The Kansas City Chiefs' first two days of the 2024 NFL Draft both featured trades on the board. On day one, the reigning champions saw receiver Xavier Worthy move up a few spots, and on day two, offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia moved up one spot.
As it turns out, Kansas City tried to acquire both players sooner than they actually did.
Assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi told the media on Friday night that calls for a trade up scenario start around the No. 2 pick, referring to Suamataia's pick. 52. When asked about Worthy, he said the first-round call stemmed from wanting to get a speedy wideout in his early 20s.
Having a good read on how Opening Day would go helped the Chiefs acquire players.
“Wasn't 1984 the last time we had six quarterbacks in the top 12?” Borgonzi began. “We knew it was the quarterback, it was the receivers, it was the tackles, and there was going to be a run on them. The tackles probably went off the board at 20. [or] We focused on 21. In Worthy's case, we were just waiting for him. We tried to trade him earlier in his 20s, but ended up getting him a little later. ”
Both sides are certainly happy that this selection happened. Worthy may be more excited than the team itself, especially considering he sent a message to the Chiefs' team account on Instagram during draft week saying, “Two days left.” In Worthy, Kansas City is getting the fastest player in his 2024 class and the player who broke the all-time record for fastest 40-yard dash.
But it's not just speed that Worthy excels at. The former Longhorn is an excellent ball tracker and maintains his speed throughout reps. Additionally, he can run a more diverse route tree than any other speed specialist coming through Kansas City. His combination of quickness, length and football smarts should help the Chiefs offense bounce back in 2024.
Borgonzi agrees with that assessment, saying Worthy is more than just a fast runner.
“Sure, like you said, the speed is 4.21,” Borgonzi said. “He's not the biggest guy, but he's tough. He's not just a vertical guy. He can run the route tree. He can get in and out of the break on intermediate routes. He's not a one-trick pony deep threat. We feel he can line up in a lot of different positions for us, and he has return value, punt return value, and that's going to be big for us.”
With the pick set and the third day of the draft underway, Kansas City has made two big wins in terms of prospects. Whatever Borgonzi, general manager Brett Veach and the company do going forward is a bonus. However, there is still work to be done as they look to add depth at positions such as cornerback, tight end, guard, center and running back.
Bringing in Worthy (and Suamataia) is just a start. The fact that Borgonzi talked about the importance of trade talks proves how much the Chiefs wanted to improve with the right players.
