Brett Veach Reveals Where Chiefs Had Kingsley Suamataia on Draft Board

In a surprising development, the Kansas City Chiefs invested three of their 2024 NFL Draft selections on the offensive line. Each pick made sense, sure, but seeing general manager Brett Veach pounce on that many opportunities to fortify the front five caught some off guard.

Landing BYU tackle Kingsley Suamataia at pick No. 63 may have been even more shocking. Suamataia represented Kansas City's second-round haul, providing the franchise with a good blend of youth, athleticism and upside. This came after the club traded up four spots in round one to draft Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy.

Believe it or not, Suamataia may have been an option had Worthy not been available at the end of the first round. Speaking to the media this week, Veach acknowledged so and gave a range for where Suamataia ranked on the club's draft board.

"We had him up there obviously really high," Veach said. "Have to be prepared for all types of scenarios. Depending on how the draft unfolded, you never know. I think we had a pretty good indication with the number of quarterbacks this year and the number of other offensive linemen that there would be a chance that a player like Xavier might slide to where we picked. But he was certainly in one of those top 25-40 considerations. He was potentially a consideration at No. 32, and he was potentially a consideration had we traded down."

He also doubled down on an assessment from assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi last weekend: Suamataia is direct competition for Wanya Morris.

"To have the draft unfold like it did and be able to select him at 63, we feel very fortunate and lucky," Veach said. "As far as position, he’s played both left and right tackle. I think plans are to throw him right there at left tackle and let him compete and battle with Wanya. We’ll see how it goes. I mentioned before the draft that we certainly like some of the things we saw out of Wanya last year, and it was our job to bring in competition. I think those guys will be excited to compete with each other. We look forward to that battle at training camp. We also know that Kingsley has played on the right side too, so I think there is a lot of versatility and value there.”

The Chiefs aren't the only ones who thought they got good value with the Suamataia pick. Consensus boards had him ranked higher than 63rd, and multiple mock draft (including one here on Arrowhead Report) slotted him at 32nd overall to Kansas City. For an organization to land a player they seemed comfortable with an entire round earlier is a massive win.

To do it in round two, after already getting one of the bigger difference-makers in the class, is icing on the cake. Veach's aggressiveness on Thursday and Friday did end up costing him a third-round pick, but it's safe to say he's satisfied. Suamataia needs to grow, although Morris does as well. Both left tackle prospects should go head-to-head in the coming months, with the best man presumably winning the starting job.

Kansas City views the rookie as that good of a player.