Mel Kiper Reveals Chiefs Could Reach for Travis Kelce Replacement in Round 1

As long as you’re sticking with known experts and insiders, the reports that come out in the last day or two leading up to the NFL Draft tend to be the most accurate. So much changes even one or two weeks out that even a well-connected reporter struggles to project much, especially when teams themselves may not even have their plan set in stone.

So when Mel Kiper dropped a bunch of new NFL Draft notes on Thursday morning, it was something to take note of.

This wasn’t a mock draft from Kiper (Field Yates did the mock, and he had the Kansas City Chiefs taking defensive tackle Kenneth Grant), but Kiper chimed in with his own notes, including a big one for KC.

Mel Kiper Thinks Chiefs Could Draft Mason Taylor to Replace Travis Kelce
Kiper floated the possibility that the Chiefs draft LSU tight end Mason Taylor at No. 31, saying that “they’ll be looking for Travis Kelce’s future replacement.” This is despite Kiper acknowledging Taylor as a likely Day 2 pick.

So that could worry some Chiefs fans (especially considering the other worrying reports surfacing) — the team has enough needs that reaching for a tight end might not be the right answer. Kiper has Taylor at No. 41 on his big board. PFF has him a brutal 73rd on theirs. But not everyone would count this as a reach.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has Mason Taylor as the No. 29 player on his big board. Dane Brugler has him No. 33.

Still, pulling the trigger on Taylor in Round 1 would be a polarizing move, to say the least. The Chiefs can’t necessarily afford to burn their first-round pick on a guy without much room to contribute as a rookie. Tight ends are slow to develop, and Taylor would be TE3 behind Kelce and Noah Gray.

Sure, last year’s first-round WR pick didn’t work out perfectly, but that’s still a better gamble if they want to add a playmaker. And of course, defensive line is a major need as well.

Taylor feels like he’d be a luxury pick, and hopefully Kiper is wrong about this one