NFL
Chiefs Rookies Went From Highest-Rated Draft Class to the Super Bowl
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished12 Feb 2023
The Kansas City Chiefs rookie class has been incredible this season. The franchise put a premium on the draft this offseason, and the Chiefs’ 2022 draft class knocked it out of the park, which is a big reason they are in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs 2022 draft class was the best
For the 2022 NFL Draft, Sportscasting.com graded every pick. When the draft finished, we came up with a grade point average for every team based on a weighted average that puts more importance on the players higher in the draft.
The results of the GPA rankings played out on the field pretty accurately.
In the top five were the Seattle Seahawks, who got historic production from their class, including more starts by two rookie tackles than ever before. The Detroit Lions, a team that went from pick No. 2 to a tie-breaker away from the playoffs, was also near the top, as were the New York Jets, who produced the offensive and defensive Rookies of the Year.
As good as all of these teams did, the team with the highest GPA in 2022 was the Kansas City Chiefs. With a final GPA of 89.29, the Chiefs draft class beat all the rest by taking the best players on the board at positions of need and getting good value throughout the weekend.
And after we touted the Kansas City front office and the job they did, the Chiefs rookies showed up big once the season started.
Chiefs rookies were key in 2022
The 2022 Chiefs draft primarily focused on defense, and the team supercharged the unit on Thursday night. With picks Nos. 21 and 30, the team took Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie and Purdue edge rusher George Karlaftis.
Karlaftis started all 17 games and produced 33 tackles and 6.0 sacks. McDuffie started all 11 games he played in (after missing six due to injury) and had 44 tackles with seven passes defended.
McDuffie wasn’t the only Chiefs rookie patrolling the secondary this season. Safety Bryan Cook (Round 2, pick No. 62, Cincinnati), linebacker Leo Chenal (Round 3, No. 103, Wisconsin), and CBs Joshua Williams (Round 4, No. 135, Fayetteville State) and Jaylen Watson (Round 7, No. 243, Washington State) all played meaningful roles in the regular season and playoffs, too.
The Chiefs offense got a little love in the draft as well. Skyy Moore was the team’s second-round pick out of Western Michigan and added 22 catches for 250 yards. The biggest hit on that side of the ball, though, was Isiah Pacheco, a seventh-round running back out of Rutgers.
The Chiefs rookie took over the RB1 job midway through the season and finished the year with 170 carries for 870 yards, 13 catches for 130 yards, and five touchdowns.
Giving this much of the Chiefs draft class significant snaps this year was a risk. But it was one that paid off, as the team wouldn’t be in the Super Bowl without the contributions of these young players.
