u/Vyuvarax

Mitchell Schwartz sharing his thoughts on the dangers of using the snatch technique to deal with bull rushers.

“My wife and I were trying to conceive a child. We found out that I was infertile, and I took a fertility medication that was helping me try to conceive a baby. I was not aware that there was a substance in the medication that was on the banned list, and I tested positive for a PED. Lesson to all NFL players and new players coming into the league: do not put anything in your body without following the process and getting approval beforehand. We lost our baby a few weeks ago, and this has been an incredibly difficult time for my wife and me. Fortunately, we have nine good eggs left, so we’re holding on to hope that we’ll be able to grow our family.”

Video from Steve Walls @ SteveWallsKC on socials

https://people.com/kansas-city-chiefs-george-karlaftis-marries-kaia-harris-wedding-exclusive-11971195

Chiefs relevant portion of the article:

Chiefs get aggressive

The other side of that deal was interesting too.

So, yes, the Chiefs were sniffing around on trades up over the past few weeks. But there were limits on what they were willing to do.

Basically, they didn’t want to sacrifice the 29th or 40th picks in a trade up.

As Veach saw it, and after asking around and working with his analytics folks, that basically meant they weren’t getting into the top five. As such, the Chiefs saw four players as likely out of play for them—Mendoza, Love, Reese and Texas Tech rusher David Bailey. From there, the idea of ensuring they’d get LSU corner Mansoor Delane started to crystallize.

They liked the player, of course. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo saw some parallels to ex-Chiefs star L’Jarius Sneed in Delane’s game, with his fluidity, patience, calm style of play, ball skills, inside/outside versatility and rare makeup speed. The front office felt like, once he proved his top-shelf speed, with a 4.3 40-yard dash at his pro day, Delane was one of the best corner prospects to come out this decade.

And his value was only bolstered by what was happening with Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy, who entered the process as a 1B to Delane’s 1A. But his draft stock was detonated by a very unfortunate prognosis on his knee, which had a lot of teams doubting he’d make it even to the end of his rookie contract. It left Delane alone at the top. It also created a situation where teams might view him as their only shot to get a No. 1 corner in this year’s draft.

Veach saw above him the inverse of what Berry saw beneath him in the order—two teams that would be in play to ruin his night. The Commanders needed corner help, but Berry thought they’d lean receiver first. He figured the opposite with the Saints, who lost Paulson Adebo last year and Alontae Taylor this year. Either way, both teams were an issue, and the analytics folks told Veach that Delane’s likely destination was New Orleans.

The whole thing was sensitive, so the Chiefs moved to cover their tracks. While they brought in McCoy for a 30 visit, they chose not to do that with Delane, at Spagnuolo’s suggestion—“Let’s just do a Zoom with him,” he said. And the Chiefs scheduled that Zoom to be Delane’s last, two days before the draft, so when other teams asked which teams he’d Zoomed with, he could truthfully omit the Chiefs from the list.

As the draft drew closer, and the Chiefs gamed it out, they figured if they stayed at No. 9, and they lost out Delane, they’d wind up with Ohio State safety Caleb Downs or Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson. Then, they’d probably have to move up to land San Diego State CB Chris Johnson—and give up a third- or fourth-rounder to do it. So, the logic followed, why not just give up the third-rounder and get the guy they liked more?

As a result, they wound up with Delane and got Clemson DT Peter Woods, a potential successor for Chris Jones as a 3-technique interior rusher (who they thought slipped statistically in 2025 because his responsibilities changed), at 29 and Oklahoma edge rusher R Mason Thomas, a bookend for George Karlaftis, at 40. And no third-rounder.

How will we view that in a few years? If Delane becomes a No. 1 corner, then favorably.