Taylor Swift Album Tier Ranking

 With TS12 (The Life Of A Showgirl) on its way, I thought I'd try something out....not simply ranking each album, but ranking them with a tier system. Here's how I did it; going through each album I sorted each song into 5 tiers. Tier 1 is worth 10pts, tier 2 is 7pts, tier 3 is 4pts, tier 4 is 2pts and tier 5 is 0pts. To come up with a score, I take the percentage of how many tracks are in that tier and multiply it by that point value. So with that being said, if an album scores a 5 or 6, its not like I'm ranking it a 5/10. 

May seem complicated, but seemed like a good value for this tier ranking.

"Taylor Swift" (debut)

1 - Cold As You, Should've Said No,  Mary's Song, Our Song (4) 28.571%

2 - Tim McGraw, Teardrops On My Guitar, Tied Together with a smile, (3) 21.429%

3 - Picture To Burn, The Outside, Invisible, (3) 21.429% 

4- A Place In This World, I'm Only Me When I'm With You, (2) 14.286% 

5- Stay Beautiful, A Perfectly Good Heart (2) 14.286%

Score: 5.5

A solid first album overall, but as you see a lot of tracks scattered across the middle tiers. 

"Fearless"

1- Love Story, White Horse, You Belong With Me, Tell Me Why, The Way I Loved You, The Other Side Of The Door, You All Over Me, Mr Perfectly Fine, Bye Bye Baby (10) 38.46%

2- Fifteen, You're Not Sorry, Forever & Always, The Best Day, Come In With The Rain, That's When (6) 23.07%

3- Hey Stephen, Breathe, Jump Then Fall, Forever & Always (Piano), Superstar, We Were Happy, Don't You (7) 26.92%

4- Change, Untouchable (2) 7.69%

5- Today Was A Fairytale (1) 3.84%

Score: 6.69

I questioned whether to go with the original or the re-record. For Fearless I decided to go with Taylor's Version. That will vary from album to album. I feel like this system makes things equal for longer and shorter albums, but here we see an increase compared to debut.

"Speak Now"

1-  Mine, Sparks Fly, Back To December, Dear John, Never Grow Up, Enchanted, Haunted, Last Kiss, Long Live, I Can See You, Timeless (11) 50%

2- Mean, The Story Of Us, Better Than Revenge, Castles Crumbling, Foolish One (5) 22.72%

3- Innocent, Ours, Electric Touch, When Emma Falls In Love (4) 18.18%

4- Speak Now (1) 4.54%

5- Superman (1) 4.54%

Score: 7.41

Once again I decided to use Taylor's Version for Speak Now. With this album, as you can see it was quite top heavy, with half the tracks landing in the top tier.

"Red"

1- State Of Grace, Red, Treacherous, I Knew You Were Trouble, All Too Well, I Almost Do, Holy Ground, The Lucky One, Everything Has Changed, Begin Again, The Moment I Knew, Come Back...Be Here, State Of Grace (Acoustic), Ronan, Better Man, Nothing New, I Bet You Think About Me, All Too Well (10 minute version) (18) 60%

2-  We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, The Last Time, Sad Beautiful Tragic, Babe, Forever Winter, The Very First Night (6) 20%

3- 22, Starlight, Girl At Home, Message In A Bottle, Run (5) 16.67%

4- Stay Stay Stay (1) 3.33%

5- (0)

Score: 8.13

When it came to Red, I decided to use the original version (though I based Girl At Home off of Taylor's Version, along with the vault obviously). Red is very tier 1 heavy, but then an even mix between tiers 2 and 3 that knock it down just a bit behind other albums (as you'll see later on in this post).

