KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — After selecting Missouri linebacker Kansas City Chiefs selected Missouri linebacker Nick Bolton with the No. 58 overall pick in the NFL draft Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs added Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey five selections later after waiting until Day 2 to add to their roster.
“We knew there was a good group of offensive linemen and so you figure there would be a lineman there, potentially, and then you hope it's one you like,” said head coach Andy Reid.
The Chiefs did not have a first-round pick after dealing it to Baltimore this week in a package for two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Orlando Brown, filling their biggest offensive need.
Humphrey continues a complete rebuild of the Chiefs offensive line after it was decimated by opt outs and injuries last season, then ran roughshod over by the Buccaneers defense in a blowout Super Bowl defeat.
The Chiefs added Brown to play left tackle, signed veterans Joe Thuney and Austin Blythe to play guard and center, and lured former All-Pro offensive lineman Kyle Long out of retirement. They also plan to get back Laurent Duveray-Tardif, a starter who opted out last season, and Lucas Niang, a third-round pick a year ago who also opted out.
The letdown in the Super Bowl clearly convinced general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid that they needed to add more — and better — depth in front of quarterback Patrick Mahomes next season. Humphrey will compete for a starting job right away without the pressure of being forced into the lineup from Day 1.
“You know how (offensive line coach) Andy Heck does it with playing the five best,” Reid said. “He's going to give everyone an opportunity to show what they've got and we'll figure it out. But that competition, I can't say it enough: You bring that competition into the picture, it just makes everybody better, and in this case the offensive line better.”
Brown and Humphrey briefly overlapped at Oklahoma. In fact, Brown spent some time stumping for his former teammate with Veach and Reid when he was in Kansas City to go through his physical and sign paperwork.
“He's a guy that's going to go in there and do the work necessary to get to the next level. When I got to Oklahoma, that's something I admired,” Humphrey said. “Just seeing him do that, the mentality he has — he's such a mean player on the field, too. That's something I've always admired and something I've tried to copy my game after.”