The Kansas City Chiefs’ season is over, and it was a very bad, horrible, no good year. Not only are fans reeling from the first missed postseason in a decade, but now the anxious wait as Patrick Mahomes goes under the knife for ACL surgery, which always causes angst while waiting to see how a player will return.
That makes this moment critical for Kansas City. It’s very much an opportunity to take one step back to take two forward, with the opportunity on the horizon to cement themselves back in elite company when they’re prepared to compete once more. The good news if you’re a Chiefs fan is that there’s a very clear path to do it.
Defensively we know that the Chiefs are strong. After years of dusting their hands on offense and building the D, the future has now flipped in Kansas City. It’s Mahomes who needs help when he’s back on field and 100%, and there are some ways to get there.
2026 NFL Draft: Start a Love train
The Chiefs could (and should) lose out, tanking the rest of 2025. It would require losing three games and finishing at 6-11 on the season, but critically would mean engineering a way to climb into the top-10. The most realistic floor the Chiefs could reach would be the 7th pick, which is totally fine for who we’re targeting here:
Jeremiyah Love.
I absolutely understand the rationale behind mocking the Chiefs offensive line help, because they definitely need assistance in the trenches — but I’m just not sold on it needing to be their top pick in 2026. Kansas City has always been gifted at finding quality linemen through free agency and in later rounds, so an impact player makes a lot more sense to me here.
The top running back in the draft this year, Love is everything the Chiefs need in their backfield to diversify their offense and move away from their island of misfit toys at the RB spot. A tempo setter in the backfield, his six-foot, 214 pound frame is perfect to either pound the rock off the a-gap, while also having enough speed to work outside. There have also been glimpses of ability as a receiver, which weren’t really utilized at Notre Dame — but he has more than enough ability on screen plays or designed swings to make the first man miss.
Its been far too long since the Chiefs truly had an elite three down running back. They tried to find out with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but even then they were stuck making an iffy pick between a bunch of flawed backs, and just happened to get the wrong one (both D’Andre Smith and Jonathan Taylor were taken after CEH).
I’m a sucker for nostalgia, and there are too many Priest Holmes/Larry Johnson vibes to Jeremiyah Love to pass him up. It would give Kansas City someone to take offensive pressure off Mahomes as he gets back to form, then I think they could target any number of solid OL in the second round like Isaiah World or Gennings Dunker to bolster their blocking.
2027 NFL Draft: Get the knockout punch
Theres a good chance the 2026 season will be the equivalent of taking a gap year. There is functionally no reason to rush back Patrick Mahomes, and even if we split the middle of his expected 9-to-12 month recovery time we’re looking at a position where the Chiefs could be 0-5 0r 0-6 by the time he can be activated off IR.
Just tank it out once more, but this time go even further. Is it too on the nose to mock back-to-back Jeremiyah/Jeremiahs? Sure, but I don’t care. Get your man the real receiver he’s been missing and find a way to land Jeremiah Smith from Ohio State. Maybe it’s because you’re picking high enough, perhaps you need to make a trade — I don’t care. Make it happen.
The biggest stumbling block for the Chiefs offense in recent years has been lacking that elite, do-everything receiver that can take make life easier for a quarterback. This is what made Kansas City so scary with Tyreek Hill on the outside, because he gave Mahomes someone who could generate separation.
Smith is a different kind of receiver to be sure, but he already has unreal size for the position at 6’3, 223 pounds — and there’s a good chance he’ll be even larger by the time he’s ready to enter the NFL Draft. He’s already drawing comparisons to Marvin Harrison Jr., with his route running, who hasn’t really panned out (through no fault of his own), and someone like D.K. Metcalf when it comes to physical strength at the catch point.
The Chiefs have been in an enviable position during the Mahomes era to always be so good that they haven’t had a draft spot high enough to get an elite receiver. This is a chance to change that.
Coming out the other side
There’s far more to reforming the Chiefs than two draft picks, but this is about taking pressure of Patrick Mahomes and diversifying the offense. A running back like Jeremiyah Love and a receiver in Jeremiah Smith does precisely that. It’s a move that would allow the team to embrace its defensive prowess and establish the run to modernize the offense, ensuring Mahomes doesn’t need to make risky scrambles or wild off-platform short throws to keep the chains moving.
There’s a boring way to do this, which would just mean back-to-back offensive linemen and then staying the course, then there’s a chance to roll the dice and become special. Always pick the latter when you have the opportunity.
