Three Non-Chiefs Rookies to Watch in 2022

The Kansas City Chiefs have passed on their fair share of talented players throughout the years in the NFL Draft. It’s bound to happen to every team, and Kansas City doesn't do it much more or less than others. However, some picks manage to stick out.

Over the past decade, I’ve taken a deeper look into the NFL Draft and kept an eye on players the Chiefs may have passed on who turned out to be great contributors in the NFL. A lot of times it's by chance, but sometimes it may be due to a differing evaluation from the front office.

An instance of this phenomenon is the Chiefs selecting offensive lineman Donald Stephenson with pick No. 74 in the third round in 2012 instead of taking Russell Wilson at pick No. 75. Of course, revisionist history says that taking Wilson over Stephenson would have been a no-brainer.

However, at the time of the draft, I was screaming for the Chiefs — who still had Matt Cassel as their starting quarterback and Brady Quinn as their backup — to take Wilson. There was no one of note on the depth chart with the "quarterback of the future” tag.

It ended up being Cassel’s final season in Kansas City, and the team won two games that year. The chain of events ended up working out for the Chiefs, as they got Alex Smith and Andy Reid in 2013, drafted Patrick Mahomes a few years later and won a Super Bowl a few years after that. Sometimes, however, I still wonder where the organization would have gone with Wilson at quarterback.

That leads us to the 2022 draft. We don’t have the knowledge of revisionist history at this point, so it’s time to take a stand on who you think the Chiefs could have picked that may have taken the franchise in a different direction. To be clear, I am high on the players the Chiefs took. I think general manager Brett Veach and company did a fantastic job with this class, but there are a few players who were drafted by other teams who I will be keeping an eye on.

Jermaine Johnson, New York Jets

When the Chiefs traded up with the New England Patriots to get the 21st pick, many people thought they would be selecting a pass-rusher. Of course, Kansas City took cornerback Trent McDuffie, who they were not expecting to still be on the board. It led me to think about a “what-if” scenario for the organization. What if the Chiefs had selected Jermaine Johnson, the best available defensive end left on the board according to a majority of draft experts, instead of McDuffie?

I don’t think there would have been any quibbles among Chiefs Kingdom if the team had selected Johnson out of Florida State. There were some outlets that projected him to be taken in the top 10, so his fall into the 20s was a bit of a surprise.

I’ll be keeping an eye on what Johnson does not only in his rookie year with the New York Jets, but throughout his career in the NFL. The Chiefs took George Karlaftis with their next pick at the end of the first round, so there will be a direct comparison to look at.

Kyler Gordon, Chicago Bears

As previously mentioned, the Chiefs drafted Karlaftis with the 30th pick. However, if the Chiefs had taken Johnson with their first pick, there wouldn’t have been a need to take another defensive end immediately following that pick.

McDuffie likely wouldn’t have been available at No. 30, but fellow Washington Husky teammate Kyler Gordon was still on the board. Pairing Johnson as a defensive lineman with Gordon as an outside cornerback would have been an entertaining play.

Would it have worked out better than the McDuffie-Karlaftis duo? That has yet to be seen and won’t be known for the next few years, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on nonetheless.

George Pickens, Pittsburgh Steelers

In the second round, it was widely speculated that the Chiefs would take a wide receiver after not selecting one in the first round. Tyreek Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins and while the Chiefs added a few guys like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency, they still needed more depth at the position.

Holding the 50th pick, Kansas City ended up making another trade with the New England Patriots to move back to No. 54. In a wild turn of events, three wide receivers were taken between pick Nos. 50 and 53. With the pick they got from the Chiefs, the Patriots took Tyquan Thornton from Baylor. At 52, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected George Pickens from Georgia. At 53, the Indianapolis Colts selected Alec Pierce from Cincinnati. The Chiefs would then select Skyy Moore, a wide receiver from Western Michigan, with No. 54. 

What could have happened if the Chiefs didn’t trade the 50th pick and drafted a wide receiver with their original selection? Would they have still taken Moore, or would they have taken another wideout there?

I was hoping the Chiefs would target Pickens. He has the size and athletic profile to be a "WR1" if he works hard and is given the right situation. Being drafted to the Chiefs with Mahomes and Reid would have been the ideal situation for him. Keeping an eye on how Thornton and Pierce do would be fine as well, but Pickens is the player I will be keeping a close eye on throughout his rookie year with the Steelers and beyond.

The hope is that Moore has a brilliant career and no one has a second guess about the move Veach made, but there will always be some who look in the rearview mirror. Look no further than Mecole Hardman and DK Metcalf for evidence in the head-to-head receiver debate. 

Another twist to that selection is to look and see how fifth-round pick, right tackle Darian Kinnard, performs. Moore and Kinnard were both used with picks from the trade with the Patriots. Adding their performances together will be part of the equation moving forward.

Even though the Chiefs had what looks to be a solid draft, there will always be a part of me that keeps an eye on what could have happened differently. Watching Johnson, Gordon and Pickens in comparison to the Chiefs' selections will be an interesting case study.

All of these players could turn out to be solid contributors tor their teams, Chiefs players included. It may work out well for all parties involved, or it may turn out poorly for some of these players. That's the beauty of watching the draft and the players' careers unfold before us. For all of Chiefs Kingdom, let’s hope Veach and the Chiefs' front office made the right calls.