2020 NFL Draft: Justin Herbert goes No. 1 in first-round NFL mock draft

The Kansas City Chiefs are another team that isn’t producing at the level many expected going into the year.

And by expected, I mean they were expected to be undefeated and somehow already won the Super Bowl before Thanksgiving. Patrick Mahomes was declared the quarterback of the future in the offseason after a superstar performance in 2018. This year, however, has been a bit of a step back for him, as the wins this year have not looked so effortless as they did in 2018.

To me, Mahomes is still a top 5 quarterback and is deserving of the praise he earned this offseason. But the Chiefs will need to avoid the pitfalls that have brought down many a good quarterback in the NFL. It’s the same one that kept Aaron Rodgers winning games with a last-second Hail Mary every other game. Thinking your franchise quarterback is too good to lose, and doesn’t need high-end talent.

This year, the Colts have been running LeSean McCoy a lot. And while McCoy is a talented running back, he is not a long term replacement for Kareem Hunt. And while this team still needs a lot of help on the defense, I think in the 2020 NFL draft, the Chiefs will opt to focus on gaining depth for the defense in later rounds and get an elite running back to take the pressure off Mahomes back to throw forty or more times a game.

While an elite running back won’t solve all your offenses troubles (see LA Rams), they can be a good release valve for a quarterback.

Travis Etienne can do everything you want from a running back. In previous years, he would have been selected in the top 10. But with the devaluation of running backs the last few years, Etienne will fall to a team later in the draft. Which should suit the Chiefs just fine I imagine. Etienne has run for 1,335 yards and 14 touchdowns. The most a running back in Kansas City has run this year is 400 yards and 3 touchdowns, and that is LeSean McCoy, according to ESPN.

The Kansas City offense can be explosive when it needs to be. But when opposing defenses know that you are more likely to throw it than run the ball, it makes your team one dimensional. And while I am generally opposed to drafting running backs in the first round, for an elite team like the Chiefs drafting a running back this good is the notable exception. In the 2020 NFL draft, there isn’t a running back this good anywhere else in the draft.