"1989"

1- Blank Space, Style, Out Of The Woods, Wildest Dreams, This Love, I Know Places, Clean, Wonderland, You Are In Love, New Romantics, Now That We Don't Talk, Is It Over Now?, Bad Blood ft/ Kendrick Lamar (13) 59.09%

2-  Welcome To New York, All You Had To Do Was Stay, Bad Blood, How You Get The Girl, Slut!, Say Don't Go (6) 27.27%

3- Shake It Off, I Wish You Would (2) 9.09%

4- Suburban Legends (1) 4.54%

5- (0)

Score: 8.27

For 1989, I used the original version for the standard album. An incredibly strong album, with pretty much every track landing in the top 2 tiers. Some may scoff at Welcome To NY and Bad Blood being that high, but on a good day they just blend in with 1989. 

"reputation"

1- I Did Something Bad, Don't Blame Me, Delicate, Getaway Car, Dancing With Our Hands Tied, Dress, Call It What You Want, New Year's Day (8) 53.33%

2- Ready For It?, King Of My Heart (2) 13.33%

3- Look What You Made Me Do, Gorgeous, So It Goes... (3) 20%

4- End Game (1) 6.66%

5- This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things (1) 6.66%

Score: 7.19

Reputation is very tier 1 heavy, with a mixture thereafter. While not among the top of her discography, its an important album nonetheless. It showed the directional shift she could take even within the pop genre from 1989 to reputation. 

"Lover"

1-  Cruel Summer, Lover, The Archer, Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, Cornelia Street, Death By A Thousand Cuts, Soon You'll Get Better, False God, Daylight (9) 50%

2- The Man,  I Think He Knows, Paper Rings, Afterglow (4) 22.22%

3- I Forgot That You Existed (1) 5.56%

4- You Need To Calm Down, Me! (2) 11.11%

5- London Boy, It's Nice To Have A Friend (2) 11.11%

Score: 6.99

A step down from reputation, but Lover still contains several of Taylor's top songs. That becomes more clear when you hear them acoustically during her Lover from Paris set.  

"folklore"

1- the 1, cardigan, the last great american dynasty, exile, my tears ricochet, seven, august, mad woman, betty, peace, the lakes (11) 64.71%

2- mirrorball, this is me trying, illicit affairs, invisible string, epiphany (5) 29.41%

3- hoax (1) 5.88%

4- (0)

5- (0)

Score: 8.77

What is there to say about the gem that is folklore? Released during a rather dark time amidst covid, folklore saw Taylor go in another directional change. Its no surprise that folklore is pretty much entirely in either tier 1 and 2.

"evermore"

1- champagne problems, gold rush, 'tis the damn season, tolerate it, coney island, ivy, cowboy like me, marjorie, right where you left me (10) 58.82%

2- willow, no body no crime, happiness, it's time to go (4) 23.53%

3- long story short, closure (2) 11.76%

4- dorothea (1) 5.88%

5- (0)

Score: 8.12

Before this project I always thought of myself as more of an evermore stan, but here it is over half a point behind folklore. I'd say I enjoy a majority of evermore's tier 1 tracks than folklore's, but there is more of a mix once you get past tier 1. 

"Midnights" 

1-  Lavender Haze, Maroon, Anti-hero, You're On Your Own Kid, Bejeweled, Karma, Mastermind, Glitch, Would've Could've Should've, Dear Reader, Hits Different, You're Losing Me (12) 50%

2- Midnight Rain, Vigilante Shit, Sweet Nothing, The Great War, Bigger Than The Whole Sky, High Infidelity, Snow On The Beach (More Lana), (7) 29.17%

3- Snow On the Beach, Labyrinth, Karma (Ice Spice) (3) 12.5%

4- Question...?, Paris (2) 8.33%

5- (0)

Score: 7.71

Not just tier 1, but the strength of Midnight's 2nd tier is enough to make it a top 5 album. When it came to Midnight, I of course used the 3am tracks, along with the other bonus material (including You're Losing Me and Hits Different) which further boosted Midnights.

