New Draft Theme Beginning To Emerge For Chiefs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Adam Schultz | Last updated Mar 28, 2025 4:31 PM ET

For most, the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to solidify Patrick Mahomes' protection in the upcoming NFL Draft.

After being sacked a career-high 36 times in the regular season and a further 11 times in the playoffs, Mahomes took a lot of punishment. So it makes sense that the franchise would do all it can to protect its greatest asset.

But while mock drafts over the past month have all had the Chiefs taking an offensive lineman in the first round with Josh Simmons and Josh Conerly Jr. being the ones seeing their names linked with the AFC champs, we have noticed a shift over the last week.

The Chiefs could be going defense, and in Eric Edholm's latest mock draft, Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon hears his name called.

"From 2016 through 2019, the Chiefs drafted six interior defensive linemen, five in the top 85 overall; since then, they've drafted one DT (Keondre Coburn, a sixth-rounder in 2023)," Edholm writes. "Hence the desire to trade up ahead of some DL-needy teams for Harmon, who could be an eventual replacement for Chris Jones with his length and athletic twitch."

A Chris Jones replacement is a good piece of business for the Chiefs as the ageless wonder can't keep playing.

Possessing a great blend of athleticism, strength, and size, Harmon on Steve Spagnuolo's defense alongside George Karlaftis and Jones is nightmare fuel for offensive lines.

Not the biggest sack-getter in his college career (8.5 in four years), but Harmon can eat up blocks and allow others to feast, which is something the Chiefs need to do more of in 2025.

So yes, the offensive line is still a big need for some, but so is more juice along the defensive line, and Harmon gives "Spags" just that.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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