Chiefs continue to be linked to athletic BYU OT Kingsley Suamataia ahead of the 2024 NFL draft

With just over 50 hours to go until the 2024 NFL draft, there is a growing consensus of who the Kansas City Chiefs will select in Round 1. Newsflash: It's not a wide receiver, it's BYU LT Kingsley Suamataia.

NFL insider Tom Pelissero recently wrote an article about players who could sneak into the first round on Thursday. He had this little blurb at the end of his section about Suamataia: 

"(Kingsley Suamataia) had a top-30 visit with fellow BYU alum Andy Reid and the Chiefs, who own the final pick in Round 1 (No. 32 overall)."

Sportskeeda's Tony Pauline was a little bit more on the nose with his recent article. 

“Over the past 48 hours, multiple sources told me it’s looking more and more as though Kansas City Chiefs will select offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia with the final pick on Thursday night. This assumes nothing crazy happens, such as a highly-rated player they don't expect to be available falling into their laps."

Who knows if Pelissero or Pauline will be correct, but Suamataia makes a lot of sense for Kansas City at the end of the first round. Beyond the BYU connection, he's listed at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds with 34 1/8-inch arms, beyond the typical size thresholds for the Chiefs at tackle. He has over 1,200 snaps between left and right tackle over the past two seasons with 24 pressures (two sacks) allowed during that span. He'd be the perfect player to bring in to compete with Wanya Morris for the starting left tackle job. The loser of that battle would get the swing tackle job for the 2024 NFL season. 

Why the Chiefs may take an offensive tackle over a wide receiver in Round 1

With the Rashee Rice situation this offseason, there is a sentiment that Kansas City will prioritize the wide receiver position. The Chiefs have done a lot of work on three position groups in this draft class - offensive tackles, wide receivers, and tight ends. According to the man in charge, the wide receiver spot seems to be the deepest of those three position groups.

“I think it’s one of the deeper classes," Chiefs GM Brett Veach explained during his pre-draft press conference. "I think the good thing about the wide receiver position – this is typically every year – is they provide depth really one through five and there are always pockets of players – I think there is a large group of receivers in the first 50 picks that we have great grades on. Then I think there’s another pocket right behind that, I think that is a positive."

As for the offensive line class, Veach seems to think it's strong early on, but that it tapers off rather quickly: "O-linemen as I mentioned in the opener, it’s really good early. So, there will be a late run on those guys but it tails off a little bit." 

There might not be a lot of shots to land a surefire guy who can play the left tackle position. It'd track for the Chiefs to prioritize a position like offensive tackle that is expected to have less depth. If they have plenty of highly-graded WRs in their top-50, and another pocket of favorably-graded guys shortly after, they should still be able to get an impact player at wide receiver later in the draft. 

The betting markets aren't buying Suamataia to the Chiefs just yet

If the Chiefs truly have decided on a player like Suamataia at the end of Round 1, the betting markets haven't caught onto it yet. As of 3:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 23, BetMGM odds for the position of the first player draft by the Chiefs currently list wide receiver at -120 and offensive lineman at +125. DraftKings Sportsbook has similar odds with wide receiver at -105 and offensive lineman at +140. DraftKings is also giving Texas WR Xavier Worthy +600 odds to be drafted by Kansas City. If the Chiefs are truly set to draft Suamataia at the end of the first round, expect the betting markets to shift accordingly.