"The Tortured Poets Department"

1- So Long London, But Daddy I Love Him, Guilty As Sin, Whose Afraid Of Little Old Me, loml, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, Clara Bow, The Black Dog, imgonnagetyouback, How Did It End?, So High School, The Prophecy, Peter, The Bolter (15) 48.39%

2- My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys, Down Bad, Florida!!!, The Albatross, Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus, thanK you aIMee, I Look In Peoples Windows, Cassandra, The Manuscript (9) 29.03%

3- Fortnight, The Tortured Poets Department, Fresh Out The Slammer, I Hate It Here (4) 12.9%

4- I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can), The Alchemy, Robin (3) 9.68%

5- (0)

Score: 7.56

TTPD is a special kind of album, even beyond being a double album. You can tell it was cathartic for Taylor (as she wrote this during a turbulent time on tour). The variance among the tracks weights it down a bit, but still a solid album. I broke them down separately, and the 1st half (TTPD) got a 7.31 (which would put it around 7th), and The Anthology got a 7.87 (good for 5th). 

So the rankings go as follows:

folklore - 8.77

1989 - 8.27

Red - 8.13

evermore - 8.12

Midnights - 7.71

The Tortured Poets Department - 7.56

Speak Now - 7.41

Reputation - 7.19

Lover - 6.99

Fearless - 6.69

Debut - 5.50

Crafting The Perfect Album: Taylor Swift

 

I had this idea for a series, going through an artist's discography and building "the perfect album". This is an imperfect science, as I did it by picking out the best Track 1, 2, etc (So there isn't really a concept behind it). 

For the first part, I of course started with Taylor Swift, and boy was this tough to narrow some of these choices far. There were quite a few surprises (for example, tracks like "Blank Space" or "Out Of The Woods" not making the cut, and how much representation albums like Speak Now and Lover had among others). These results are as of The Tortured Poets Department.

(All rights to Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift productions and Republic records)

Track 1 - The final three ended up being "the 1", "Mine" and "Lavender Haze", a pretty nice representation of Taylor's various phases, from country-pop, cottage core and synth pop. In the end, the best Track 1 went to Lavender Haze. What a start that is to Midnights.

Track 2 - "Cruel Summer", "cardigan" and "Sparks Fly", Once again, reps from Folklore and Speak Now. "Cardigan" put up a strong effort, but this was always going to be "Cruel Summer". A smash hit that was further fueled by The Eras Tour.

Track 3 - "gold rush", "Back To December" and "Style". Sensing a theme here, with.....once again representation from Speak Now and this time evermore. There were some surprising omissions ("Love Story"), but through this exercise I found Taylor's track 3s to be particularly strong. The best track 3 went to "Style".  As I mentioned in the intro, "Blank Space" was a surprising omission, but "Style" is another perfect encapsulation of 1989.

Track 4 - "exile", "'tis the damn season" and "Don't Blame Me". I really tried to balance this out, I swear...but again we see songs from folklore and evermore. This choice was perhaps fueled by its performance during The Eras Tour, but I went with "Don't Blame Me". Like with "Style", "Don't Blame Me" is a nice defining moment on Reputation.

Track 5 - "my tears ricochet", "tolerate it" and "Dear John". Some controversy...you might wonder 'Hey, where's All Too Well?'. I made the choice to omit the standard version of "All Too Well" given that (spoiler) All Too Well (10 minute Version) is going to make this list.  With that being said, the best track 5 for me was "my tears ricochet". 

Track 6 - "But Daddy I Love Him", "I Think He Knows", "You Belong With Me". Through my judging of these tracks, I often surprised myself. That's certianly true here, with "I Think He Knows" making the final 3 over something like "mirrorball". Part of that may have been trying to balance this out through her discography. I went with "But Daddy I Love Him", a bit of a throwback sounding song from her country roots on The Tortured Poets Department. 

Track 7 - "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince", "The Story Of Us" and "happiness". Some more surprises, with Americana making a strong showing, while tracks like "I Almost Do" and "seven" not making this final 3.  I ended up going with "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince", such a deep song when you fully take it in. 

