Draft History: Chiefs’ top picks led by Gonzalez but dominated by defensive players
While it is too soon for Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and many other stars from the team that won Super Bowl LIV to appear on the Kansas City Chiefs’ best draft pick list, several players from the club’s previous title victory in Super Bowl IV made it into the top 10. Other spots belong to players who appeared from 1990-97, when the Chiefs went to the postseason seven times in eight seasons.
BEST
10. (tie) Eric Berry, S (Round 1, Pick 5 in 2010) and Travis Kelce, TE (Round 3, Pick 63) in 2013) - Berry was a two-time All-American at Tennessee, was named SEC Defensive Player of the year in 2008 and won the Jim Thorpe Award as college football’s best defensive back the following season. He has had trouble staying on the field in Kansas City, but is a three-time All-Pro who was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his five healthy seasons. Berry tore his ACL in the season-opening game in 2011 and missed 10 games in 2014 with a high ankle sprain and a mass in his chest that turned out to be a form of cancer called Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He returned cancer-free the following season and earned Comeback Player of the Year honors after posting 61 tackles and two interceptions. Berry missed most of 2017 and ’18 due to a torn Achilles and a bone spur in the tendon. He was released in 2019 and totaled 14 interceptions, 5½ sacks, 445 tackles, and 51 passes defended in nine seasons with the Chiefs.
Kelce is the lone player from the Super Bowl LIV championship team on this list. He overcame maturity issues at Cincinnati that included a one-year suspension for failing a drug test. Kelce has been selected to the past five Pro Bowls and has two All-Pro nods so far. He ranks in the top 10 in team history and second among tight ends with 507 receptions, 6,465 yards and 37 touchdowns in seven seasons. Kelce totaled 10 catches for 134 yards and three scores in a 2019 Division Round win over the Texans and also had a touchdown in the Super Bowl win over the 49ers.
9. (tie) Jim Tyrer, T (Round 3, Pick 22 in 1961) and Ed Budde, G (Round 1, Pick 8 in 1963) - Tyrer was an All-American at Ohio State under legendary head coach Woody Hayes. He chose the Dallas Texans over the Bears, who selected him in the 14th round of the 1961 NFL Draft. Over his 13 seasons with the Dallas/Kansas City franchise, he was selected as an AFL All-Star or Pro Bowler nine times, and was also a five-time All-Pro. Tyrer was one of the leaders on a team that won the 1962 AFL Championship and played in two Super Bowls, including a win over the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, the last title game before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. He was traded to Washington in 1974, and spent one season with the Redskins before retiring. After his playing career, Tyrer worked as a salesman, invested in a tire business, and worked for the Amway marketing company. However, he struggled financially, which led to him shooting and killing his wife and them himself on September 15, 1980.
Budde joined with Tyrer to form one of the best left side guard-tackle combinations in professional football during the 1960s. He was an All-American at Michigan State who earned seven AFL All-Star and Pro Bowl selections, and was named an All-Pro in Kansas City’s two Super Bowl seasons (1966 and ’69). During the Super Bowl IV win against the Vikings, Budde kept Minnesota’s All-Pro defensive tackle and future Hall of Famer Alan Page in check. He retired in 1976 after 14 seasons with the Chiefs. Budde’s son, Brad, also played guard and was also selected by the Chiefs in the first round (Pick 11 out of USC in 1980), making them the only father-son duo in NFL history to be drafted by the same team in the same round.
8. (tie) Jared Allen, DE (Round 4, Pick 126 in 2004) and Justin Houston, LB (Round 3, Pick 70 in 2011) - Allen was a three-time All-Big Sky selection and a 2003 Division I-AA All-American at Idaho State, and he is the conference’s all-time leader with 38½ sacks. He continued harassing quarterbacks at the NFL level, ranking sixth in Chiefs history with 43 sacks in just 61 games. Allen had a league-leading six fumble recoveries in 2006, and was a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro after topping the NFL with 15½ sacks. He was traded in 2008 to Minnesota, where he earned four Pro Bowl and three All-Pro selections and posted 85½ sacks, including a league-high 22 in 2011. He signed with the Bears in 2014 and was traded to Carolina the following season, where he played in Super Bowl 50 before retiring in 2016. Since his career ended, Allen has served as an advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He was also an investor and executive in the short-lived Alliance of American Football in 2018.
