MAIN TARGET: Chiefs’ 3 best players to target with 2024 NFL Draft first-round pick

The Chiefs want an immediate contributor with their first-round pick, so here are three players they should target in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the middle, Ladd McConkey on one side, Xavier Worthy on the other side

The Kansas City Chiefs are going to have to wait a while before they make their first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but that’s what happens when you win the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season. It’s hard to think that Kansas City has many holes on their roster with the resounding and sustained success they’ve had over the years, but no team is perfect.

Luckily for them, if ever there was a draft to address some of their biggest areas of weakness, this is the draft to do it. The 2024 class is filled with star power in the first few rounds, which is great for a Chiefs team that will be looking to add immediate contributors to their Super Bowl contending roster. Armed with the 32nd overall pick in the draft, let’s take a look at three players the Chiefs should target with that pick.

Xavier Worthy, Wide Receiver, Texas

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) runs the ball during the Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff semifinals game against the Washington Huskies at the Caesars Superdome

If people weren’t familiar with Xavier Worthy’s game before the 2024 NFL Combine, he made sure they were after what he did in Indianapolis. He only set the record for the fastest 40-yard dash time in the history of the event at 4.21 seconds.

While the performance and result he put up at the Combine is impressive and jaw-dropping, some folks were still a bit skeptical. 40-yard dash times aren’t the most translatable skill to success in the NFL at wide receiver, and some of the fastest receivers from the combine (John Ross and Marquise Goodwin are a few recent examples) haven’t been all that successful in the league.

But Worthy is different. He has a legitimate NFL skillset as a route runner and outstanding college production to back up his blazing speed. Worthy brought in 62 balls for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns as a freshman at Texas. His production dipped a bit in 2022, but in 2023, he set career-highs in receptions (75) and receiving yards (1,014) despite playing next to players like Adonai Mitchell and Ja’Tavion Sanders, who both should hear their names called relatively early in the upcoming draft as well.

Worthy is an exceptional receiver. He just happens to be very fast too. The Chiefs did sign Marquise “Hollywood” Brown this offseason to help stretch the field for them, but that was only on a one-year deal. They can play him and groom Worthy for next season and beyond.

Ladd McConkey, Wide Receiver, Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Ladd McConkey (84) makes a catch and runs for touchdown against the Florida State Seminoles during the first half in the 2023 Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium.

Another deep threat the Chiefs could target is Georgia’s Ladd McConkey. Believe it or not, McConkey is pegged by many as perhaps the best route runner in this year’s class. The film doesn’t disagree either.

He’s also one of the most efficient receivers in this year’s draft class, although his counting stats don’t do him much justice on that front. McConkey registered just 1,688 yards during his college career on 119 receptions. To put that in context, Washington’s Rome Odunze put up 1,640 yards last season alone. But on a yards per route run basis, McConkey was exceptional during his time at Athens, especially last season. Only LSU’s Malik Nabers was more efficient on a per route basis than McConkey.

Now, that doesn’t make McConkey the best receiver prospect in this year’s class, but it does show that he’s got game and should be a very solid player at the NFL level. He’d fit like a glove in Kansas City next to Brown, Travis Kelce, and Rashee Rice.