Track 8 - There were some surprises among the top 3, with Lover's "Paper Rings" and Fearless's "Tell Me Why". But the top track here is obvious with folklore's "August". Just simply no denying it.

Track 9 - The top 3 here includes Speak Now's "Enchanted" and reputation's "Getaway Car". There was a bit of a surprising omission, with "this is me trying" not making the cut. Ultimately, debut gets on the board with "Should've Said No". Its going to be fascinating to see how this sounds whenever we get debut tv.

Track 10 - The contenders include TTPD's "Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?" and evermore's "ivy", but the top track goes to Lover's "Death By A Thousand Cuts". While DBATC gets enhanced with the acoustic "Live From Paris" version, the original studio recording is still top-tier.

Track 11 - This was a fairly wide open field, with the contenders being debut's "Our Song" and evermore's "cowboy like me". I found the best Track 11 to be Red's "Holy Ground". Perhaps a bit of a surprising result.

Track 12 - "Haunted" not making this top 3 surprised me. Included in the top 3 were Red's "Sad Beautiful Tragic" and TTPD's "LOML", but #1 went to reputation's "Dress". A new kind of sound we hadn't really heard before reputation.

Track 13 - A really strong 3, including Lover's "False God" and Speak Now's "Last Kiss". The top track is one I've come full circle on form when it first came out, 1989's "Clean". A beautiful and powerful message.

Track 14 - The top 3 includes TTPD's "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"  and reputation's "Call It What You Want". Showing just how strong her song catalog is, "betty" is missing from this top 3, as the top spot goes to Speak Now's "Long Live". This is such a definitive song for Taylor Swift.

Track 15 - The contenders are reputation's "New Year's Day" and 1989's "You Are In Love", but the title track "evermore" comes out on top. This track means so much, with its imagery and breakdown bridge featuring bon iver.

Track 16 - The top tracks include TTPD's "Clara Bow" and evermore's "right where you left me", but the top track 16 was Red's "Begin Again". A very underrated track.

Track 17 - Honorable mentions were Red's "The Moment I Knew" and Midnight's "High Infidelity" (a surprise for me), but TTPD's "The Black Dog" takes the prize . What a strong way to start off The Anthology portion of TTPD.

Track 18 - Contenders included Midnight's "Glitch" and Red's "Come Back...Be Here", but the win goes to Lover's "Daylight". That's a perfect closing track on Lover.

Track 19 - 1989's "Now That We Don't Talk" and Speak Now's "I Can See You" are very strong tracks, but there's no doubt with Midnight's "Would've Could've Should've". Such a powerful song as we see Taylor looking into past wounds.

Track 20 - Red's "State Of Grace (Acoustic)" made a strong push, but the edge went to Speak Now's "Castles Crumbling". Hayley Williams' vocals blend and mesh really well with Taylor's.

Track 21 - Fearless's "You All Over Me" and Midnight's "Hits Different" (was a bit tricky to figure out where to place that) are worthy tracks, but 1989's "Is It Over Now?" is such an iconic vault track.

Track 22 - Speak Now's "Timeless" and Fearless's "Mr Perfectly Fine" were contenders, but the top track went to Red's "Better Man". As you'll see, Red just has such a strong run of vault tracks.

Track 23 - Fearless's "We Were Happy" and TTPD's "I Hate It Here" were runner-ups, but the prize goes to once again Red with "Nothing New". Another strong feaature, this time with Phoebe Bridgers.

Track 24 - Now we're getting down to just 3 tracks going against each other. A surprising, but fun diss track, TTPD's "thanK you aImEe" takes the cake. 

Track 25 - Its a track that I wish was longer, TTPD's "I Look In People's Windows" takes 1st place.

Track 26 - Red's "I Bet You Think About Me" is a strong vault track, but TTPD's "The Prophecy" takes this. Taylor's writing game was out of this world. 

Track 27 - Red's "Forever Winter" takes this over TTPD's "Cassandra". 

