Voice of the Chiefs, Mitch Holthus and senior team reporter, Matt McMullen welcome Kansas City Sr. Director of Player Personnel, Mike Bradway to the show to preview the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, kicking off on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh, we're getting closer. Yes, there's the holidays on the
normal calendar, and then there's the NFL Draft for NFL
freaky fans that just love it the best time of year.
And we continue on defending the kingdom looking at the
draft with in Veach's Guys We Trust and of course
it's brought to you by Ticketmaster, who you can have
(00:23):
your best friends all year long.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Let's keep it on an.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
RPO at the FUD it's a lead plot.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
He goes out of the ends on their side, touchdown Chunzas.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
City, however you want.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm Mitchell's voice of the Chiefs along with senior team
reporter Matt McMullen, and the T shirts were very popular.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I think I still have mine somewhere.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
In Beach We Trust and even ward around town a
little bit and people are like, yeah, that's pretty cool.
But in this episode we're going to go with in
Veach's Guys We Trust and we will feature a senior
director UH Senior director player personnel. Mike Bradway is a
special guest and it's just awesome to see the comprehensive
(01:03):
nature of Brett Veach's entire staff and how they work together.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It's not a coincidence.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
A Chiefs pretty much have been hitting a lot of
home runs or if not extra base hits in these.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Drafts, particularly late in the draft, and that's so hard
to do. It seems like an obvious thing that every
front office should be able to know who the best
players are going to be in round five, six and seven.
But the truth is, the Chiefs put in extra work
on these guys. And it's not just the area of
scouts that are looking at them. It's Brett Veach and
Mike Bradway and the people at the very top of
(01:33):
the food chain, Coach Reid. They're watching guys that are
going to be drafted on Day three and maybe not
get drafted at all because they're putting in the extra hours,
the extra time just to make sure we get an
impact player late in the draft. And you see the
fruits of that when Isaiah Pacheco is the leading rusher
in a Super Bowl that you win, or you get
a guy like Jalen Watson who's picking off Trevor Lawrence
(01:54):
and causing incompletions against Joe Burrow, like these things happen
because of the work guys put in over the summer
during the season, even trying to find a few impact
players that maybe other teams are overlooking. We're so fortunate
we have these guys on our side.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Coach Read, I just think if he wasn't coaching, would
be like the biggest draft nerd of all time. Oh yeah,
for sure, because he loves He just loves it like
he loves football. He loves colleges, every college. He loves
the game so much that yes, he would have like
the giant book and he would know the undrafted free
agent from I don't know Slippery Rock.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
But he's what would Kelvin Sampson say during the Final
four said Sasquatch State or something. Yeah, yeah, he'll know that.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Coach, he would know it. So before we hear from
Mike Bradway, what do you have for around the world?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Just three today, because we're we're in a hurry. This
draft week is nearly upon us. So just three today,
we'll get through this. Uh So, I went to a
cool like speakeasy with Ellie over the weekend and she
just wanted to kind of go out and and check
his place out, and I'm like, okay, So we sit
down and I end up talking football with the guy
that's next to us, and his name was JP.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
JP.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Checks out our stuff. Such a romantic meeting you, JP.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, it was very romantic, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And and Ellie kind of knows this is going to happen,
and we go out in public somehow, some way, I'm
just going to end up talking football with somebody, and.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
She's okay with it, like we're gonna have a night
out at to speakeasyer and oh hey, let's in the
fifth room exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So anyway, shout out to you, JP. He was great
meeting you. Chris is listening from Saint George, Utah. Yeah
you ever been there?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Oh I have not, but I was just talking about
that area of Utah. In fact, I spoke at a group.
It was in Carrollton, Missouri. Your granddad would have loved this.
Oh yeah, and so Carroll County, Missouri, and someone came
up they were they were at this event from southern
Utah and they were in from the Saint George area.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So this was just last night. This is weird. Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
But Dixie Utah Tech is down in there, also, Utah Tech,
Utah Tech Southern Utah is down in there too. So
a couple universities here in that Dixie range Dixie Utah Range.
It was Dixie State. At one time it was a
powered jucob then it became I think Utah a tech.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Okay, very cool. More, you know, is near like all
the national parks and all that.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It's near Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Okay, yeah, that's a National park vegational.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Park in some ways it might be. Then lastly, shout
out to Oreo the Dog. So someone wrote in for
their dog. We talked about my dog Pip on last
week's episode.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
No better dog than Pip.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, Oreo, let's take a case dog Lola. Shout out
to Lola as well. Tied for first, but Oreo the Dog.
I don't know Oreo's owner, but they got Oreo in
twenty nineteen, mere months before the Chiefs went on to
win the Super Bowl for the first time in fifty years,
and Oreo has been by their side through all the
Super Bowl craziness. So Oreo is a good luck charms.
(04:51):
So shout out to you, Oreo.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Thank you. We don't know the breed of Oreo.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Don't know much about Oreo except that they're lucky.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Is Oreo Mangie Mutt Rescue All American dog.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
We need more information, let us know more about Oriolon. Yeah.
But regardless, Orio has been a good luck charm and
I'll take all the luck that we can get.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And I would not put out there to send us
your favorite dog, or it would crash the site because
here come all the defending Kingdom dogs from around the world.
Although that would be fun to new segment, what is
really fun is we get the chance to have Mike Bradway.
And Mike is closing in on twenty years in the
National Football League. His official title with the Chiefs Senior
director of Player Personnel. But his dad is awesome. He's
(05:30):
a consultant for the Panthers, but he was in our
personnel department when I first.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Came into the league.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I had such awesome conversations with him as dad's Terry
was a former GM of the Jets, has been around
the league for a long time, and you'll hear it
as we introduce Mike. But Mike's fashioned his own career
and Mike's brilliance is just a testimony to the depth
(05:57):
and comprehensive nature of Brett Beach's staff. Now last year,
if you want to dig it out of the archives,
you'll find us talking about the scouts. But it's not
just the scouts. It's Chris Schey, it's dealing with the
cap it's working with this pro personnel, player personnel, all
working together with the college scouts, with the coaches. I'm
(06:17):
not sure I fully appreciate how good they are and
how awesome they work together.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It's so easy to take them for granted. I mean,
these people are here every day, they're on the road
all the time, they're working crazy hours. They spend more
time with their coworkers here in the front office than
they do with their own families most of the time.
And it's all about striving to get back to the
Super Bowl and to win it every single year. And again,
I mean, we're just so fortunate to have these people
(06:45):
working in our building who are the best at what
they do. And you can see why other teams want
to hire away our people, like the Titans go get
Mike Borganzi, and the Bears go get Ryan Poles years ago,
the Colts come and get Chris Ballard. I mean, this
is going to keep happening a long time because we
have bread exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, four teams in the league that our guys.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It's a lot of teams coming to the chiefs and
saying we want that guy. And just imagine the brain
trust here, I mean, the different perspectives and viewpoints and expertise.
