By MATT PIKE
The 2026 NFL Draft is officially in the books and the Kansas City Chiefs used the final day of the draft to add one more piece to their defense, and focused on offense with the final three picks of the day.
In the fourth round with pick No. 109, the Chiefs added more depth at safety after losing Bryan Cook to free agency and signing Alohi Gilman, drafting Oregon safety Jadon Canady. In his one season with the Ducks, Canady recorded 39 total tackles, two interceptions, and one forced fumble.
Canady also spent two seasons each with the Tulane Green Wave and the Ole Miss Rebels, and over the course of his five-year collegiate career, he recorded 154 total tackles, four interceptions, and one forced fumble. Similarly to how the Chiefs use Chamari Connor, Canady is a versatile prospect who should give the Kansas City added dimensions to sub packages and could even start over new cornerback Kader Kohou as a slot corner, depending on how preseason competition plays out.
The Chiefs finally went to the offensive side of the ball in the fifth round, selecting Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson with pick No. 161, making Johnson the first Nebraska running back to be taken in the draft since 2015, when Ameer Abdullah was drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
Johnson was a Doak Walker Award and Maxwell Award semifinalist in 2025 while also being named the Big Ten running back of the year. He ranked second nationally with 1,821 yards from scrimmage and he was fourth nationally in rushing yards per game at 120.9, also averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
Kansas City is in the midst of rebuilding it's backfield, signing reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and former Arizona Cardinal Emari Demercado. Johnson’s pass-catching skills elevated his pre-draft profile. He led FBS running backs with 46 receptions, which went for 370 yards and three touchdowns. The area he will need to work on, according to Chiefs scouts, is pass blocking.
Holding two picks in the fifth round, with their pick No. 176 the Chiefs stayed on offense, selecting Cincinnati wide receiver Cyrus Allen. Allen, along with Johnson have both already had the opportunity to play at Arrowhead Stadium, when Nebraska and Cincinnati faced off to open the 2025 season.
Allen spent time at Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M before closing out his college career at Cincinnati. He appeared in 44 college games, totaling 137 catches for 2,221 yards and 22 touchdowns. Allen also has some experience on special teams as a returner, totaling 12 kickoff returns for 247 yards at Louisiana Tech, somewhere the Chiefs could use Allen after searching for answers last season rotating between several different players such as Brashard Smith and Nikko Remigio.
“He definitely has the opportunity to do some of the kick return stuff because he did that at Louisiana Tech, he was more functional, took some reps back there,” Chiefs scout Cassidy Kaminski told reporters. “But he also has the ability to get down the field competitively, so I think you could potentially try him out at gunner if you wanted to in that regard because he has that type of mentality and he has the long speed to do it.”
Allen is now set to join a wide receiver group currently consisting of Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Royals and Remigio, among others.
With their final pick of the draft the Chiefs added to their quarterback room, drafting in the seventh round with pick No. 249 LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
An injury-filled final season at LSU saw Nussmeier's numbers fall dramatically as did his draft stock, after the quarterback appeared very early in several early season 2026 mock drafts. In 2024 he threw for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns. That fell to 1,927 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and Nussmeier played in just nine games for the Tigers. Through five seasons at LSU, he finished his collegiate career throwing for 7,699 yards and 52 touchdowns, completing 64% of his passes, against 24 interceptions.
With Patrick Mahomes and Justin Fields as the top signal-callers on the Chiefs’ roster, Nussmeier will most likely compete for a backup roster spot with Chris Oladokun and Jake Haener.
Now that the NFL Draft is in the books, all eyes will turn to who the Chiefs sign as undrafted free agents to fill out their roster ahead of OTA's and Chiefs Training Camp before the preseason begins.
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