Track 28 - TTPD's "Peter" gets this one.

Track 29 - TTPD's "The Bolter" takes this over Red's "The Very First Night". 

Track 30 - This is pretty open and shut, Red's "All Too Well (10 minute)". Perhaps Taylor's top song, with how it builds on itself.

Track 31 - A special asterisk for this goes to Midnight's "You're Losing Me". It was a bit of a puzzle finding a place for this.

Track 32 - Really no competition here, with TTPD's "The Manuscript" standing alone.

(Here's the playlist for my top tracks...essentially the perfect Taylor Swift album) 

1) Lavender Haze (Midnights)

2) Cruel Summer (Lover)

3) Style (1989)

4) Don't Blame Me (Reputation)

5) my tears ricochet (folklore)

6) But Daddy I Love Him (TTPD)

7) Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince (Lover)

8) august (folklore)

9) Should've Said No (Taylor Swift)

10) Death By A Thousand Cuts (Lover)

11) Holy Ground (Red)

12) Dress (Reputation)

13) Clean (1989)

14) Long Live (Speak Now)

15) evermore (evermore)

16) Begin Again (Red)

17) The Black Dog (TTPD)

18) Daylight (Lover)

19) Would've...Could've...Should've (Midnights)

20) Castles Crumbling ft/ Hayley Williams (Speak Now)

21) Is It Over Now? (1989)

22) Better Man (Red)

23) Nothing New ft/ Phoebe Bridgers (Red)

24) thanK you AiMee (TTPD)

25) I Look In People's Windows (TTPD)

26) The Prophecy (TTPD)

27) Forever Winter (Red)

28) Peter (TTPD)

29) The Bolter (TTPD)

30) All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Red)

31) You're Losing Me (Midnights)

32) The Manuscript (TTPD)

Pittsburgh Steelers '25 NFL Draft Review

 

All summaries come from the NFL.com Draft Tracker

RD 1 (21) DT Derrick Harmon - Oregon     6' 4 1/2", 313

2024: 2nd AP All-American/3rd All-BIG 10, 45tckls.10.5TFLs, 5scks, 4PBUs, 2FFs

combine: 4.95s 40, 

strengths: Versatility to play up & down the line in odd or even fronts. Punch is quick, powerful & efficient to stall the block. Capable as a block collector to keep his LB clean. Uses arm-over or rip move to penetrate the gap. Creates rush momentum to roll downhill once he hits an edge. 

weaknesses:  Gets caught behind lateral blocks when he shouldn't. Inconsistent to finish his plays after gaining an advantage. Rush is linear with a lack of upper-body turn to flip edges. Footwork becomes too static, prevents secondary rush. Pad level and agility issues create missed tackles in tight quarters.

grade: 6.38 (Will eventually become a plus starter)

comp: Daquan Jones

RD 3 (83) RB Kaleb Johnson - Iowa  6'1 224

2024: 2nd AP All-American/1st All-BIG 10, 240att/1,343yds/21TDs, 21rec/258yds/3TDs

combine: 4.43s 40, 39.5"v, 10'10"broad

strengths: Handled heavier workload and produced at a high level. Operates with consistent tempo and a trust for the run track. Keeps feet active while reading block development. Brushes off 2nd-level tacklers and piles up explosive carries.

weaknesses: Lacks sudden acceleration after feet are slowed. Below-average contact aggression for his size. Not enough lateral agility for sharp back-side cuts across the grain. Unlikely to be trusted with 3rd down protection duties.

grade: 6.21 (Will eventually become an average starter)

comp: Tyler Allgeier

RD 4 (123) EDGE Jack Sawyer - Ohio St  6'4", 260

2024: 2nd All-BIG 10, Cotton Bowl Def. MVP,  59tckls, 9scks, 1INT, 6PBUs, 3FFs

strengths: Beats back-side cutoffs with quick reaction to lateral steps. Strength makes run game wins feel inevitable if a blocker doesn't finish him. Instinctive talent for finding the tackle when he's in the vicinity. Uses two-hand charge and long-arm stab to crater the pocket. Keeps feet moving, making it tougher to mirror him. 

