Kansas City Chiefs: Samuel Cosmi an ideal target in 2021 NFL Draft

On the biggest stage possible, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line let the team down. Considering that they were missing many key starters, it is difficult to place blame on the players for their Super Bowl struggles. That being said, it proves that the team must address their offensive line this offseason and at least find some quality depth up front.

This past week, the Chiefs released both of their starting offensive tackles, Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. Both players dealt with major injuries down the stretch (Achilles for Fisher, back injury for Schwartz) and carried heavy cap hits heading into 2021. The Kansas City Chiefs are not in a good cap situation and while losing both of these players may hurt, cutting them was necessary. Even with that being the case, it makes an already ugly offensive line situation look worse.

The Chiefs will undoubtedly be looking for quality depth on the offensive line in free agency but their cap space is limited. With this in mind, their most significant offensive line additions may have to come through the 2021 NFL Draft and Samuel Cosmi, the left tackle out of Texas, feels like the perfect fit for Kansas City.

Cosmi is a 6-foot-7, 309-pound offensive tackle prospect who shows easy athleticism and movement skills up front. He is a smooth and stable pass protector who shows the ability to vertically pass set well. Cosmi has long arms, quick feet and shows great mental processing ability up front. He is a tremendous pass protector who undoubtedly has exciting upside as a left tackle at the next level.

Cosmi’s upside in pass protection obviously makes him a great fit for the pass-happy Chiefs. If Kansas City can draft a reliable blindside protector who can keep Patrick Mahomes clean for the next 10 years, it will be the most important selection made by any team in the 2021 NFL Draft.

However, that is not the only reason why Cosmi is such a great fit for the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Longhorn shows tremendous play speed for an offensive lineman and that was backed up by his incredible 4.84 40-yard dash time at Texas’ Pro Day. That kind of play speed would certainly come in handy for a team like that Chiefs who loves to feature the screen game and runs a zone-based rushing attack where the offensive linemen must be able to attack the second level well.

Simply put, if Cosmi is on the board when the Kansas City Chiefs go on the clock at No. 31, he would be the perfect pick. Cosmi is considered a fringe first-round prospect so it is realistic for him to be an option at 31. That being said, he is such a great fit for this team at such a premium position of need that a trade-up scenario could also make sense if offensive tackles are flying off of the board quickly.