KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first time in the Brett Veach general manager tenure, the Chiefs led their draft with back-to-back players who reside on the same side of the football as Patrick Mahomes.

The timing isn’t coincidental. The Chiefs ranked 15th in the NFL in scoring last season, and ninth in yards, their worst marks in either category since Mahomes arrived in Kansas City in 2017.

The Chiefs weren’t targeting general help for their offense. They were more specific.

Wide receiver.

Tackle.

They escaped the first two rounds of the NFL draft with one of each — aided in their pursuit by classes that were deep at the two positions they most coveted. How’s that for timing?

They took Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy in the first round and BYU tackle Kingsley Suamataia in the second, moving up via trades to select each. By the draft’s end, they’d also added TCU tight end Jared Wiley and Washington State safety Jaden Hicks in the fourth, Penn State interior lineman Hunter Nourzad in the fifth, Tennessee cornerback Kamal Hadden in the sixth and Holy Cross guard C.J. Hanson in the seventh.

Here are five things that stand out about this incoming class of rookies:

1. Why the Chiefs had a first-round grade on Worthy

The 4.21-second time in the 40-yard dash caught everyone’s attention — and I’ve already analyzed how that speed is a need, not a duplicate of something the Chiefs already had.

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