weaknesses: Needs to get hands involved more quickly to mitigate his lack of reach. Missing functional speed to spill action wide in contain. Modest upfield burst rarely allows him to beat tackles to the junction point. Lack of bend hinders ability to get into the pocket.

grade: 6.32 (Will eventually be a plus starter)

RD 5 (164) DT Yahya Black - Iowa  6'6", 336

2024: Honorable All-BIG 10, 34tckls/7TFLs, 1sck, 2PBUs, 1FF

combine: 5.39s 40, 25.5"vert, 8'5"broad

strengths: Able to muddy up the middle when splitting the double team. Uses length to extend & work around the blocker. Plays with firm control of single blockers when his pad level is good. 

weaknesses: Below-average balance and ends up on the ground too often. Lacks a twitchy shed to get rid of blockers when it's time to tackle. Below-average snap quickness and short-area movements. Will offer little help as an NFL pass rusher. 

grade: 5.86 (Average backup/Special teams player)

RD 6 (185) QB Will Howard - Ohio St   6'4", 236

2024: 3rd All-BIG 10, 73%, 40,010yds, 35TDs/10INTs, 105att/226yds/7TDs

combine: 31.5"vert, 9'4"broad

strengths: Can work off-platform with relative ease & efficiency. Throws from a grounded base with good mechanics and repeatable delivery. Able to buy time for routes to develop when pressured. Has poise, accuracy & touch to beat a blitzing defense. Uses legs on zone-read and for short-yardage carries.

weaknesses: Can be mechanical & predictable from the pocket. Will struggle to beat NFL corners when throwing outside the numbers or into tight windows. Not enough eye manipulation to keep defenders guessing. Had some contested  throws bailed out by WR's ball skills.

grade: 5.90 (Average backup/Special Teamer)

comp: Blake Bortles

RD 7 (226) LB Carson Bruener - Washington  6'1", 227

2024: 3rd All-BIG 10, 104tckls/2.5TFLs, 3INTs, 5PBUs, 1FF

combine: 4.58s 40, 33.5"vert, 9'11"broad

strengths: Plays with eyes past blocks and into the backfield. Reads play design and leverages his pursuit angles. Powerful upper body to rip blocks away from his frame. Special Teams  ace with production in all phases. 

weaknesses: Missing NFL-caliber agility and athleticism. Lacking speed to play from sideline to sideline. Poor short-area quickness to tackle slashers. Short on range in coverage and is non-threatning as a blitzer.

grade: 5.83 (Average backup/Special teamer)

RD 7 (229) CB Donte Kent - Central Michigan  5'10", 189

2024: 53tckls/1TFL, 9PBUs, 1 Punt Return TD

strengths: Can make-up for lost ground or stay in phase with deep routes. Good burst to match route breaks in man coverage. Possesses the right amount of toughness for run support. Capable of competing for roles as a gunner & punt returner. 

weaknesses: Can be upright and lackadaisical with movements in space. Lack of instincts and eye trust hinder interception opportunities. Below-average route recognition & anticipation. Can be inefficient in coverage movements, causing routes to disconnect.

grade: 5.91 (Average backup/Special teamer)

 

Buffalo Bills '25 NFL Draft Review

 

All summaries come from the nfl.com draft tracker

RD 1 (30) CB Maxwell Hairston - Kentucky 5'11", 183

2024: (played 7 games) 19tckls, 1sck, 1INT/1TD, 4PBUs, 2FFs

combine: 4.28s 40, 39.5"vert, 10'9"broad

strengths: Pedals and changes direction with controlled footwork. Stays connected through transitions at the top of the route. Reads QB to help anticipate route breaks. Maintains inside leverage as a boundary corner. Instant burst into passing lanes when QBs stare. 

