NFL mock draft 2023: Chiefs 7-round post-Combine projection replaces Brown, Clark

The Kansas City Chiefs are letting Orlando Brown Jr. walk while cutting Frank Clark. They replace them in this 7-round 2023 NFL mock draft.

Fresh off winning the second Super Bowl under Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs have an interesting offseason ahead. Two big dominos have already fallen with the team electing to not tag left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and releasing edge rusher Frank Clark. Replacing them is the main goal of this post-Combine 2023 NFL mock draft.

There are other questions to answer involving free agency too, though. The Chiefs have players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman, Khalen Saunders, Jerick McKinnon, Andrew Wylie and Juan Thornhill, among others, who will hit the market. They could re-sign some, but replenishing the roster is key.

As long as the team has Mahomes, the Chiefs proved this past season that they will be Super Bowl contenders. Drafting right this year, however, will make that less difficult in their chase to repeat as champs. So let’s get them the prospects to do that in this 7-round 2023 NFL mock draft for Kansas City.

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NFL mock draft 2023: Chiefs replace Frank Clark, Orlando Brown Jr. in 7-round post-Combine projection

Dawand Jones is nearly a perfect Chiefs replacement for Orlando Brown Jr.

For several weeks, the expectation was that Kansas City was planning to place the franchise tag on Orlando Brown Jr. and then try to work out a long-term contract with him. Somewhere along the line, though, the plan changed. Brown wasn’t tagged, there is no new contract, and now he’s set to be an unrestricted free agent.

It seems like that is paving his way out of Kansas City for good. The veteran tackle market in free agency, outside of Brown, isn’t the most exciting group of players you’ve ever seen. Taylor Lewan, who was released by the Titans this offseason, has already reached out to fill the void. However, the best option is probably in the draft.

Namely, Dawand Jones is the perfect player to take Brown’s place on the left end of the offensive line.

If you’ll remember, Brown was a disaster at the Combine coming out of Oklahoma. Shocking that a huge human being that wins with girth and length isn’t a superior athlete. Jones is in that same mold, though. He ran a 5.35 in the 40 but, at 6-foot-8, 374 pounds, that’s not how he wins. He does that with savvy, decent footwork and his arms that measured over 36 inches long.

Jones performed extremely well for Ohio State in his career and, if the Chiefs are simply looking for the same type of left tackle, just cheaper, then he’s the obvious pick at the end of the first round.

Round 3 | Rounds 4-5 | Rounds 6-7