It's just really incredible and to have Brett kind of
leading the whole group. But it's also the fact that
he's willing to listen to opposing viewpoints. He wants to
hear what they have to say, and he's involved in
every single step of the process. It's not just uh,
(07:28):
you know, a certain couple of people they handle this
area and no one else looks at it. It's a
comprehensive thing and it's a really just an incredible team.
And obviously the football team's success is a testament to
what these guys. The hours they put in day in
and day.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Out, and in the NFL calendar, and a coach is
working insane hours. They work insane hours. Yeah, it's crazy,
but there are there are gaps they get times. Now
coach may not take it, but he makes sure everybody
gets out of the building of that coaching staff. So
there's gaps and times they can get away, sometimes a
two week period or even longer. Brett Veach's guys don't,
(08:03):
and these runs to the Super Bowl. The fact that
we've had seven straight AFC Championship appearances and to be
in all the Super Bowls. We've been in five Super
Bowls in the last six years is really taxing on
Brett Veach's guys because he sent me twice text me,
you know, they're grinding the day after parades. They're in
there early in the morning looking because they have to
(08:24):
get ready for the Combine. They've been to the Senior Bowl,
they've been to East West Shrine, but right after the
Super Bowl is the Combine, and where the rest of
the leagues had scoutings, has kind of maybe taken a breath.
These dudes have had no time to exhale unless it's
July and the only time where there's a plant shutdown,
that's the only time these guys get when we.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Go to Saint Joe. They basically have no time off
until Rookie Mini Camp the next year. It's like rippling
that wraps up because there's a break between Rookie Mini
Camp and OTA's kind of kind of but for the
most part, like you're jumping into training camp. If you're
one of the area scouts, or you're in the draft
evaluation process, you're sent out all over the country. You're
leaving and leaving your family most likely to go just
(09:05):
watch guys for months and months. But if you're here
in the building, you're at camp, and then the season starts,
you're here all season long. Obviously, hopefully we go to
the super Bowl like we had the last three years.
Hopefully we win it, and then immediately you're grinding on
draft stuff all through that free agency draft happens. You
have to get all the udfas in here, you have
rookie mini camp, and then you might have a day
(09:25):
or two maybe, Like Brett talked about how a couple
of years ago, his first day off since training camp,
he went to the F one race after rookie minniamp
was over, and he's like, I have not had one
day off. And you know, there's a reason they're in
these jobs. They're built differently and they're able to do it.
They love it and they enjoy it and they're incredible
at it. But it's like a different breed. I mean,
it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Their families have to be understanding.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
They live for late June or early July when the
NFL shuts down, right and there's a reason they could, guys,
go recharge your batteries. Mike Bradway's brilliant and we get
the blessing to talk talk to him on this edition
of Defending the Kingdom. A special moment in DTK Defending
the Kingdom history because it's the first time we've had
(10:07):
two Blue Valley North Mustangs on the set at the
same time. Honestly, it's a treat. We talked this episode
ISS entitled in Veach in Veach's guys we trust and
Mike Bradway is with us, the senior director of player
Personnel for the Chiefs, and Mike, let me say this,
congratulations on an incredible career to this point.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You're zeroing in on two decades.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, ten years with the Eagles, in eight years with us.
Your dad was awesome in my first years in the league.
We had the best talks. He is such a great dude.
But you fashioned your own career, so congratulates.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
I appreciate the measure.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
Yeah, I mean that's some of the finest memories grown up.
We're listening to you and going to Arrowhead in the
late nineties, you know, just growing up around the Kingdom
and feel very blessed and to be here.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, your dad's a savant and you are too. We're
zeroing in on the twenty twenty five draft again. It's eminent,
but you know, like coach will tell me, he goes
every year is different, man, Every year is different as
a team. But I've learned your dad started this. Every
year is different in the draft. So twenty twenty five,
when you look at it from thirty thousand feet, what
(11:16):
do you see?
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Yeah? I think you're right.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
You know, every draft is different, has his strengths as weaknesses.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You know.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
I think when you look at this one particular, I
don't think you're gonna see six quarterbacks going the top twelve.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
I think that was a unique year.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
You know, this year, I think you can really you
can really focus on the lines, you know. I think
there's some depth of D line, O line. I think
there's a good running back class. I think the tight
ends are deep. But you know, from our standpoint, even
the positions that may be weaker, I think we look
at it as a positive. I think there's pockets within each
of those positions where there's some value, whether that's day two.
Day three, there's some good corner depth, but we we
(11:54):
think where we're picking with the three picks in the
top sixty six, four in the top ninety five, there's
some really good depth on day two where there's an opportunity.
There's flexibility there to whether it's stay pat take four players,
or move up or down. I think there's a lot
of flexibility of what.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
We have and for you guys, for fans, and for
a lot of like kind of casual draft watchers. The
interest in this begins with the combine, but obviously for
you and your group, it begins way before that. Walk
us through the process of how you start learning about
these players, kind of creating your board and leading to
draft day.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
So I think the reality is that our scouts have
been covering these guys for you know, two three years,
you know, so we've known about especially these guys at
the top. You know, we've just been continually to get
information and learn about these guys.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
But it can you know, really for this draft.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
It starts in the summer where our guys are evaluating
you know, the top one fifty players, and then from
the fall, it's the it's the school visits it's the
character building, and then the board starts to materialize, probably
in December when our scouts are and for the meetings,
and at that point, I think it's all getting guys
in the right kind of clumps, you know, on the board,
the right pockets, and going from there learning more about
(13:02):
you know, the character piece, the medical piece, the testing,
and that's kind of where guys separate themselves. But it's
a process. You know, they're each part of the process.
It's the bores changing and the one thing that you learn.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Has got to be adaptable.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
You've alluded to this, but having four picks in the
top one hundred is pretty juicy. But how much or
how realistic is it for us to expect to get
a day one starter somewhere in those top four selections.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
Yeah, I think anytime you're you know, day one, day
two picks, I think you got to go in thinking
those guys will at some point in their rookie year,
especially the first first round picks are a little different.
You expect those guys to probably play a little more,
have a significant right away, But all those guys, you know,
at some point in their rookie year should be steady starters.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
For you know.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
I think, you know, obviously blessed to have a pretty
good roster here without a lot of true holes. But again,
all those guys were taking and even you know, day three, like,
we want all those guys to have roles right away.
They might not be starting roles, but you know, those
guys they need to be significant, you know, contributors early.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
So that that's kind of how we view it.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
When it comes you can talk with Mike Bradway.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I just want to let everybody know our senior director,
player personnel, it's just exciting to have you here.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well, I just one to ask when it comes to
finding these prospects that will come in here and hopefully contribute.
I feel like with a lot of teams, there's the
front office and the coaching staff and they operate almost separately.
Not really the case here, though, there seems to be
so much collaboration between the front office and the coaching staff.
Can you speak to that a little bit, how they're
involved in the draft process.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Yeah, I think that's what makes kind of our you
know process unique. Now it helps you know, we've been
together for so long, so we know exactly what SPAGS
is looking for, what Nags is looking for, you know,
what coach likes in a player. You know, not just
on the field, you know, talent wise, but also the makeup,
you know. So I think just the collaboration. I know
that word gets thrown out a lot, but I mean
the communication we have with our staff, I mean it
(14:54):
is every single day, it is constant. It is you know,
there's no secrets, like we are truly one team together,
and I think that's the best way to do it.
