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We are less than a week away from seeing how the Kansas City Chiefs and the rest of the NFL will be shaken up by free agency. That will paint a clearer picture of the strategy for the 2026 NFL Draft, but the NFL Scouting Combine also provided clarity.
Fresh off the week of interviews and workouts, NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein authored a first-round mock draft that featured the Chiefs trading back from the ninth-overall selection, moving back seven spots in the first round.
The trade compensation with the New York Jets was not disclosed, but the move set up Kansas City to take a player with buzz coming out of the Combine.
Pick 16 — Kansas City Chiefs: Monroe Freeling, Georgia — OT — Junior
PROJECTED TRADE WITH NEW YORK JETS
Following the release of Jawaan Taylor, Brett Veach moves back and takes one of the most athletic tackles in the draft. Freeling joins last year’s first-round pick, Josh Simmons, to give Patrick Mahomes a pair of young, talented bookends.
My take
As Zierlein notes, this prediction comes in the wake of the report that Chiefs’ right tackle Jawaan Taylor will be released (or traded) soon. That leaves the team with very little in terms of long-term projection at the right tackle spot, even if Esa Pole stepped up to the plate and held down the blindside of Kansas City’s offensive line towards the end of the 2025 season.
Freeling started at left tackle for the University of Georgia last season, the third year on campus after signing with the school as a four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. Over his first two seasons, he played 286 snaps at right tackle for the Bulldogs, but focused on the left side for the majority of his final two years.
At the Combine, Freeling showcased a worthwhile athletic profile on top of an intriguing physique:
Height: 6 feet 7 1/4 inches — Weight: 315 pounds
Arm length: 34 3/4 inches — Hand size: 10 3/4 inches
40-yard dash: 4.93 seconds (fourth-fastest among OL)
Vertical leap: 33 1/2 inches (fifth-highest among OL)
Broad jump: 9 feet 7 inches (third-best among OL)
Freeling is certainly in the physical mold of the offensive tackles Kansas City has employed during the tenure of head coach Andy Reid. However, he is inexperienced in pass blocking: at Georgia, he had 255 “true pass sets” according to Pro Football Focus. Here’s how that compares to other top prospects in the class:
- Francis Mauigoa, Miami — 637 true pass sets
- Spencer Fano, Utah — 440 true pass sets
- Kadyn Proctor, Alabama — 603 true pass sets
That’s what makes him too much of a projection for a top-10 pick — and frankly, any Day 1 pick the Chiefs would trade into.
Offensive line overkill
With a uniquely high pick this year, the Chiefs need to make as big an impact as possible on the team, and using the first-round selection to solidify right tackle could be unnecessary overkill.
With left tackle Josh Simmons — a former first-round pick — showing signs of becoming an elite blocker, and Kingsley Suamataia — once a second-round pick — seemingly realizing his potential at left guard, Kansas City should feel comfortable that the immediate and long-term future of the offensive line is in good shape with center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith leading the way.
It is an absolute luxury to make another big investment in the group, especially one as enormous as the top pick in a draft where the franchise is slotted in the top 10 for the first time since 2013.
If the board falls a way that forces general manager Brett Veach to consider moving back and adding capital instead of taking whoever the “best player available” is with the ninth pick, it should be a significant haul — and there should be a focus on obtaining a position of need through a player just not proven enough to be considered a top-10 pick.
In this specific scenario, it feels as if the Chiefs would benefit from taking one of the following players available at 16, rather than Freeling:
- WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State
- DT Caleb Banks, Florida
- TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon
- S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
Trade-back logic
Zierlein doesn’t provide trade details, but if Veach were to work with New York on a trade that involved just this year’s draft capital, he may have a shot at the later of the Jets’ two second-round picks.
According to the Rich Hill Trade Value Chart, the Chiefs could offer picks No. 9 and No. 74 (451 points) to New York in exchange for the 16th, 44th and 178th overall selections (448 points).
How would you feel about trading back from the ninth-overall pick? Would you want the team to solidify right tackle with this year’s first-round pick? Let us know in the comments!