Super Bowl 57: The Kansas City Chiefs' 2022 draft class sets them up for the Super Bowl and beyond

Picking players in the NFL draft is supposed to be more difficult for perennial playoff teams, yet Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has mastered the art of picking late in the draft.

His draft class from 2022 has been his finest so far as the GM and is a huge reason why the Chiefs are in a position to win their second Lombardi Trophy in four years.

Chiefs 2022 Draft Class and grade ranks among rookies

Pick No.	Name	Pos.	Offensive/defensive Snaps	PFF Grade	Grade rank
21	Trent McDuffie	CB	809	73.5	3 of 26
30	George Karlaftis	EDGE	791	50.3	16 of 19
54	Skyy Moore	WR	371	67.7	8 of 11
62	Bryan Cook	S	387	60.6	6 of 9
103	Leo Chenal	LB	278	66.7	1 of 11
135	Joshua Williams	CB	499	63.2	15 of 26
145	Darian Kinnard	OT	0	—	—
243	Jaylen Watson	CB	719	59.6	17 of 26
251	Isiah Pacheco	HB	414	76.3	5 of 10
260	Nazeeh Johnson	CB	0	—	—

Eight of these 10 players made legitimate contributions to the Chiefs’ current Super Bowl run. The team made shrewd trades, and specific attributes were targeted in a Belichick-esque manner to maximize each player’s talent. A quick look at all three phases of this Chiefs team shows how impactful this draft class has been.

Offense

While this draft class includes only three offensive players, they still provided big-time production and their fair share of clutch moments.

We’ll start with the obvious one. Seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco has won the hearts of Chiefs fans and fantasy football players everywhere as a hard-nosed runner with big-play potential. With one game to go, Pacheco owns the highest rushing (74.3) and receiving grade (75.3) among Kansas City’s running backs.

He’s also gotten stronger as the year has progressed.

Isiah Pacheco: Performance before and after Week 11 of the 2022 NFL season

Metric	Week 1 – Week 10	Week 11 – CC
Snaps	131	283
Overall grade	56.3	82.8
Rushing grade	57.8	79.7
Receiving grade	53.4	82.4
Rush attempts	60	132
Yards after contact per attempt	3.2	3.1
Missed tackles forced per attempt	0.13	0.11
Targets	3	17
Yards per route run	0.23	1.42
Yards after the catch per reception	10.7	14.1

The former Scarlet Knight isn’t just a contributor — he has played like a top-tier back during the biggest moments of the season. He’s been a huge part of the Chiefs’ success, especially as a checkdown or screen option for a hobbled Patrick Mahomes.

Gaining yards after the catch has even become Pacheco's specialty. Among the 55 running backs who have seen 10 or more targets since Week 11, the Chiefs back ranks behind only Tennessee's Derrick Henry in yards after the catch per reception.

As for wide receiver Skyy Moore, the transition hasn’t been quite as smooth, given his standing on the veteran-laden depth chart. But while not flashy, his 66.9 receiving grade is respectable, and he has dropped just one of his 27 catchable targets on the year. He's added a valuable yards-after-the-catch component, too, notably finishing the year with an average of 6.3 yards after the catch per reception that ranks fifth among the 97 wide receivers who have seen at least 40 targets so far.