National Football League

Logic says Chiefs go WR or OL at No. 18 -- but we all know it's never that simple

Published Apr. 29, 2015 4:12 p.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An NFL Network type went on a podcast a few days back and said he'd heard league types were being told not to be surprised if the Chiefs went out and snagged a running back in the first round.

Ah, yes. That time of year again. Cloak, meet dagger.

The 2015 NFL Draft beckons, which means until we get to about 6:27 p.m. Kansas City time on Thursday, take everything you hear from "insiders" and "sources" with several -- and by several, we're talking packets -- grains of salt. It's Smokescreen Week, in which teams often take turns planting stories with loose-lipped sources in order to misdirect the media, fans and, most important, other clubs as to what they're actually doing. Or trying to manipulate some dope, or several dopes, into doing what they want them to do in order to get the player they really want.

It's sort of like chess, only it mostly involves lying to Mel Kiper.

Unlike a year ago, though, The Andy Gang is staring at a chance to make all kinds of moves. Thanks to a bevy of free-agent departures and planning (but mostly the former), the Chiefs have 10 picks  -- four in the top 100, six on Saturday -- to play with over the weekend, and that's even after trading one away to acquire former Saints guard Ben Grubbs, immediately patching one of several glaring bald spots from last fall's 9-7, roller-coaster crew.

Because it's also pothole season, and the Local 22 still have a few yet to answer for.

Your starting center is Eric Kush or TBD. Your starting right tackle is Donald Stephenson, Jeff Allen or TBD.

Your No. 2 wideout is Junior Hemingway, Jason Avant, Frankie Hammond Jr., Albert Wilson or TBD.

Your No. 1 cornerback, Sean Smith, could miss the first two games, perhaps more, and the backup options are patchwork, and also TBD.

Regardless, Smith is heading into a contract year, as are inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, safety Eric Berry (whose cancer fight may well scratch much of 2015's football plans) and defensive ends Mike DeVito and Jaye Howard.

Lookin' good! Flip through our photo album of NFL cheerleaders.

Yes, Virginia, there are needs. And wants.

Options, too.

So: Plug a hole? Or take the best player available, damning the torpedoes and the consequences?

Just imagine. Better yet, just humor us:

• What if Oregon gunslinger Marcus Mariota is still sitting there at 18, the Chiefs' first pick? Remember how nuts social media went for about 40-odd minutes when it was floated that general manager John Dorsey might bite on the then-dangling Johnny Manziel?

• The Dallas Cowboys need a front-line tailback and don't draft until 27th. Both Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon, who has more than a little Jamaal Charles in his own game, and six fewer years of tread wear, could both still be on the table if the Chiefs come to the plate at their scheduled spot. Do you leverage your position, or positions, to see if Jerry bites? Or take one of them anyway, just because you can? Charles is at the top of his craft but is also pushing 30, when the clock tends to strike midnight on workhorse running backs.

• Chiefs fans bristled at the addition of Dee Ford with pick No. 23 last year, given the hell Justin Houston and Tamba Hali caused, when healthy, on opposing offenses, and the obvious weaknesses at wideout and corner. But what if Mizzou's Shane Ray, a lightning-quick, pass-rushing specialist and a local kid whose marijuana citation and bad toe have seen him shredded by the experts, is waiting to be plucked at 18? You don't draft depth in the first round, ideally. The Chiefs took Ford anyway, even though he'll rarely see the field in 2015 (again) if Houston and Hali are in the fold and feeling all right.

• Tight end Maxx Williams out of the University of Minnesota is built like a left tackle (6-4, 249) but with Jason Witten-like hands and upside. Instead of investing in collegiate wideouts you're not especially crazy about if Alabama's Amari Cooper, Louisville's Devante Parker and West Virginia's Kevin White are off the board, why not double down at a position of strength -- and turn it into an absurd strength, a nightmare mismatch? Travis Kelce on one side of the formation, Williams on the other, Alex Smith at quarterback and Andy Reid pushing the buttons. Picture the possibilities. Or the headaches.

See? It wouldn't take much for things to get a little ... nuts. Plus, if your "guy" is gone, there's always No. 49. And 80. And 98. And 118. And 172. And 173. And 193. And 217. And 233.

Logic dictates that you don't overthink this. Logic says you take offensive tackles Andrus Peat or La'el Collins or cornerbacks Marcus Peters, Kevin Johnson or Ronald Darby at 18 and move along, that the rest will take care of itself. But since when has the draft subscribed hard and fast to logic?

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.

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