2021 NFL mock draft: Kansas City Chiefs select OL Jalen Mayfield

The Kansas City Chiefs went 14-2 last season, and if you discount Week 17, in which they benched many of their starters, they really only loss one regular season.

Still, ask any Chiefs player from that team, and they’ll tell you the 2020 season was a failure. Kansas City made it all the way to the Super Bowl, but they were completely outclassed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that wasn’t close for long. The Chiefs looked vulnerable in a way they haven’t looked for several years, and that means there’s some work to do this offseason.

In our Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, it is commenter JJ2672 tasked with kicking off the 2021 Chiefs Revenge Tour. Before we get into the pick, check out our Community Mock Tracker to see how the board looks through 30 picks.

With the 31st pick in the POD Community Mock Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select Michigan offensive tackle Jalen Mayfield.

Here’s JJ2672 with the explanation:

The Chiefs top three needs are offensive tackle, defensive end, and wide receiver. This year we are completely retooling our offensive line. We let go of our two starting tackles from last year and retooled our guard spots. So, my focus went to the offensive tackle spot and my eyes went directly to Jalen Mayfield. But, as I did more research, there were some really good other offensive tackles available. The problem with Mayfield is that he played right tackle mostly. However, my excitement for the other tackles diminished quickly as some of the prospects I got excited for were getting drafted.

I looked at the edge rushers and wide receivers and saw some great talent. However, we signed DE Ed Reed so we didn’t need to take an edge rusher right away. There were definitely some fast receivers still on the board, but I chose to wait on that. That left tackle spot was an eyesore. We re-signed Mike Remmers for the RT spot, and I really wanted to finish making Patrick Mahomes happy. So, I circled back around to Jalen Mayfield. But the question still stood, can he play LT?

So I decided to call him up. I put Beard Balm in my mustache to stiffen my upper lip, gave him a call on Zoom, and looked him straight in the eye and asked, “Jalen, can you play left tackle?”

With a big smile, he responded:

“First of all, I like your glorious mustache, it’s beautiful! But to answer your question, I’m able to play any of the five positions up front. I’m able to play guard, center, tackle, but I’m pretty comfortable playing the left. My freshman year, I played left tackle and then the last two years I played right tackle, so I’m really comfortable with both sides. I think the more versatile you are, the better chance you have at lasting longer in the NFL. I don’t see much of a big difference. Of course, there’s a little bit of a difference footwork-wise, but I don’t see much difference.”

That’s all I needed to hear from Mr. Jalen Mayfield. He is an athletic freak of nature standing at 6-foot-5 that will man the left tackle spot just fine. Jalen Mayfield, welcome to the Kansas City Chiefs!

Erik Schlitt’s thoughts:

The Chiefs very much need help at offensive tackle, and I’m a big fan of Mayfield, but the big concern I have with this pairing is that I’m not sure he’s a future left tackle in the NFL. Mayfield is a right tackle by nature, but like most Michigan offensive linemen, he also translates inside to guard, where he may have arguably a higher ceiling.

If the Chiefs wanted a player who has extensive playing time at left tackle, Liam Eichenberg (Notre Dame), Alex Leatherwood (Alabama), and Dillon Radunz (North Dakota State) all grade is the same tier as Mayfield on my draft board.