In his latest mailbag column, Adam Schefter of ESPN takes on a question that most people are asking: who are the hottest names leading up to the 2012 NFL Draft? Every year there are names that take a team by surprise and even the Chiefs fell right into that when they surprised everyone and took the rising stock of Tyson Jackson at the No. 3 choice in Scott Pioli’s first offseason with teh Chiefs.
This year, Schefter mentions an obvious candidate as well as a few sleepers that warrant mentioning.
Schefter writes, “Here are some at the defensive line position: Mississippi State’s Fletcher Cox, Connecticut’s Kendall Reyes, Syracuse’s Chandler Jones and SMU’s Taylor Thompson. Those are some, but there are others, and none more than Robert Griffin III. Back in December, right before the Heisman ceremony, I remember asking scouts about him and hearing he was a mid-first-round pick, maybe an early second. Now he’s locked into the No. 2 overall spot. Players are a lot like stocks, rising one day, falling the next, then rising again.”
Reyes and Thompson have been linked to the Chiefs in some mock drafts and one or the other might be taken by the Chiefs in the second round, although Reyes could slip into the bottom of the first. Defensive linemen are going to be a popular commodity as teams try to control the line of scrimmage and disrupt the passer. For the Chiefs, that goal becomes paramount with Peyton Manning in the AFC West.
For more on the Chiefs, head to Arrowhead Pride, and for more mock draft updates, head to SB Nation Kansas City's StoryStream.