You know, I think we're not always going to see
things i'd eye, but hey, let's talk about it. Let's
get in the draft room. Say what do you see?
What do we see it? You know, we these guys
kind of get into the process late. You know, obviously
you know they're Bay play as long as we have
(15:16):
you know, so you know, our scouts have been watching
these guys for years. So it's kind of trying to
get all on the same page. And what we've learned
is that there could be some players that are just
maybe better fit elsewhere, you know, and that's fine, Like
we're gonna find guys that are that are chiefs, that
are that fit the profile on the field, and then
you know what we're looking for in the locker.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Room Matt and I talked about last week is kind
of a primer. There's always seemed like a run, right
you talked about the quarterbacks last year or the wide
receiver run in twenty two.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I remember.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
But I want to ask you about making a decision
whether to trade up, which has done a lot, trade
down or stick. What goes into that process of deciding
we're going or we're moving down.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Yeah, I think in the in the instances where we've been,
you know, ready to pay, and you know, we've identified
a guy that we really like, you know, and there's
he's clearly sticks out on.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
The board like a sore thumb.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Like I think Veach has proven that the only way
you know that you're gonna get the guy is to
be aggressive, and sometimes you don't may not have leverage
in a trade in terms of value, but the most
important thing is getting the guy that that we're convicted on,
that we are you know, passionate about, that we like
and we're not gonna we'd rather, you know, give up
a little bit to get a guy that we really like,
(16:28):
as opposed to maybe wait, you know, ten to twelve
picks sweat it out and you know, potentially lose out
on a guy, but then you know the trade down
option when we don't.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
We haven't done it much here obviously, you know, with
with with Brett.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
But you know, just for example, if you have if
you know we picked up the end of the rounds,
if you have you know there's five guys you have,
you know there's fifteen picks away, you have five guys
that are great equally, then maybe just kind of let it,
you know, play out and if they're still there where
you're picking, like maybe you move back a little bit
and you know, get some more you know, a pick or.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Two and a willing trade partner.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I mean told me they like you guys walk into
the combine and the other guys like walk away from you.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Like we've been so successful.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I don't say that I arrogantly, but yeah, you got
to have a partner in that.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
It takes two to tango.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
And I think you know that's why we use you know,
like this week and you know previous weeks just to
call around the league with our contacts and just kind
of get a feel for you know, hey, would you
be interested in moving up down? Like what are your
kind of you know, general thoughts on on where you
guys might go, and then as the draft plays out,
like you know, we all have such good contacts in
the league, and.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
You know we all have kind of the same trade charts.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
You know, so's it's not you know, it's no one's
you know, just dominating trades consistently. You know, you always feel,
you know, if you get the player, you know, training out,
you get the player, like you don't you don't really worry.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
About what you give up.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
What's the energy like in the draft room though, when
you see a guy like Trent mcduffy kind slide him
down the board, maybe didn't think he'd be there and
you have a chance to go up and get him.
Is it just like electric that that's a guy that
maybe you didn't think you'd have a chance to get,
and yeah, he's got to be a chief.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
I think that year taught us that you know, we
probably should, you know, do work on you know, everybody
that we think is probably going to go in the
top ten, fifteen, you know, just to be sure, just
because that was obviously a pleasant surprise. But you know,
there's there was a handful of guys where you're like, well,
these guys are you know, they're top fifteen, and then
they start to fall a little bit, and then if
they get into you know, particular range, that's that's where
(18:18):
you kind of pounce.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
And those are the conversations.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
That we will have, We've had that we will have,
like if this player falls to twenty two, twenty three,
twenty four, like, should we make a big move for him?
Speaker 1 (18:30):
You three picks on the seventh round as it stands
right now. Now we have learned Matt and I over
the years, especially with Brett and you and the rest
of the crew, is the seventh round pay attention. That's
where you get Isaiah picheck On, Azzie Johnson, Jalen Watson.
But then the undrafted free agent craziness. But I'm looking here,
I mean Carson Steele, Nico Rimihio, Jack Cochrane, Caleendo.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Kaylie Endo. Those guys are all right there.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
What about that dynamic three attacking the seventh round? And
then the New York Stock Exchange opens when their draft ends,
and the phone start going crazy.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
Yeah, it's a I mean specifically about the you know,
late rounds. I mean, the good thing about the way
we do our process, like those guys we take it
in the seventh round.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Like we've done a lot of work on those guys.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
We've watched even Brett, Like we've watched tape on those guys,
you know, extensively.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Our coaches are aware of them. We've had countless reports
on them.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
So you know, those are guys that you know, we
are probably you know, we're probably in the fifth, fourth,
fifth round that just you know fell for whatever reason,
and we kind of identify the kind of guys that
we want to take shots on. You know, I think
typically you try to take shots on guys that maybe
their careers didn't go as you know where they're production,
you know, injury, like you know, maybe there were a
couple of schools, but they have the traits, they have
(19:46):
the passion for the game. Like those are the kind
of guys you'd take a shot on. And specifically about freegency. Yeah,
it's crazy, but we have we have a very you know,
detailed process to you know, like you know, each scout's
gonna have a position. The communications great in the room,
you know, with with Crische you know, just kind of
managing everything and just constant dialogue. You know, it's that's
(20:07):
the one thing we stressed everybody like just over communicate,
you know, because everything's there's so much coming at you,
so many numbers, and you know there's going to be
a handful of guys that go undrafted that we really like.
You know, those guys were going to be aggressive going
after him, And I think it's a credit to our
personnel staff, our scouts that we found guys, you know,
in a super Bowl caliber team. To have some undrafted
(20:29):
free and to make a team, it's not easy, you know,
but it's a credit to I think our staff and
also the players themselves.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And what's it like when you have picks and multiple
picks in one round, like in the seventh round having
three picks, particularly the third round you're picking at the
very beginning of the third round, and you know there's
picks are close together. What's the draft room like when
you have all right, here's a selection and we're on
the clock again in five minutes.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Yeah, So well, you know, after the draft, you know,
after round one, wild get together and we'll basically reach
out the board, you know, and then I know we
got a long way to go in round two. But
you know, as those guys start getting you know, picked off.
Like as we're close to the end of the second round,
we'll have we'll have a handful of names that you know,
we're really interested in, and you know, I think we'll
be hey, let's you know, let's let's take this guy
(21:13):
first and based off our intel, based off our knowledge,
maybe this guy's got a better chance of.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
Being there, you know, top of three.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
But yeah, it's always you gotta be you gotta be ready.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
You're gonna have from one thirty three to two twenty six.
