Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has a strong history of hitting on draft picks since becoming the team’s GM in 2017. But you can bet that he has had his fair share of misses in the draft, and some of them still haunt him.
Take Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, for example, who, in Veach’s eyes, the Chiefs had no reason not to draft in 2019.
“Sometimes you don’t take guys and fans do the mock drafts, and they go through them years later and are like, ‘We should’ve taken this guy or that guy,’” Veach told FOX Sports in an article published on April 18. “But at the time, a player could’ve been off your board because you had character concerns or an injury concern. I think, looking back on DK, there were areas that we weren’t sure on, but there were none maybe that should’ve prompted us to bypass [him]. I think that’s one player that sticks out.”
Instead of drafting Metcalf in the second round, Kansas City selected receiver Mecole Hardman with the 56th overall pick. Metcalf was selected by the Seahawks eight picks later, 64th overall.
Chiefs Chose Mecole Hardman Over DK Metcalf in 2019 NFL Draft
Since entering the league, Metcalf has had three 1,000-yard receiving seasons, five seasons with at least 900 receiving yards, is averaging 8.6 touchdowns per season, and has been named a Pro Bowler twice and an All-Pro once.
In July 2022, Metcalf signed a three-year, $72 million contract with the Seahawks, which included $58.2 million in guarantees, according to Over The Cap.
Meanwhile, Hardman — the player the Chiefs selected over Metcalf — never eclipsed 700 receiving yards in a single season and scored 18 total touchdowns in his five seasons in Kansas City.
The 26-year-old remains a free agent as of April 24 — the eve of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Veach shouldn’t feel bad — he wasn’t the NFL general manager who passed on the opportunity to draft Metcalf.
As a player who entered the league with elite athleticism, NFL evaluators questioned whether Metcalf could develop his route tree at the next level, which is why, despite having the athletic profile of a first-round talent, he was selected on day two of the draft.
Luckily, Metcalf fell into the hands of the Seahawks, who had a perfect developmental plan for him, which included utilizing his strengths early in his career while they helped improve the rest of his game on the side.
Because of that plan, Metcalf is reaching his full potential as a receiver, and the Seahawks are reaping the benefits of that.
Brett Veach Talks Setting Up Trades Ahead of Draft
Speaking to the media during his pre-draft press conference, Veach went into detail as to how general managers communicate in the days leading up to the NFL Draft, which could include trade discussions.
“We’ll see, typically the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday right before the draft is when the teams do all their call checks and make sure all the phone numbers are working for all the teams,” Veach explained on April 19. “We’ll get an email list of draft day phone numbers, so we typically do a run-through and check with all the teams. Once we do that, it usually kind of spins into some casual dialogue, hypothetically if you were looking to move up or move back – those types of scenarios.
“I think we’ll do a good job of getting out in front of this and talking to some teams and seeing where their mind is in terms of value of their boards or what boards they are working on,” he continued. “A large part of this is just making sure we’re all on the same page in regard to what draft boards you’re working from because as you know there’s tons of boards, each team has their own boards and a combination of other team’s boards and historical boards they use. We typically reach out to those teams early in the week, make sure the phones are working, exchange some ideas, and make sure we’re on the same page in regard to what boards we’re working off of.”
The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft begins on April 25 at 7 p.m. Central time and will be available to watch on ESPN, ABC, and NFL Network.
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