The Kansas City Chiefs decided to let Justin Reid walk in free agency, which will impact how effective their secondary will be. They had plenty of potential free agents ready to walk after their embarrassing Super Bowl loss, and they prioritized some over others.
They prioritized keeping Trey Smith and Nick Bolton on the roster, both of whom are good players, but how badly their secondary will suffer from it. It may become another situation like that of L'Jarius Sneed last off-season, where the Chiefs don't regret their decision all that much.
After all, they still have Trent McDuffie and signed a divisional rival, Kristian Fulton, to anchor the boundary against opposing teams. The NFL draft is officially less than a week away, and the Chiefs' direction as to who they'll draft is wide open.
Mike Renner is a sports writer for CBS Sports, and he recently published a three-round mock draft where he attempts to predict who teams will use their draft picks on the first two days of the draft. For the Chiefs, he predicts they'll use the 31st overall pick to select defensive back prospect Will Johnson from the University of Michigan.
"Johnson's 2024 tape was nowhere near as clean as his 2023 tape, and his lack of pre-draft testing after missing half the season due to turf toe could cause him to tumble down the board on draft day", said Renner.
In 2024, Johnson's play took a step back even before his injury. He had 14 total tackles, defended against two passes, had two interceptions, and was able to return both of them for a touchdown. In 2023, he had 27 total tackles, defended against four passes, and had four interceptions and returned one of them for a touchdown.
The Chiefs have been linked to many defensive prospects across multiple mock drafts, such as Derrick Harmon, James Pearce Jr, and fellow defensive back Maxwell Hairston. What separates Johnson from the rest is that if it weren't for his injury, he'd most likely not be available for them that late in the first round. He's a proven defensive playmaker, and if he falls down the draft board as predicted, the Chiefs should take a chance on him.