Another player whose specialty was getting to the quarterback was Houston, who was a 2010 All-American at Georgia. He spent eight seasons in Kansas City, earning four Pro Bowl selections and being named an All-Pro in 2014 after leading the NFL with 22 sacks. Overall, he ranks fourth in franchise history with 78½ sacks, and he (and Allen) tied for fifth with 14 forced fumbles. Houston missed 11 games in 2016 with a torn ACL, and spent two more years with the Chiefs before he signed with the Colts and registered 11 sacks in 2019.
7. Willie Lanier, LB (Round 2, Pick 50 in 1967) - Lanier was a product of Morgan State who spent his entire 11-year career with Kansas City. Nicknamed “Contact” for his aggressive style of tackling, Lanier was selected to eight straight Pro Bowls from 1968-75 and was also named an All-Pro three times. He totaled 27 interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries in the regular season and also had seven tackles and an interception during a 23-7 Chiefs win in Super Bowl IV. Lanier was traded to the Colts in 1978, but retired just before training camp began. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, and was a business executive and directed the Lanier Group LLC investment firm.
6. Neil Smith, DE (Round 1, Pick 2 in 1988) - Smith played at Nebraska and was another in a long line of Chiefs stars who could disrupt opposing offenses. He was selected to five straight Pro Bowls from 1991-95 and was an All-Pro in 1993, when he led the NFL with 15 sacks. Smith ranks third in team history with 85½ sacks, including four seasons in double-figures. He celebrated those sacks with a pantomime baseball bat swing in honor of another Kansas City sports legend, longtime Royals third baseman George Brett. Smith signed with the Broncos in 1997, and his three-year stay in the Mile High City included two back-to-back Super Bowl titles. He spent his final season with a third AFC West team, playing 10 games with the Chargers before retiring in 2000. Smith was co-owner of the Arena Football League’s Kansas City Brigade from 2006-08. He continues to run a foundation he started with former teammate Derrick Thomas.
5. Bobby Bell, LB (Round 7, Pick 56 in 1963) - Bell converted from quarterback in high school to defensive line at the University of Minnesota, where he was a two-time All-American, a member of the Gophers’ 1960 National Championship team and the 1962 Outland Trophy winner as best interior lineman. Despite being picked by the Vikings early in the second round of the NFL Draft, Bell chose Kansas City, and the move paid off. He was selected as an AFL All-Star or Pro Bowler nine straight years from 1964-72 and earned six consecutive All-Pro nods from 1965-70. He stopped Jets running back Matt Snell on a goal line stand during Kansas City’s 1969 Division Round victory, and the Chiefs defeated the Raiders and Vikings on their way to the title in Super Bowl IV. Bell retired in 1974 after amassing 26 interceptions, with six returned for touchdowns, as well as 40 unofficial sacks. After his career ended, Bell was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, was selected as a member of the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and opened a chain of barbecue restaurants.
4. Buck Buchanan, DT (Round 1, Pick 1 in 1963) - Junious “Buck” Buchanan was a product of Grambling College (now Grambling State University), where he earned NAIA All-American status playing under legendary coach Eddie Robinson. There was quite a difference between his selection spots in the AFL and NFL. The Chiefs made Buchanan the first African-American player taken with the top overall selection in draft history, while the Giants took him with pick 265 of the 19th round on the NFL side. He was named an AFL All-Star or Pro Bowler every season from 1964-71, and also earned four All-Pro selections. Buchanan teamed with stars Jerry Mays and Curley Culp to create a formidable defensive front that went to the Super Bowl twice. He retired in 1975, and was named to the AFL’s All-Time Team and the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Buchanan was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990 and died from lung cancer two years later. His name is on the award for the best player in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), an award which future Chief Jared Allen won in 2003.