I could see Brett filling in that gap, but yeah,
what are you gonna do in that gap because there's
gonna be a lot of asteroids flying.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Yeah, it's it's gonna it's a little strange, you know
with the you know, not having you know, round you know,
picksing five and six. But you know, we he almost
got to be prepared that if we do, you know,
just to be able to you know, be.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Ready for those guys.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
And yeah, I think this this first year we've had
mister relevant, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Is Ryan suck up years and years ago? Yeah, in
like in two thousand and yeah, ten or nine or something,
I don't know, but it been a long time.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Yeah, it's we we we've gone through the board, you
know and be like, man, this guy, this guy would
be a good mystery of you know, there's a handful
of these guys that we've you know, we've talked about that.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
You know would fit that mold, you know.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
But yeah, there's it's ah, the days are long, you know,
it's you know, you the unfortunate thing is you love
some of these players. You do so much work on
these guys, and you know there's just guys that you
love to have on your team, and you know there
is some luck involved, you know, and it's uh, the
only on you know right now you might only get
eight of them.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
You know, it's just the reality of it.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Before we let you go.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Because Matt and are up above you on three the
third floor of the building. Well, the draft room is
like a flurry of activity. You've got somebody you want them,
you can't go up and get them, and then they
fly off the board.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
How do you handle that?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Because we don't handle it great. We got a guy
who are.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
Like, oh, there's a collective groan you know for you know,
and then you know we might have to you know,
go pace in the Hallway a little bit, you know,
maybe get a quick stack or something, you know, but
then you got to you gotta repivot, you know, you
got to get back in it. And you know that's
why with every selection it's A and B plan C.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Expect the unexpected.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
And you know there's been times we've been on the
clock ready to make a pick and the guy goes
right before us.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
It's for like, you might only have a few minutes
to pick.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
But that's why we set the board the way we
do and just kind of let it fall to us.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Man, that's awesome, what a treat. Thanks for being with us.
Thanks busy time. But Mike Bradway our senior director player
personnel and just brilliant.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
His dad was awesome.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Your kids are even involved in this if you want
to check their draft board.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
But anyway, thanks for being with us MICROA.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
It's been great.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Thanks great stuff there from Mike Bradway and again a
great example of the brilliance of Brett Veitch's guys.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Absolutely, and again those guys don't get as much credit.
Brett is always the first one to say that he
wants like the people that work with him to get
as much credit as he does, and obviously he's kind
of the figurehead. He's the general manager and he's making
ultimate decisions. But I just love the collaboration of that group.
And again, Brett would be the first to say that
they deserve so much much credit for all the success
(24:01):
that we've had. It's not just one person, it's the
whole team and the whole group. And again, we're very
lucky to have them all here in Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
And the respect they have for each other is again dynamic.
We'll close it out this way, but I'm really interested.
We know that Brett likes to move up, we've seen
him do it, but there's a chance the Chiefs Kingdom
has to be ready to move down. And if there's
a draft where people have said, hey, this is a
draft to move down or you're thirty one, this would
be the one we just heard Mike talk about it.
(24:28):
There is a seemingly a sweet spot from late first
rounds to maybe the beginning of the fourth But with
the Chiefs have in those four picks between thirty one
and ninety five, seems to be a really good strategic
position to either build equity to move or to find starters.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
And I really think just the way the Chiefs attacked
free agency this year. We've talked about this ad nauseum,
but I think this year, maybe more than many others,
we truly can just take the best players available. And
that's the position that you want to be in. And
Brett Veach had his like pre draft press conference earlier
today actually, and he said that they have between twelve
the fourteen players that have like the hard fast first
(25:09):
round grades, and sure, if one of those guys falls
into the twenty range, they could be aggressive and move up.
And we've seen them do that before with players like
Trent McDuffie and Xavier Worthy last year. But he said
there's also maybe more players than normal who are in
that secondary wave where it's late first round, early second round.
They have a lot of players kind of with similar
grades in that area. That's a good position to be
(25:31):
in if you're the Chiefs because if someone else really
wants to trade into the first round and the guys
that you have high grades on are all gone, you
can just move back and acquire more picks and you're
going to get a player that maybe you thought as
the same caliber as a player you would have taken
at thirty one or you stand pat and you're going
to get a good player there anyway. So it's a
really good spot for the Chiefs to be in. If
you're more interested in all this stuff. Brett said, he
(25:53):
talked for like forty minutes. It's going to be on
the Chiefs YouTube page here, really interesting stuff. Brett is
great because if you listen, he will tell you what
you're curious about. He's not playing games like he'll tell you, Hey,
I think ol DL running back, corner, and receiver are
the strength of this draft, and we'll probably take those positions.
And it's like, Okay, we'll pay attention to those spots.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Then one final thing before we close.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
And I'm fascinated by this because of the changing landscape
in college sports. I think we're going to do a
whole DTK on this subject, and that is with the
movement in college sports, all the transfers mostly moving up nil.
But I'm just curious what the fifth, eh the sixth,
(26:37):
seventh rounds look like, and what undrafted free agency will
look like, not just for the Chiefs but all thirty
two teams, because I get the sense we're in a
kind of a revolutionary time of the NFL and the
personnel coming into this league.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
The landscape's totally different now, and it's different for a
couple of reasons. If you look at some players that
will be taken later in the draft, some guys taken
high in the draft, what's really strange is they will
have like five years of college experience and they've played
at three or four different schools, And I think that
kind of makes things difficult on evaluators because if a
guy wasn't in the same place the entire time, how
(27:14):
did he grow? How did he improve from year to year?
And some players can't do it even though they've moved around.
But it's definitely harder, I think if you're not in
the same place and with the same coaching staff. Also,
the ages of players are going to be different, So
you're not going to find many juniors who are coming
out and going to be taken in the fifth or
sixth round because they can likely make more money just
staying in college or by transferring. So I think what
(27:37):
you're going to see over the years with your later
on picks in your udfas is prospects who are twenty four,
twenty five years old with a lot of experience, which
is a benefit has me thinking of guys like Swayze Boseman.
They can come in right away and play on special
teams and they have experience playing a lot of football.
But there's also less time to develop. And that's the
benefit of having guys like Xavier Worthy and Kingsley Suamataia
(27:58):
early in the draft last year year. Those guys are
both twenty twenty one years old. Their runway is very long.
But if you're already twenty four to twenty five years old,
less time to develop. So put some stress in the
coaching staff and put some stress in the front office
to find the players who might be older and you
think can help you right away.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
But the top end of that is the window to
play in this league. Everybody talks about then thirty years old,
things start to get weird. And I mean bo Nix
is a twenty six year old rookie quarterback.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah, okay, Mahomes won the Super Bowl at twenty four.
Think about that.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Think about that, and then and then the receiver, who's
the Broncos receiver, who's the kid at Utah who's twenty
seven years old as a rookie. So that was some
of COVID, but this now becomes non COVID and it
becomes a dynamic. We're going to do a whole episode
on this, maybe a couple we'll let the draft kind
of smoke out here, then we'll look at our picks
(28:52):
and evaluate our roster. But soon after that, I think
we're going to jump into this because I think fans
don't think about it, and I think it's going to
change this league dramatically. So all right, we're headed for
the draft, and of course you can follow us on
our platforms. We're going to keep you updated. Matt and
I are digging in, baby. But one of the things
we have confidence in is not only in Brett Veach.
