NFL Draft in KC, Day 1: Drama, Texans’ bold move and Chiefs’ big night early and late
The Chiefs were the stars of the show at the beginning and end of the first round at opening night of the NFL Draft.
In between, the draft brought trades, drama and bold moves at the event held at Kansas City’s Union Station before tens of thousands of jersey-wearing fans on the lawn at the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Their wait for the Chiefs’ pick at No. 31 was rewarded with the choice of a local product.
Edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who helped Kansas State to the Big 12 championship last season and played at Lee’s Summit High, was the final player announced on Thursday.
Anudike-Uzomah became the first player from a Kansas City high school selected by the Chiefs since offensive lineman Donald Stephenson in 2012. Stephenson played at Blue Springs High and Oklahoma.
Thursday night’s opening also had a distinct Chiefs flavor. Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes brought the Super Bowl trophy and his tight end, Travis Kelce, to the stage, where they’d accompany commissioner Roger Goodell and KC actors Heidi Gardner and Eric Stonestreet in officially opening the football party.
The NFL said attendance was about 125,000. Earlier, the large North Lawn viewing site for fans apparently topped its capacity.
The draft started a few minutes after 7 p.m., with the Carolina Panthers making the first selection. The Panthers traded with the Chicago Bears last month to land to No. 1 draft slot, and Carolina did the expected by selecting Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.
Asked when he knew he would become a member of the Panthers, Young said, “when I saw that Charlotte area code on my phone.”
The pick started an early run of quarterbacks, with the Houston Texans taking Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud second and the Indianapolis Colts selecting Florida’s Anthony Richardson fourth.
“I’m going to bring energy, hard work, and God willing, a Super Bowl,” Richardson said.
Richardson was the choice over Kentucky’s Will Levis, who was not selected on Thursday. Levis, who’s attending the draft in person, was considered a likely first-round pick. But then two teams in the market for a quarterback besides Carolina — Houston and Indianapolis — looked elsewhere.
The green-room wait must have been painful for Levis. It’s happened in previous drafts, perhaps most famously in 2005. California quarterback Aaron Rodger was expected to be drafted early but fell to No. 24, where the Green Bay Packers rescued him.
It worked out well for Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion who recently signed with the New York Jets.
The Texans provided the draft’s first surprise by striking a deal with the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3. With that pick, Houston took Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr.
The move by Texans general manager Nick Caserio was daring and rare. Houston became just the third team in the common draft era to make two picks in the top three, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The next big surprise came at No. 12, where the Detroit Lions selected Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs. He was picked higher than most projected and was the second running back selected after Texas’ Bijan Robinson, taken eighth by the Atlanta Falcons.
Iowa State hadn’t had a first-round draft selection in 50 years, the longest stretch among power five programs. That ended when the New York Jets selected edge rusher Will McDonald IV with the 15th pick.
Wide receivers were hanging out in the green room at Union Station longer than expected. None was selected until Ohio State’s Jaxon Njigba-Smith was taken 20th by the Seattle Seahawks.
The next three picks were wide receivers, too: TCU’s Quentin Johnson, Boston College’s Zay Flowers and Southern California’s Jordan Addison.
The Super Bowl finalist Philadelphia Eagles selected one spot ahead of the Chiefs at No. 30, and the mother of Travis and Eagles center Jason Kelce announced the selection: Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith, Donna Kelce proclaimed.
And then, finally, came the news that Chiefs fans in the crowd had awaited all day. And they were rewarded with the selection of a local product.
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 11:45 PM with the headline "NFL Draft in KC, Day 1: Drama, Texans’ bold move and Chiefs’ big night early and late."