Since taking over as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, Brett Veach has had an excellent track record of making good draft decisions. But you can guarantee he’s had his share of draft mistakes, some of which continue to haunt him.
Take Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, whom Veach believes the Chiefs had no reason not to take 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 have been removed off your roster due to character or injury issues. Looking back on DK, I believe there were several areas where we were unsure, but none that should have led us to avoid him. I believe that’s one athlete who stands out.
Instead of picking Metcalf in the second round, Kansas City chose receiver Mecole Hardman with the 56th overall choice. The Seahawks selected Metcalf eight picks later, 64th overall.
The Chiefs chose Mecole Hardman over DK Metcalf in the 2019 NFL draft.
Metcalf has three 1,000-yard receiving seasons, five seasons with at least 900 receiving yards, an 8.6 touchdown average, and has been selected a Pro Bowler twice and an All-Pro once.
Metcalf signed a three-year, $72 million contract with the Seahawks in July 2022, with a guarantee of $58.2 million, according to Over The Cap.
Meanwhile, Hardman, whom the Chiefs chose over Metcalf, never exceeded 700 receiving yards in a single season and scored 18 total touchdowns in his five seasons with Kansas City.
The 26-year-old remains a free agent as of April 24, the day before the 2024 NFL Draft.
Veach should not feel bad because he was not the NFL general manager who passed up the opportunity to choose Metcalf.
Metcalf entered the league with top athleticism, and NFL analysts questioned if he could develop his route tree at the next level, thus despite having the athletic profile of a first-round prospect, he was picked on day two of the selection.
Fortunately, Metcalf came into the hands of the Seahawks, who had an ideal developmental plan for him, which included exploiting his talents early in his career while working on improving the rest of his game on the side.
Metcalf is now achieving his full potential as a receiver, and the Seahawks are benefiting from it.
Brett Veach discusses setting up trades ahead of the draft.
During his pre-draft press conference, Veach explained how general managers communicate in the days preceding up to the NFL Draft, which may 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 said at the time. “We usually get an email with a list of draft day phone numbers, so we run through it and check with all of the clubs. Once we’ve done that, we normally get into some casual conversation about whether you want to move up or down, or something like that.
“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 said. “A huge part of this is just making sure we’re all on the same page in terms of whatever draft boards you’re working from, because as you know, there are a lot of boards; each team has their own boards as well as a blend of other teams’ boards and historical boards they utilize. We normally contact those teams early in the week to ensure that the phones are operational, to exchange ideas, and to ensure that we are all on the same page about which boards we are dealing with.”
The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft begins on April 25 at 7 p.m. Central time and can be seen on ESPN, ABC, and NFL Network.
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