(29:16):
Do we trust in Veach's guys.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
We trust
Oh, we're getting closer. Yes, there's the holidays on the
normal calendar, and then there's the NFL Draft for NFL
freaky fans that just love it the best time of year.
And we continue on defending the kingdom looking at the
draft with in Veach's Guys We Trust and of course
it's brought to you by Ticketmaster, who you can have
(00:23):
your best friends all year long.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Let's keep it on an.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
RPO at the FUD it's a lead plot.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
He goes out of the ends on their side, touchdown Chunzas.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
City, however you want.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm Mitchell's voice of the Chiefs along with senior team
reporter Matt McMullen, and the T shirts were very popular.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I think I still have mine somewhere.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
In Beach We Trust and even ward around town a
little bit and people are like, yeah, that's pretty cool.
But in this episode we're going to go with in
Veach's Guys We Trust and we will feature a senior
director UH Senior director player personnel. Mike Bradway is a
special guest and it's just awesome to see the comprehensive
(01:03):
nature of Brett Veach's entire staff and how they work together.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It's not a coincidence.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
A Chiefs pretty much have been hitting a lot of
home runs or if not extra base hits in these.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Drafts, particularly late in the draft, and that's so hard
to do. It seems like an obvious thing that every
front office should be able to know who the best
players are going to be in round five, six and seven.
But the truth is, the Chiefs put in extra work
on these guys. And it's not just the area of
scouts that are looking at them. It's Brett Veach and
Mike Bradway and the people at the very top of
(01:33):
the food chain, Coach Reid. They're watching guys that are
going to be drafted on Day three and maybe not
get drafted at all because they're putting in the extra hours,
the extra time just to make sure we get an
impact player late in the draft. And you see the
fruits of that when Isaiah Pacheco is the leading rusher
in a Super Bowl that you win, or you get
a guy like Jalen Watson who's picking off Trevor Lawrence
(01:54):
and causing incompletions against Joe Burrow, like these things happen
because of the work guys put in over the summer
during the season, even trying to find a few impact
players that maybe other teams are overlooking. We're so fortunate
we have these guys on our side.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Coach Read, I just think if he wasn't coaching, would
be like the biggest draft nerd of all time. Oh yeah,
for sure, because he loves He just loves it like
he loves football. He loves colleges, every college. He loves
the game so much that yes, he would have like
the giant book and he would know the undrafted free
agent from I don't know Slippery Rock.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
But he's what would Kelvin Sampson say during the Final
four said Sasquatch State or something. Yeah, yeah, he'll know that.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Coach, he would know it. So before we hear from
Mike Bradway, what do you have for around the world?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Just three today, because we're we're in a hurry. This
draft week is nearly upon us. So just three today,
we'll get through this. Uh So, I went to a
cool like speakeasy with Ellie over the weekend and she
just wanted to kind of go out and and check
his place out, and I'm like, okay, So we sit
down and I end up talking football with the guy
that's next to us, and his name was JP.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
JP.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Checks out our stuff. Such a romantic meeting you, JP.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, it was very romantic, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And and Ellie kind of knows this is going to happen,
and we go out in public somehow, some way, I'm
just going to end up talking football with somebody, and.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
She's okay with it, like we're gonna have a night
out at to speakeasyer and oh hey, let's in the
fifth room exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So anyway, shout out to you, JP. He was great
meeting you. Chris is listening from Saint George, Utah. Yeah
you ever been there?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Oh I have not, but I was just talking about
that area of Utah. In fact, I spoke at a group.
It was in Carrollton, Missouri. Your granddad would have loved this.
Oh yeah, and so Carroll County, Missouri, and someone came
up they were they were at this event from southern
Utah and they were in from the Saint George area.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So this was just last night. This is weird. Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
But Dixie Utah Tech is down in there, also, Utah Tech,
Utah Tech Southern Utah is down in there too. So
a couple universities here in that Dixie range Dixie Utah Range.
It was Dixie State. At one time it was a
powered jucob then it became I think Utah a tech.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Okay, very cool. More, you know, is near like all
the national parks and all that.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It's near Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Okay, yeah, that's a National park vegational.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Park in some ways it might be. Then lastly, shout
out to Oreo the Dog. So someone wrote in for
their dog. We talked about my dog Pip on last
week's episode.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
No better dog than Pip.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, Oreo, let's take a case dog Lola. Shout out
to Lola as well. Tied for first, but Oreo the Dog.
I don't know Oreo's owner, but they got Oreo in
twenty nineteen, mere months before the Chiefs went on to
win the Super Bowl for the first time in fifty years,
and Oreo has been by their side through all the
Super Bowl craziness. So Oreo is a good luck charms.
(04:51):
So shout out to you, Oreo.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Thank you. We don't know the breed of Oreo.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Don't know much about Oreo except that they're lucky.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Is Oreo Mangie Mutt Rescue All American dog.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
We need more information, let us know more about Oriolon. Yeah.
But regardless, Orio has been a good luck charm and
I'll take all the luck that we can get.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And I would not put out there to send us
your favorite dog, or it would crash the site because
here come all the defending Kingdom dogs from around the world.
Although that would be fun to new segment, what is
really fun is we get the chance to have Mike Bradway.
And Mike is closing in on twenty years in the
National Football League. His official title with the Chiefs Senior
director of Player Personnel. But his dad is awesome. He's
(05:30):
a consultant for the Panthers, but he was in our
personnel department when I first.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Came into the league.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I had such awesome conversations with him as dad's Terry
was a former GM of the Jets, has been around
the league for a long time, and you'll hear it
as we introduce Mike. But Mike's fashioned his own career
and Mike's brilliance is just a testimony to the depth
(05:57):
and comprehensive nature of Brett Beach's staff. Now last year,
if you want to dig it out of the archives,
you'll find us talking about the scouts. But it's not
just the scouts. It's Chris Schey, it's dealing with the
cap it's working with this pro personnel, player personnel, all
working together with the college scouts, with the coaches. I'm
(06:17):
not sure I fully appreciate how good they are and
how awesome they work together.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It's so easy to take them for granted. I mean,
these people are here every day, they're on the road
all the time, they're working crazy hours. They spend more
time with their coworkers here in the front office than
they do with their own families most of the time.
And it's all about striving to get back to the
Super Bowl and to win it every single year. And again,
I mean, we're just so fortunate to have these people
(06:45):
working in our building who are the best at what
they do. And you can see why other teams want
to hire away our people, like the Titans go get
Mike Borganzi, and the Bears go get Ryan Poles years ago,
the Colts come and get Chris Ballard. I mean, this
is going to keep happening a long time because we
have bread exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, four teams in the league that our guys.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It's a lot of teams coming to the chiefs and
saying we want that guy. And just imagine the brain
trust here, I mean, the different perspectives and viewpoints and expertise.
It's just really incredible and to have Brett kind of
leading the whole group. But it's also the fact that
he's willing to listen to opposing viewpoints. He wants to
hear what they have to say, and he's involved in
every single step of the process. It's not just uh,
(07:28):
you know, a certain couple of people they handle this
area and no one else looks at it. It's a
comprehensive thing and it's a really just an incredible team.