3. Will Shields, G (Round 3, Pick 74 in 1993) - Shields was an All-American and Outland Trophy winner at Nebraska in 1992. He spent 14 seasons in the NFL, all as Kansas City’s starting left guard, and his 224 games rank second in team history behind punter Dustin Colquitt with 238. Shields was a two-time All-Pro, was selected to 12 straight Pro Bowls from 1995-2006 and was named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2003. He retired in 2007, and now owns and operates the 68 Inside Sports fitness center in Kansas. Shields was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
2. Derrick Thomas, LB (Round 1, Pick 4 in 1989) - Thomas was a 1988 All-American at Alabama, and he also won the Butkus Award winner that year as best college linebacker. His 27 sacks that season and 52 overall would be collegiate records, but sacks were not an official NCAA statistic until 2000. Thomas was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first nine seasons, earned a pair of All-Pro selections and was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1989. He is the Chiefs’ all-time leader with 41 forced fumbles and 126½ sacks, including seven seasons with 10 or more and a league-high 20 in 1990. The 1993 NFL Man of the Year was driving to the airport in Kansas City during a snowstorm to catch a flight to St. Louis and watch the 2000 NFC Championship Game between the Rams and Buccaneers. According to reports, Thomas was going 70 miles per hour and not wearing his seatbelt when he hit a patch of ice on the road and was thrown from the vehicle. He was initially paralyzed from the chest down and died two weeks later from a blood clot that started in his legs and moved to his lungs. He was posthumously elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
1. Tony Gonzalez, TE (Round 1, Pick 13 in 1997) - “Gonzo” was a two-sport star at Cal, earning All-American honors in football in 1996 and playing in the Sweet 16 with the Bears that spring. All he did in his 17-year NFL career was set tight end records with 1,325 receptions (third overall all-time) and 15,127 yards (sixth), and his 111 touchdowns are second at the position (Antonio Gates has 116) and eighth overall. Gonzalez spent his first 12 seasons with Kansas City, earning five All-Pro selections and being named to 10 straight Pro Bowls from 1999-2008. He signed with the Falcons in 2009, and was a four-time Pro Bowler and a 2012 All-Pro in five seasons in Atlanta. Gonzalez is the all-time leader in Chiefs history with 916 catches, 10,940 yards, and 76 scores. After retiring in 2013, he spent three years as a studio analyst with CBS and is about to enter his fourth season in the same role with FOX. Gonzalez was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019.
WORST
10. (tie) Rod Walters, G (Round 1, Pick 14 in 1976) and Brian Jozwiak, G (Round 1, Pick 7 in 1986) - Walters was an Iowa product who played in 52 games, starting just seven with the Chiefs. He missed the 1977 season with a knee injury and was released early in 1980 after four years in Kansas City. Walters also played with the Lions and Dolphins that season before retiring.
Jozwiak was converted from defensive tackle to guard at West Virginia, where he blocked for future Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler. The 1985 All-American played just 28 games and three seasons in the NFL, all with the Chiefs, before suffering a hip injury and retiring in 1988. For nearly 30 years, Jozwiak has been hosting a celebrity golf tournament to benefit the West Virginia University Medicine Children’s organization.
9. Glenn Dorsey, DT (Round 1, Pick 5 in 2008) - Dorsey earned quite a bit of hardware while he was at LSU. He was a two-time All-American, was a member of the Tigers’ 2007 National Championship team and was awarded the Lott Trophy (personal character and athletic excellence), the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player), the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and the Lombardi Award (best overall lineman). Based on all those accolades, the Chiefs signed him to a five-year, $51 million contract before he even played a game. He had four sacks and 238 tackles in 66 games with the Chiefs. Dorsey signed with the 49ers in 2013, and missed the following season with a torn ACL. He totaled three sacks in 38 games with San Francisco before retiring in 2016. Although he did not earn any honors at the professional level, Dorsey was named to the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020.
8. Percy Snow, LB (Round 1, Pick 13 in 1990) - Snow earned MVP honors after making 17 tackles in Michigan State’s 20-17 victory over USC in the 1988 Rose Bowl, and he also won the Butkus and Lombardi Awards in 1989. He made the All-Rookie Team after registering two sacks in 15 games with the Chiefs, but sustained a knee injury in a scooter accident that cost him the entire 1991 season. After one more season in Kansas City, he signed with Chicago in 1993. However, the injury still affected Snow, and he retired from the NFL in 1993. He came back for one season with the Rhein Fire of the World League of American Football in 1996 before retiring for good.
7. Paul Palmer, RB (Round 1, Pick 19 in 1987) - Palmer played at Temple under future Cardinals and Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians. He was a four-time All-East selection and a two-time All-ECAC honoree, as well as an All-American and the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting to Vinny Testaverde in 1986. Palmer led the NFL with 923 kick return yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, but he clashed with Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer over playing time and was released the following year. Palmer signed with the Lions, but was traded to the Cowboys after five games. He started eight games with Dallas after an injury to Herschel Walker, and led the team with 446 yards during its 1-15 season in 1989. Palmer then had tryouts with the Bengals in 1990 and Eagles in ’91 but was cut by both clubs. He played two years with the Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football before retiring in 1992. Since his playing career ended, Palmer has been an assistant coach with Haddon Heights High School in New Jersey and is also a radio analyst with his alma mater.
