Chiefs' Draft Strategy: Mahomes & Misdirection

0:00On March 19th, Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi recently sat down with ESPN and shared a fun behind the scene story from scouting Patrick Mahomes. Back when he worked for the Kansas City Chiefs, he and assistant GM Brett Veech hold up in a tiny windowless room, digging through old tapes and getting hooked on Mahomes's highlights from his. Breakout College season at Texas Tech, they spotted Mahomes's potential early, watching him throw for over 4,600 yards and 36 touchdowns while protected by tackle. The Raven Clark. Veech was so fired up he started filming plays on his phone to send to coach Andy Reed even though it was just May and the draft was months away. The Chiefs front office decided pretty early they wanted him as their franchise quarterback. On draft night in 2017, tension was high as they scrambled to trade up without tipping their hand. They finally cut a deal with Buffalo to grab the 10th overall pick, but to throw everyone off, they spread rumors they were after a linebacker. Instead, it worked keeping the real target secret

1:04until the pick was in. Borgonzi pointed out how this mirrors the current draft games, like what his Titans are doing now with the first overall selection. They stayed tight-lipped about their plans right up to the end, much like Kansas City did years ago. Draft season is all about poker faces and misdirection, and stories like this show why teams guard their strategy so closely.