Kansas City Chiefs hosting FCS prospect on top-30 visit who could replace Nick Allegretti

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to host prospects on pre-draft visits at the team facility ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. Their latest pre-draft visit is with an All-American FCS offensive lineman, who has racked up accolades throughout his five-year collegiate career. According to former Paladin O-Lineman and ESPN College Football Color Analyst, Cole Neely, the Chiefs […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor
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Furman OL Jake Johanning at practice.
Furman Athletics

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to host prospects on pre-draft visits at the team facility ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. 

Their latest pre-draft visit is with an All-American FCS offensive lineman, who has racked up accolades throughout his five-year collegiate career. According to former Paladin O-Lineman and ESPN College Football Color Analyst, Cole Neely, the Chiefs are set to host Furman OL Jake Johanning on a top-30 visit. 

Johanning was ranked as the No. 9 O-Lineman in the FCS heading into the 2023 college football season by Hero Sports. Johanning has experience playing both left and right guard, primarily playing left guard during his time in Greenville, South Carolina. He earned his second consecutive first-team All-SoCon selection and was selected as the Jacobs Blocking Award winner as the top offensive lineman in the Southern Conference. He was also voted team co-captain by his peers.

What is a top-30 visit?

NFL clubs are allotted 30 pre-draft visits to bring prospects into team facilities ahead of the upcoming draft. Teams will often use these visits to evaluate medicals, gather more facts on off-field issues, and generally just see if a player fits the team culture. The players won't partake in athletic testing like what you see at a pro day, but they'll have a chance to meet with team staff and tour facilities.

Top-30 visits for the Chiefs typically indicate some level of interest by the team. Sometimes they'll bring in players who are expected to be undrafted free agents to impress upon them that Kansas City is the place to be (that's likely the case with this particular visit). They also bring in players who are expected to be drafted, even some within the top 100 picks. Just last season Kansas City hosted a pair of their draft picks (Rashee Rice & BJ Thompson) on top-30 visits.

How does Furman OL Jake Johanning fit with the Chiefs?

Johanning is a little undersized for an NFL interior offensive lineman, weighing in at just under 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds at the South Carolina Pro Day. He reportedly ran a 5.16s 40-yard dash, jumped a vertical of 27 inches, and a broad of 104 inches. He ran a 4.78s short shuttle and a 7.94s three-cone time. 

The most impressive part of his workout? It was the strength displayed on the bench press. His 34 repetitions of 225 would have ranked second at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine next to Arkansas C Beaux Limmer (39). That strength was routinely displayed by Johanning at Furman as well (he's the LG in the play below). 

In his last four seasons at Furman, Johanning has allowed just 24 pressures, including two sacks per PFF. While he's only really played guard throughout his career, there was some talk about him playing center for the Paladins ahead of the 2023 college football season. It's possible that he could slide into that role in the NFL given his size. 

He's a talented athlete with legitimate play strength, which is exactly the type of player that you want to bring in and work with as a coaching staff if you're a team like Kansas City. Who knows, after a few seasons in an NFL weight program, he could be the sixth man on the interior offensive line for a team like the Chiefs, just like Nick Allegretti was for many seasons.

Other top 30 visits so far:

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