6. Jonathan Baldwin, WR (Round 1, Pick 26 in 2011) - Baldwin was an All-Big East selection with the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. He totaled 579 yards and two touchdowns in two seasons with the Chiefs before he was traded to the 49ers for fellow draft bust A. J. Jenkins in 2013. He had just three catches in seven games with San Francisco, and was waived after one season. Baldwin was claimed by the Lions in 2014, but was cut the following day after he failed a physical due to a knee injury and retired. He now works in the commercial lending and capital industry.
5. Sylvester Morris, WR (Round 1, Pick 21 in 2000) - A Jackson State product, Morris had a good start to his NFL career, making the All-Rookie Team after posting 48 catches, 678 yards and three touchdowns with the Chiefs. However, he suffered a torn ACL during an offseason workout in 2001 and did not play again despite being on Kansas City’s roster for three years. Morris signed with the Buccaneers in 2004, but injured his knee yet again and retired. He now owns rental properties.
4. Ryan Sims, DT (Round 1, Pick 6 in 2002) - Sims was a 2001 All-American at North Carolina, where he was a teammate of future NFL All-Pro Julius Peppers. Sims had five sacks in five seasons in Kansas City, but his playing time was reduced after Herman Edwards became the Chiefs’ head coach. He was traded to the Buccaneers in 2007 and had 3½ sacks in four seasons with the Buccaneers. Sims then signed with the Seahawks in 2011, but was released before the season. Pro Bowl defensive tackles John Henderson (ninth to the Jaguars) and Albert Haynesworth (15th to the Titans) were available at this spot.
3. Tyson Jackson, DE (Round 1, Pick 3 in 2009) - Jackson was a two-time second-team All-SEC selection and a member of LSU’s National Championship team in 2007. After holding out into August, he signed a five-year, $57 million contract with the Chiefs. In those five seasons, he gave Kansas City nine sacks and 200 tackles, then signed with Atlanta in 2014. Jackson had just 66 tackles in four seasons with the Falcons, and also had a tackle in a loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. He was released by Atlanta in early 2017, and has not appeared in the NFL since then, despite having a tryout with the 49ers later that year.
2. Trezelle Jenkins, T (Round 1, Pick 31 in 1995) - Jenkins was a Michigan product who played just nine games over three seasons with Kansas City. The 6-foot-7, 320-pound lineman had tryouts with the Saints in 1997 and the Vikings in 1999 but did not make either team. He was selected by the San Francisco Demons in the XFL Draft in 2000, but failed to latch on there as well and retired. Jenkins and his wife now run a fried chicken restaurant in the Detroit area.
1. Todd Blackledge, QB (Round 1, Pick 7 in 1983) - The 1983 Draft is known as the “Year of the Quarterback,” with six passers selected in the first round. Blackledge won the 1982 Davey O’Brien Award as best quarterback and earned Sugar Bowl MVP honors to lead Joe Paterno-coached Penn State to the National Championship over Herschel Walker and Georgia. Stanford star John Elway was selected first overall by the Colts and was promptly traded to the Broncos, but many were surprised when Blackledge was the second quarterback picked. He was taken ahead of Hall of Famers Jim Kelly (14th to the Bills) and Dan Marino (27th to the Dolphins), as well as two-time Pro Bowler Ken O’Brien (24th to the Jets) and Super Bowl XX starter Tony Eason (15th to the Patriots). Despite his high draft spot, Blackledge only started 24 games in Kansas City, and was mostly a backup behind 1983 Pro Bowler Bill Kenney. He signed with Pittsburgh and backed up Bubby Brister for two seasons before retiring in 1989. Overall, his career totals of 5,286 yards and 29 touchdowns made him the least productive of the 1983 first round quarterbacks. Blackledge has been a college football analyst for ABC and ESPN since 1994, and he was the head basketball coach at his high school alma mater, Hoover High School in Ohio, from 2014-18.
All NFL statistics and awards courtesy of https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ and college football statistics and awards courtesy of https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/
This is the final installment of this series. I hope you Enjoyed the NFL Draft.
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