And obviously the football team's success is a testament to
what these guys. The hours they put in day in
and day.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Out, and in the NFL calendar, and a coach is
working insane hours. They work insane hours. Yeah, it's crazy,
but there are there are gaps they get times. Now
coach may not take it, but he makes sure everybody
gets out of the building of that coaching staff. So
there's gaps and times they can get away, sometimes a
two week period or even longer. Brett Veach's guys don't,
(08:03):
and these runs to the Super Bowl. The fact that
we've had seven straight AFC Championship appearances and to be
in all the Super Bowls. We've been in five Super
Bowls in the last six years is really taxing on
Brett Veach's guys because he sent me twice text me,
you know, they're grinding the day after parades. They're in
there early in the morning looking because they have to
(08:24):
get ready for the Combine. They've been to the Senior Bowl,
they've been to East West Shrine, but right after the
Super Bowl is the Combine, and where the rest of
the leagues had scoutings, has kind of maybe taken a breath.
These dudes have had no time to exhale unless it's
July and the only time where there's a plant shutdown,
that's the only time these guys get when we.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Go to Saint Joe. They basically have no time off
until Rookie Mini Camp the next year. It's like rippling
that wraps up because there's a break between Rookie Mini
Camp and OTA's kind of kind of but for the
most part, like you're jumping into training camp. If you're
one of the area scouts, or you're in the draft
evaluation process, you're sent out all over the country. You're
leaving and leaving your family most likely to go just
(09:05):
watch guys for months and months. But if you're here
in the building, you're at camp, and then the season starts,
you're here all season long. Obviously, hopefully we go to
the super Bowl like we had the last three years.
Hopefully we win it, and then immediately you're grinding on
draft stuff all through that free agency draft happens. You
have to get all the udfas in here, you have
rookie mini camp, and then you might have a day
(09:25):
or two maybe, Like Brett talked about how a couple
of years ago, his first day off since training camp,
he went to the F one race after rookie minniamp
was over, and he's like, I have not had one
day off. And you know, there's a reason they're in
these jobs. They're built differently and they're able to do it.
They love it and they enjoy it and they're incredible
at it. But it's like a different breed. I mean,
it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Their families have to be understanding.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
They live for late June or early July when the
NFL shuts down, right and there's a reason they could, guys,
go recharge your batteries. Mike Bradway's brilliant and we get
the blessing to talk talk to him on this edition
of Defending the Kingdom. A special moment in DTK Defending
the Kingdom history because it's the first time we've had
(10:07):
two Blue Valley North Mustangs on the set at the
same time. Honestly, it's a treat. We talked this episode
ISS entitled in Veach in Veach's guys we trust and
Mike Bradway is with us, the senior director of player
Personnel for the Chiefs, and Mike, let me say this,
congratulations on an incredible career to this point.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You're zeroing in on two decades.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, ten years with the Eagles, in eight years with us.
Your dad was awesome in my first years in the league.
We had the best talks. He is such a great dude.
But you fashioned your own career, so congratulates.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
I appreciate the measure.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
Yeah, I mean that's some of the finest memories grown up.
We're listening to you and going to Arrowhead in the
late nineties, you know, just growing up around the Kingdom
and feel very blessed and to be here.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, your dad's a savant and you are too. We're
zeroing in on the twenty twenty five draft again. It's eminent,
but you know, like coach will tell me, he goes
every year is different, man, Every year is different as
a team. But I've learned your dad started this. Every
year is different in the draft. So twenty twenty five,
when you look at it from thirty thousand feet, what
(11:16):
do you see?
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Yeah? I think you're right.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
You know, every draft is different, has his strengths as weaknesses.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You know.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
I think when you look at this one particular, I
don't think you're gonna see six quarterbacks going the top twelve.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
I think that was a unique year.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
You know, this year, I think you can really you
can really focus on the lines, you know. I think
there's some depth of D line, O line. I think
there's a good running back class. I think the tight
ends are deep. But you know, from our standpoint, even
the positions that may be weaker, I think we look
at it as a positive. I think there's pockets within each
of those positions where there's some value, whether that's day two.
Day three, there's some good corner depth, but we we
(11:54):
think where we're picking with the three picks in the
top sixty six, four in the top ninety five, there's
some really good depth on day two where there's an opportunity.
There's flexibility there to whether it's stay pat take four players,
or move up or down. I think there's a lot
of flexibility of what.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
We have and for you guys, for fans, and for
a lot of like kind of casual draft watchers. The
interest in this begins with the combine, but obviously for
you and your group, it begins way before that. Walk
us through the process of how you start learning about
these players, kind of creating your board and leading to
draft day.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
So I think the reality is that our scouts have
been covering these guys for you know, two three years,
you know, so we've known about especially these guys at
the top. You know, we've just been continually to get
information and learn about these guys.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
But it can you know, really for this draft.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
It starts in the summer where our guys are evaluating
you know, the top one fifty players, and then from
the fall, it's the it's the school visits it's the
character building, and then the board starts to materialize, probably
in December when our scouts are and for the meetings,
and at that point, I think it's all getting guys
in the right kind of clumps, you know, on the board,
the right pockets, and going from there learning more about
(13:02):
you know, the character piece, the medical piece, the testing,
and that's kind of where guys separate themselves. But it's
a process. You know, they're each part of the process.
It's the bores changing and the one thing that you learn.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Has got to be adaptable.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
You've alluded to this, but having four picks in the
top one hundred is pretty juicy. But how much or
how realistic is it for us to expect to get
a day one starter somewhere in those top four selections.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
Yeah, I think anytime you're you know, day one, day
two picks, I think you got to go in thinking
those guys will at some point in their rookie year,
especially the first first round picks are a little different.
You expect those guys to probably play a little more,
have a significant right away, But all those guys, you know,
at some point in their rookie year should be steady starters.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
For you know.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
I think, you know, obviously blessed to have a pretty
good roster here without a lot of true holes. But again,
all those guys were taking and even you know, day three, like,
we want all those guys to have roles right away.
They might not be starting roles, but you know, those
guys they need to be significant, you know, contributors early.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
So that that's kind of how we view it.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
When it comes you can talk with Mike Bradway.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I just want to let everybody know our senior director,
player personnel, it's just exciting to have you here.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well, I just one to ask when it comes to
finding these prospects that will come in here and hopefully contribute.
I feel like with a lot of teams, there's the
front office and the coaching staff and they operate almost separately.
Not really the case here, though, there seems to be
so much collaboration between the front office and the coaching staff.
Can you speak to that a little bit, how they're
involved in the draft process.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Yeah, I think that's what makes kind of our you
know process unique. Now it helps you know, we've been
together for so long, so we know exactly what SPAGS
is looking for, what Nags is looking for, you know,
what coach likes in a player. You know, not just
on the field, you know, talent wise, but also the makeup,
you know. So I think just the collaboration. I know
that word gets thrown out a lot, but I mean
the communication we have with our staff, I mean it
(14:54):
is every single day, it is constant. It is you know,
there's no secrets, like we are truly one team together,
and I think that's the best way to do it.
