The Kansas City Chiefs‘ defensive line is going to look different at the end of April than it did at the beginning, and the biggest change is likely to come at edge-rusher.
Kansas City could add to the position through free agency, where a handful of capable veterans remain available. But if one of the top three edge-rushers in the 2026 NFL draft class is still on the board when the Chiefs go on the clock with the No. 9 pick in Round 1 on Thursday night, April 23, it is hard to envision team brass passing on any of them.
The most common projections are either that all three players are off the board by then, or that Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami is the last one remaining. However, Nick Wright predicted Monday on “First Things First” that Texas Tech edge defender David Bailey will drop all the way to Kansas City at 9th overall.
Bailey was an All-American in 2025 who led the Big 12 Conference in tackles for loss with 19.5 and led all of Division I with 14.5 sacks last season. Over his four-year career, which spanned 46 total games at Stanford and with the Red Raiders, Bailey has posted 42 tackles for loss and 29 sacks.
Jets Could Select David Bailey as Early as No. 2 in NFL Draft
GettyTexas Tech edge-rusher David Bailey.
Questions remain about Bailey’s effectiveness as an edge-setter on rushing downs in the NFL, but his upside as a pass-rusher is the trait that renders Wright’s prediction hard to envision.
Peter Schrager of ESPN projected on April 6 that based on what he has heard from league sources, Bailey will most likely land with the New York Jets at No. 2 overall.
“This will likely be either Bailey or Ohio State’s Arvell Reese — New York was 31st in sacks last season with 26 — but I have to think Bailey is the guy for the Jets,” Schrager wrote. “He is a polished pass-rusher with proven production, tying for the FBS lead in sacks (14.5) in 2025. He can be a Day 1 disrupter off the edge.”
David Bailey Only Falls to Chiefs if Majority of Teams in Top-5 Undervalue Edge-Rusher Position
GettyPass-rusher David Bailey of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Wright predicted the Jets will surprise by taking a wide receiver with the second overall pick — Carnell Tate of OSU — rather than waiting to do so at No. 16 in the middle of Round 1 or with the first selection in Round 2 (No. 33 overall).
He then projected OSU linebacker Sonny Styles to land with the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3. That would allow for Reese to fall to the Tennessee Titans at No. 4 and Bain to the New Orleans Saints at No. 8.
In that scenario, if the New York Giants go with the top offensive lineman in Francis Mauigoa of Miami at No. 5 and the Washington Commanders take star running back Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame seventh overall, Bailey could drop to the Chiefs.
However, Wright’s predictions undervalue the edge-rusher position at the top of the draft, where as most other analysts believe there will be an early run on that spot inside the top five.
There is a reasonable chance that neither Reese or Bailey make it past pick No. 3, in which case Bain is the last top-tier pass-rusher in the class who Kansas City might have a chance to acquire.
It is more likely, though, that the Chiefs will have one of the first cracks at the top cornerback and/or second receiver off the board with the 9th overall selection.
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