Kansas City Chiefs say they drafted best player available. But there’s more to it here
The Chiefs will tell you they stuck to their best-player-available mantra for three days and six selections last week. They weighed a host of traits — talent, durability, intelligence and so on — heavier than positional need.
So when Clemson receiver Cornell Powell remained available as the Chiefs were on the clock at No. 181, they plucked him simply because he was the next guy on their draft board. The best available player, they said.
But he juuuuust so happens to fit a very specific need.
“He’s going to be our post-up receiver,” said Ryne Nutt, the Chiefs’ director of college scouting.
The Chiefs allowed Sammy Watkins to depart for Baltimore in free agency this offseason, and until the draft, they’d yet to add his replacement.
Powell is that guy. They hope. Even if that’s not exactly what they’re labeling him because he’s 23 years old, never played an NFL practice snap and, well, it’s way too early to label him as anything other than a prospect.
But the clues are there. The Chiefs had plenty of receiver options in a draft class full of them, but they waited on the value of a late-bloomer who can win the football in contested areas, gets off the line of scrimmage well and played almost exclusively on the outside.
He’s an “X” receiver.
Or, you know, where Sammy Watkins played.
“In kind of worked out in both regards,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said. “Going back to the mindset that works all weekend, he was the best player available. But he, ironically enough, did fill that kind of post-up position.”
Powell and Watkins have different skill-sets — make no mistake about that — but there’s a commonality that could allow Powell to occupy Watkins’ old position on the field. If he pans out, of course. There’s always that qualifier with a draft pick.
At Clemson, Powell (6-0, 205 pounds) played mostly as the outside receiver, and he was therefore asked to stand on the line of scrimmage at the snap. The Chiefs usually tasked Watkins, when healthy, with the same role because it’s the position that sees press-man coverage more than the slot and “Z” receivers. (That’s the primary reason why, when Watkins missed time, it wasn’t as easy as giving all of his snaps to Mecole Hardman, who doesn’t fare as well as Watkins against press-man coverage. The Chiefs instead would give increased workloads to Demarcus Robinson.)
That’s among the traits Powell could replicate. He showed an ability to win off the line of scrimmage, even when playing press coverage. He isn’t the speed burner that Tyreek Hill or Hardman are, but his presence on the field could allow those guys more freedom of movement off the snap.
There’s a toughness to him both before and after the catch that the Chiefs need on the field. When he made a guy miss at Clemson, Powell was just as likely to run through a tackler as he was to wiggle past him.
It took him awhile to break into the rotation at Clemson — likely a reason he fell to the fifth round — but when he did come on late, he really came on late.
In his final eight games, he had 45 catches for 825 yards and seven touchdowns. In the Tigers’ playoff game against Ohio State, he caught eight passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He led Clemson with 16.6 yards per catch.
“If you look at the second half of his season lat year, that was as good as any wideout in the country,” Veach said. “I mean he was just ripping off big game after big game and certainly showed what he could do versus Notre Dame and the bowl game against Ohio State.
“Love his skill-set. And from where we are on our roster, with Mecole and with Tyreek, (Powell) is going to be a great complement as the next receiver — that big size, really good after the catch, strong player. So I just think it’s a great fit and great value there.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City Chiefs say they drafted best player available. But there’s more to it here."