weaknesses: Inconsistent in locating the ball downfield. Will have trouble checking stronger wideouts. Massive liability in run support. Below-average open-field tackler after the catch. 

grade: 6.37 (Will eventually become a plus starter)

RD 2 (41) DT T.J. Sanders - South Carolina  6'4", 297

2024: 50tckls/7TFLs, 4scks, 1PBU

combine: 31.5"vert, 9'4"broad

strengths: Lands first with violent, leveraged hand strikes. Discards blocks and tackles his gap with timing. Rush swipes come suddenly and with force. Hard to redirect off track once he hits an edge. Crashes hard into centers on twists. 

weaknesses: Lacks desired knee-bend in block take-on. Average first-step quickness for an interior rusher. Tight hips prevent quick change of direction.

grade: 6.30 (Will eventually be a plus starter)

RD 3 (72) EDGE Landon Jackson - Arkansas  6'6", 264

2024: 2nd All-SEC, 49tckls/9.5TFLs, 6.5scks, 3PBUs, 1FF, blocked kick

combine: 4.68s 40, 40.5"vert, 10'9"broad

strengths: Puts blockers at the of his reach when he lands first. Slinks into backfield with forward push and slippery upper half. Plays with good connection between his hands & feet. Flashes legitimate feel for timing with inside rush moves. 

weaknesses: Inconsistent anchor drop to avoid being torqued off-balance. Below-average body control and change-of-direction fluidity. Too tight-hipped to dip and corner tightly at the top of the rush. Unable to generate consistent speed-to-power rush due to limited leverage. Lacks suddenness transitioning into his inside counters.

grade: 6.35 (Will eventually be a plus starter)

comp: Logan Hall

RD 4 (109) DT Deone Walker - Kentucky    6'7", 331

2024: 3rd All-SEC, 37ckls, 1.5scks, 1FR, 2PBUs

combine: 25"vert, 8'8"broad

strengths: Can overwhelm opponents with physical traits. Firm edge-setter when bumped out to 5-technique. Pries open pathways to the pocket when finding proper arm extension. Athletic feet create rush opportunities across the gaps.

weaknesses: High center of gravity makes anchoring & leveraging gaps an issue. Has trouble staying on balance and on his feet at times. Sub par conditioning leads to his motor gassing out. Below-average leg bend limits power potential as a bull-rusher.

grade: 6.20 (Will eventually become an average starter)

comp: Jordan Phillips

RD 5 (170) CB Jordan Hancock - Ohio St  6', 195

2024: 48tckls/1.5TFLs, 8PBUs, 2FFs

strengths: Experience playing back, down & from the slot. Hands are heavy when punching or rerouting release. Rides heavy on short routes from tight man coverage. 

weaknesses: Loses sight of play development from zone. Lacks route anticipation and twitch to match at break points. Below-average instincts and response to QB's operation. Needs better use of his hands to play off the block near the line.

grade: 5.97 (Average backup/Special Teams player)

RD 5 (173) TE Jackson Hawes - Georgia Tech  6'4 1/2", 253

2024: 16rec/195yds

combine: 4.82s 40, 34.5"vert, 10'1"broad, 16reps

strengths: Dips and explodes hips into targets to dig them out. Accurate hands and balanced base quickly put him into sustain positioning. Impressive hand usage and technique in pass protection.

weaknesses: Low-volume target with small sample size as a pass catcher. Needs to work back to the ball to improve contested catch success. Can be tardy to settle his feet into contact as a move blocker. Feet can get too stationary in his pass pro. 

grade: 6.12 (Good backup with potential to develop as a starter)

RD 6 (177) CB Dorian Strong - Virginia Tech  6'1", 185

2024: Honorable All-ACC, 32tckls, 2INTs, 6PBUs, 1FF

combine: 4.5s 40, 36"vert, 9'8"broad, 15reps

strengths; Studies QB from deep zone and anticipates his action. Plays with plus instincts and route anticipation in his drops. Takes cues from receiver's eyes to time his turn and locate. Hand swipes at catch point are accurate and well-timed. 

