (three interceptions, eight passes defended, and a fumble recovery over the last two seasons). At 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds, the fifth-year senior tore up the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. He jumped out of the building with a 41.5-inch vertical and posted 18 repetitions of 225 on the bench press. He also ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash time ever by a Nevada football alumni. Not that it really means anything, but Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes also seems to be a fan.
257. Louisville CB Corey Thornton
Thornton reminds me a lot of Charvarius Ward coming out of Middle Tennessee State University. It's not just because they were both coached by Steve Ellis. Thornton is virtually a clone of Ward physically. He weighed in at a hair under 6-foot-1 and 194 pounds with just under 33-inch arms and just under an 80-inch wingspan at the East-West Shrine Game. Thornton plays a more physical and cerebral game coming out of college than Ward, evidenced by his five interceptions and eight passes defended in back-to-back seasons at UCF and Louisville.
Contract details for new Chiefs LT Jaylon Moore say everything about what GM Brett Veach and HC Andy Reid have in mind
The Kansas City Chiefs seem to feel they’ve found their left tackle of the future.