You know, I think we're not always going to see
things i'd eye, but hey, let's talk about it. Let's
get in the draft room. Say what do you see?
What do we see it? You know, we these guys
kind of get into the process late. You know, obviously
you know they're Bay play as long as we have
(15:16):
you know, so you know, our scouts have been watching
these guys for years. So it's kind of trying to
get all on the same page. And what we've learned
is that there could be some players that are just
maybe better fit elsewhere, you know, and that's fine, Like
we're gonna find guys that are that are chiefs, that
are that fit the profile on the field, and then
you know what we're looking for in the locker.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Room Matt and I talked about last week is kind
of a primer. There's always seemed like a run, right
you talked about the quarterbacks last year or the wide
receiver run in twenty two.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I remember.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
But I want to ask you about making a decision
whether to trade up, which has done a lot, trade
down or stick. What goes into that process of deciding
we're going or we're moving down.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Yeah, I think in the in the instances where we've been,
you know, ready to pay, and you know, we've identified
a guy that we really like, you know, and there's
he's clearly sticks out on.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
The board like a sore thumb.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Like I think Veach has proven that the only way
you know that you're gonna get the guy is to
be aggressive, and sometimes you don't may not have leverage
in a trade in terms of value, but the most
important thing is getting the guy that that we're convicted on,
that we are you know, passionate about, that we like
and we're not gonna we'd rather, you know, give up
a little bit to get a guy that we really like,
(16:28):
as opposed to maybe wait, you know, ten to twelve
picks sweat it out and you know, potentially lose out
on a guy, but then you know the trade down
option when we don't.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
We haven't done it much here obviously, you know, with
with with Brett.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
But you know, just for example, if you have if
you know we picked up the end of the rounds,
if you have you know there's five guys you have,
you know there's fifteen picks away, you have five guys
that are great equally, then maybe just kind of let it,
you know, play out and if they're still there where
you're picking, like maybe you move back a little bit
and you know, get some more you know, a pick or.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Two and a willing trade partner.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I mean told me they like you guys walk into
the combine and the other guys like walk away from you.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Like we've been so successful.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I don't say that I arrogantly, but yeah, you got
to have a partner in that.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
It takes two to tango.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
And I think you know that's why we use you know,
like this week and you know previous weeks just to
call around the league with our contacts and just kind
of get a feel for you know, hey, would you
be interested in moving up down? Like what are your
kind of you know, general thoughts on on where you
guys might go, and then as the draft plays out,
like you know, we all have such good contacts in
the league, and.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
You know we all have kind of the same trade charts.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
You know, so's it's not you know, it's no one's
you know, just dominating trades consistently. You know, you always feel,
you know, if you get the player, you know, training out,
you get the player, like you don't you don't really worry.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
About what you give up.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
What's the energy like in the draft room though, when
you see a guy like Trent mcduffy kind slide him
down the board, maybe didn't think he'd be there and
you have a chance to go up and get him.
Is it just like electric that that's a guy that
maybe you didn't think you'd have a chance to get,
and yeah, he's got to be a chief.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
I think that year taught us that you know, we
probably should, you know, do work on you know, everybody
that we think is probably going to go in the
top ten, fifteen, you know, just to be sure, just
because that was obviously a pleasant surprise. But you know,
there's there was a handful of guys where you're like, well,
these guys are you know, they're top fifteen, and then
they start to fall a little bit, and then if
they get into you know, particular range, that's that's where
(18:18):
you kind of pounce.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
And those are the conversations.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
That we will have, We've had that we will have,
like if this player falls to twenty two, twenty three,
twenty four, like, should we make a big move for him?
Speaker 1 (18:30):
You three picks on the seventh round as it stands
right now. Now we have learned Matt and I over
the years, especially with Brett and you and the rest
of the crew, is the seventh round pay attention. That's
where you get Isaiah picheck On, Azzie Johnson, Jalen Watson.
But then the undrafted free agent craziness. But I'm looking here,
I mean Carson Steele, Nico Rimihio, Jack Cochrane, Caleendo.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Kaylie Endo. Those guys are all right there.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
What about that dynamic three attacking the seventh round? And
then the New York Stock Exchange opens when their draft ends,
and the phone start going crazy.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
Yeah, it's a I mean specifically about the you know,
late rounds. I mean, the good thing about the way
we do our process, like those guys we take it
in the seventh round.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Like we've done a lot of work on those guys.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
We've watched even Brett, Like we've watched tape on those guys,
you know, extensively.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Our coaches are aware of them. We've had countless reports
on them.
Speaker 5 (19:25):
So you know, those are guys that you know, we
are probably you know, we're probably in the fifth, fourth,
fifth round that just you know fell for whatever reason,
and we kind of identify the kind of guys that
we want to take shots on. You know, I think
typically you try to take shots on guys that maybe
their careers didn't go as you know where they're production,
you know, injury, like you know, maybe there were a
couple of schools, but they have the traits, they have
(19:46):
the passion for the game. Like those are the kind
of guys you'd take a shot on. And specifically about freegency. Yeah,
it's crazy, but we have we have a very you know,
detailed process to you know, like you know, each scout's
gonna have a position. The communications great in the room,
you know, with with Crische you know, just kind of
managing everything and just constant dialogue. You know, it's that's
(20:07):
the one thing we stressed everybody like just over communicate,
you know, because everything's there's so much coming at you,
so many numbers, and you know there's going to be
a handful of guys that go undrafted that we really like.
You know, those guys were going to be aggressive going
after him, And I think it's a credit to our
personnel staff, our scouts that we found guys, you know,
in a super Bowl caliber team. To have some undrafted
(20:29):
free and to make a team, it's not easy, you know,
but it's a credit to I think our staff and
also the players themselves.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And what's it like when you have picks and multiple
picks in one round, like in the seventh round having
three picks, particularly the third round you're picking at the
very beginning of the third round, and you know there's
picks are close together. What's the draft room like when
you have all right, here's a selection and we're on
the clock again in five minutes.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Yeah, So well, you know, after the draft, you know,
after round one, wild get together and we'll basically reach
out the board, you know, and then I know we
got a long way to go in round two. But
you know, as those guys start getting you know, picked off.
Like as we're close to the end of the second round,
we'll have we'll have a handful of names that you know,
we're really interested in, and you know, I think we'll
be hey, let's you know, let's let's take this guy
(21:13):
first and based off our intel, based off our knowledge,
maybe this guy's got a better chance of.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
Being there, you know, top of three.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
But yeah, it's always you gotta be you gotta be ready.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
You're gonna have from one thirty three to two twenty six.
