2017 NFL Mock Draft: Kansas City Chiefs select Joe Mixon

With the 27th overall pick in the 2017 CSC community mock draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select....

Joe Mixon, RB, Oklahoma (6-foot-1, 226-pounds)

Here’s the take from stujo4:

Late in the first round, teams may begin to shift from a Best Player Available mode to Fill the Greatest Need mode when evaluating their options. Unless they don’t. The Browns haven’t had a franchise QB since Bernie Kosar and no matter how good Myles Garrett is they might pull the trigger on Trubisky. Or not. Who knows what’s going on in their heads?

The Chiefs are very close to being Super Bowl contenders. What holds them back? The defense is solid. Except maybe the second cornerback because their first cornerback is two time Pro Bowl, First Team All Pro 2016, Second Team All Pro 2015, and 2015 Defensive Rookie of the Year Marcus Peters who the Saints could have drafted at #15 but decided Anbust Peat was a better fit. Plenty of CBs left in the second round. You can shore up the defensive roster in the rest of the draft.

The Chiefs need a QB to replace Alex Smith but that’s in the future, WIN NOW. Alex Smith will probably not lose a big game for you and he almost certainly will not win a big game for you. Unless you count not turning the ball over as winning. Then he’s a star. Andy Reid loves him.

What the Chiefs need is a starting running back to fulfill Coach Andy Reid’s out of fashion style of football: Run the ball, a short, accurate passing game that doesn’t risk a turnover, and a strong defense. All the pieces are there except the RB. Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West are fine change of pace backs and spot starters in case of injury. The Chiefs even have a supposedly rejuvenated C.J. Spiller ready to go. But you can see from the 2016 results that they need a stronger RB to replace Jamaal Charles.

At the 27th pick, McCaffrey and Fournette are gone. In this draft, Dalvin Cook is gone. The last top tier RB remaining is Joe Mixon, whose skill set demonstrated at his pro day has been compared to the Cardinals’ David Johnson. NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah reported that a scout told him at Mixon’s pro day that it was “a Round 1 workout” and that Mixon is "right in the discussion to be considered the top player at the position."

So how big an issue is that domestic violence problem that’s been hung around Mixon’s neck? Pretty big. So big that after last season, the talking heads couldn’t wait to get their turn on air to condemn him as an NFL prospect, saying they wouldn’t have him on their team, etc. The NFL declined to invite him to the Combine. He’s poison to most teams (so they say) except the Bengals, who consider drafting inmates if they can get out on good behavior in time to play. Rotoworld.com reported that 6 of 11 teams would not draft Mixon. 3 said they would draft him, 2 did not reply. Of the 3, two said they’d take him in the third round, one said they’d take him in the first.

On April 21st, Mixon’s attorney reached a settlement on the civil suit brought by the woman he punched in 2014. So that’s behind him. After some verified

counseling classes and public mea culpas and maybe a big donation or two to women’s shelters, he’ll be ready for business.

No? Well, do you know Chiefs’ dynamic WR/KR Tyreek Hill? Yeah he came to town with a pretty big domestic stink on him too. He’ll be on probation due to his plea deal until 2018. Fans were outraged. Until he started lighting it up on the field last year. Now he’s beloved. Think about that the next time you nail Goodell on his hypocrisy.

But back to the Chiefs’ hypocrisy. Their linebacker Jovan Belcher had been with them for 4 seasons when in 2012 he shot and killed his girlfriend in front of their baby and her mother and then drove to the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot to think it over. Coach Romeo Crennel and GM Scott Pioli came out to talk to Belcher, who thanked them for all their help in his life, and then shot himself in the head. Although neither Crennel or Pioli are still with the Chiefs, that incident is still on the team’s domestic violence scorecard. But you know, that was Belcher’s problem. The Chiefs did all they could to help him. Next.

Where am I going with this? I’m selecting RB Joe Mixon for the Chiefs. I don’t know if the Chiefs will take him, but they certainly could, and they could make a good case for doing so. He’s reformed. He just needs a second chance to prove that he has matured, he sees the error of his ways, he now respects women, whatever else the Public Relations department can put out there to allow Mixon to play without seeing empty seats in Arrowhead this year. I can be done. It can be done even better than the Bengals do it and have been doing it for years.

The only reason Ray Rice didn’t get picked up by some team is that he’s gassed.

I think Mixon gets drafted in the first round by somebody. I’m on the list. Raiders, Bengals, Chiefs, by whoever thinks they can manage the PR headache effectively. In order to WIN NOW. And I think the Chiefs are closer to winning now than any of the others. If you can call that winning.

Community Mock Draft Results

1. Cleveland Browns - Myles Garrett, DE, TAMU
2. San Francisco 49ers - Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
3. Chicago Bears - Jamal Adams, S, LSU
4. Jacksonville Jaguars - O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
5. Tennessee Titans - Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
6. New York Jets - Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
7. Los Angeles Chargers - Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
8. Carolina Panthers - Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
9. Cincinnati Bengals - Jonathan Allen, DE, Alabama
10. Buffalo Bills - Tre’Davious White, CB, LSU
11. New Orleans Saints - Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
12. Cleveland Browns - Mitch Trubisky, QB, UNC
13. Arizona Cardinals - Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
14. Philadelphia Eagles (via Minnesota) - Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
15. Indianapolis Colts - Ryan Ramcyzk, OT, Wisconsin
16. Baltimore Ravens - Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
17. Washington Redskins - Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
18. Tennessee Titans (via LA Rams) - John Ross, WR, Washington
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
20. Denver Broncos - David Njoku, TE, Miami
21. Detroit Lions - Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
22. Miami Dolphins - Jabrill Peppers, S, Michigan
23. New York Giants - Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama
24. Oakland Raiders - Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State
25. Houston Texans - Kevin King, CB, Washington
26. Seattle Seahawks - Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama
27. Kansas City Chiefs - Joe Mixon, RB, Oklahoma

The Dallas Cowboys are on the clock!