I could see Brett filling in that gap, but yeah,
what are you gonna do in that gap because there's
gonna be a lot of asteroids flying.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
Yeah, it's it's gonna it's a little strange, you know
with the you know, not having you know, round you know,
picksing five and six. But you know, we he almost
got to be prepared that if we do, you know,
just to be able to you know, be.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Ready for those guys.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
And yeah, I think this this first year we've had
mister relevant, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Is Ryan suck up years and years ago? Yeah, in
like in two thousand and yeah, ten or nine or something,
I don't know, but it been a long time.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Yeah, it's we we we've gone through the board, you
know and be like, man, this guy, this guy would
be a good mystery of you know, there's a handful
of these guys that we've you know, we've talked about that.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
You know would fit that mold, you know.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
But yeah, there's it's ah, the days are long, you know,
it's you know, you the unfortunate thing is you love
some of these players. You do so much work on
these guys, and you know there's just guys that you
love to have on your team, and you know there
is some luck involved, you know, and it's uh, the
only on you know right now you might only get
eight of them.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
You know, it's just the reality of it.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Before we let you go.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Because Matt and are up above you on three the
third floor of the building. Well, the draft room is
like a flurry of activity. You've got somebody you want them,
you can't go up and get them, and then they
fly off the board.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
How do you handle that?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Because we don't handle it great. We got a guy
who are.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
Like, oh, there's a collective groan you know for you know,
and then you know we might have to you know,
go pace in the Hallway a little bit, you know,
maybe get a quick stack or something, you know, but
then you got to you gotta repivot, you know, you
got to get back in it. And you know that's
why with every selection it's A and B plan C.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Expect the unexpected.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
And you know there's been times we've been on the
clock ready to make a pick and the guy goes
right before us.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
It's for like, you might only have a few minutes
to pick.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
But that's why we set the board the way we
do and just kind of let it fall to us.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Man, that's awesome, what a treat. Thanks for being with us.
Thanks busy time. But Mike Bradway our senior director player
personnel and just brilliant.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
His dad was awesome.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Your kids are even involved in this if you want
to check their draft board.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
But anyway, thanks for being with us MICROA.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
It's been great.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Thanks great stuff there from Mike Bradway and again a
great example of the brilliance of Brett Veitch's guys.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Absolutely, and again those guys don't get as much credit.
Brett is always the first one to say that he
wants like the people that work with him to get
as much credit as he does, and obviously he's kind
of the figurehead. He's the general manager and he's making
ultimate decisions. But I just love the collaboration of that group.
And again, Brett would be the first to say that
they deserve so much much credit for all the success
(24:01):
that we've had. It's not just one person, it's the
whole team and the whole group. And again, we're very
lucky to have them all here in Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
And the respect they have for each other is again dynamic.
We'll close it out this way, but I'm really interested.
We know that Brett likes to move up, we've seen
him do it, but there's a chance the Chiefs Kingdom
has to be ready to move down. And if there's
a draft where people have said, hey, this is a
draft to move down or you're thirty one, this would
be the one we just heard Mike talk about it.
(24:28):
There is a seemingly a sweet spot from late first
rounds to maybe the beginning of the fourth But with
the Chiefs have in those four picks between thirty one
and ninety five, seems to be a really good strategic
position to either build equity to move or to find starters.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
And I really think just the way the Chiefs attacked
free agency this year. We've talked about this ad nauseum,
but I think this year, maybe more than many others,
we truly can just take the best players available. And
that's the position that you want to be in. And
Brett Veach had his like pre draft press conference earlier
today actually, and he said that they have between twelve
the fourteen players that have like the hard fast first
(25:09):
round grades, and sure, if one of those guys falls
into the twenty range, they could be aggressive and move up.
And we've seen them do that before with players like
Trent McDuffie and Xavier Worthy last year. But he said
there's also maybe more players than normal who are in
that secondary wave where it's late first round, early second round.
They have a lot of players kind of with similar
grades in that area. That's a good position to be
(25:31):
in if you're the Chiefs because if someone else really
wants to trade into the first round and the guys
that you have high grades on are all gone, you
can just move back and acquire more picks and you're
going to get a player that maybe you thought as
the same caliber as a player you would have taken
at thirty one or you stand pat and you're going
to get a good player there anyway. So it's a
really good spot for the Chiefs to be in. If
you're more interested in all this stuff. Brett said, he
(25:53):
talked for like forty minutes. It's going to be on
the Chiefs YouTube page here, really interesting stuff. Brett is
great because if you listen, he will tell you what
you're curious about. He's not playing games like he'll tell you, Hey,
I think ol DL running back, corner, and receiver are
the strength of this draft, and we'll probably take those positions.
And it's like, Okay, we'll pay attention to those spots.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Then one final thing before we close.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
And I'm fascinated by this because of the changing landscape
in college sports. I think we're going to do a
whole DTK on this subject, and that is with the
movement in college sports, all the transfers mostly moving up nil.
But I'm just curious what the fifth, eh the sixth,
(26:37):
seventh rounds look like, and what undrafted free agency will
look like, not just for the Chiefs but all thirty
two teams, because I get the sense we're in a
kind of a revolutionary time of the NFL and the
personnel coming into this league.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
The landscape's totally different now, and it's different for a
couple of reasons. If you look at some players that
will be taken later in the draft, some guys taken
high in the draft, what's really strange is they will
have like five years of college experience and they've played
at three or four different schools, And I think that
kind of makes things difficult on evaluators because if a
guy wasn't in the same place the entire time, how
(27:14):
did he grow? How did he improve from year to year?
And some players can't do it even though they've moved around.
But it's definitely harder, I think if you're not in
the same place and with the same coaching staff. Also,
the ages of players are going to be different, So
you're not going to find many juniors who are coming
out and going to be taken in the fifth or
sixth round because they can likely make more money just
staying in college or by transferring. So I think what
(27:37):
you're going to see over the years with your later
on picks in your udfas is prospects who are twenty four,
twenty five years old with a lot of experience, which
is a benefit has me thinking of guys like Swayze Boseman.
They can come in right away and play on special
teams and they have experience playing a lot of football.
But there's also less time to develop. And that's the
benefit of having guys like Xavier Worthy and Kingsley Suamataia
(27:58):
early in the draft last year year. Those guys are
both twenty twenty one years old. Their runway is very long.
But if you're already twenty four to twenty five years old,
less time to develop. So put some stress in the
coaching staff and put some stress in the front office
to find the players who might be older and you
think can help you right away.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
But the top end of that is the window to
play in this league. Everybody talks about then thirty years old,
things start to get weird. And I mean bo Nix
is a twenty six year old rookie quarterback.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah, okay, Mahomes won the Super Bowl at twenty four.
Think about that.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Think about that, and then and then the receiver, who's
the Broncos receiver, who's the kid at Utah who's twenty
seven years old as a rookie. So that was some
of COVID, but this now becomes non COVID and it
becomes a dynamic. We're going to do a whole episode
on this, maybe a couple we'll let the draft kind
of smoke out here, then we'll look at our picks
(28:52):
and evaluate our roster. But soon after that, I think
we're going to jump into this because I think fans
don't think about it, and I think it's going to
change this league dramatically. So all right, we're headed for
the draft, and of course you can follow us on
our platforms. We're going to keep you updated. Matt and
I are digging in, baby. But one of the things
we have confidence in is not only in Brett Veach.
(29:16):
Do we trust in Veach's guys.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
We trust
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