weaknesses: Leggy movements create lagging change of direction in space. Greedy intentions create opportunity to beat him with high/low and double-moves. Flies into run support with steep angles and will lose contain. 

grade: 6.18 (Good backup with potential to develop as a starter)

comp: Martin Emerson

RD 6 (206) OT Chase Lundt - UConn  6'7 1/2", 304

combine: 20reps

strengths: Captures defender's play-side shoulder with quick, accurate hands. Quick to accelerate and drive feet once the run block is centered. Able to absorb power rush with plus contact balance. Fluid change of direction when mirroring the inside move. Has both the bend and core strength for consideration as a guard.

weaknesses: Bouncy, uneven pass slides open him up for counters. Gets into trouble with over-sets and lunging out to the rusher. Average lateral quickness for cut-off & reach blocks.

grade: 6.00 (Traits or talent to be an above-average backup)

comp: Liam Eichenberg

RD 7 (240) WR Kaden Prather - Maryland  6'3 1/2", 204

2024: 56rec/624yds/4TDs

combine: 4.46s 40, 30"vert, 9'6"broad

strengths: Long strides with build-up speed to challenge over the top. Shows know-how for creating leverage inside the route. Size & strength to carry tacklers forward after contact. 

weaknesses: Forced to modify route breaks due to hip tightness. Struggles with tracking and finishing deep targets. Suffers from focus drops and double-catches. 

grade: 5.68 (Candidate for bottom of the roster or Practice Squad)

 

Kansas City Chiefs 2025 NFL Draft Review

 

All summaries come from the NFL.com draft tracker.

RD 1 (32) OT Josh Simmons - Ohio St  6'5", 317

2024: Honorable All-BIG 10 (missed final 10 games)

strengths: Very smooth getting out of his stance and into space. Gives good effort to sustain and finish blocks with his feet. Gathers rusher's outside shoulder with firm outside hand. Possesses good feel for pocket depth. Has the range to impact the screen game out wide. 

weaknesses: Upper-body strength appears to be average. Has a tendency to catch rushers, surrendering some bull-rush success. Instincts have been average in recognizing twists and games in protection. Coming off of a season-ending knee injury.

grade: 6.39 (Will eventually become a plus starter)

comp: D.J. Humphries

RD 2 (63) DT Omarr Norman-Lott - Tennessee  6'2", 291

2024: 18tckls, 4scks

combine: 31.5"vert, 9'5"broad

strengths: Inside hands bolster ability to play with upper-body power. Plus short-area athleticism and range to tackle. Pass rush fueled by quick, lively hands throughout the rep. Uses swipes, grabs & chops to prevent protection from sinking in. Feet consistently search for the blocker's edge on rush reps. 

weaknesses: Scheme-dependent. First contact can bounce and widen him out of the gap. Needs to develop additional moves and counters as a rusher. Unable to generate pocket-pushing force as a bull-rusher. 

grade: 6.16 (Good backup with potential to develop as a starter)

RD 3 (66) EDGE Ashton Gillotte - Louisville  6'3", 264

2024: 2md All-ACC, 43tckls/10TFLs, 4.5scks

combine: 36.5"vert, 10'broad, 24reps

strengths: Utilizes violent hand chops to batter tackle's pass punch. Able to collapse the pocket with leveraged speed-to-power charge. Plays with good pad level throughout the rep. Has lateral twitch to widen his tackle radius in the open field. 

weaknesses: Below-average closing burst to the QB. Needs to develop workable counters when bull rush stalls. Gets widened off the edge by kick-out blocks. Struggles to anchor down when blocks catch him. 

grade: 6.21 (Will eventually become an average starter)

RD 3 (85) CB Nohl Williams - California  6', 199

2024: 2nd AP All-American/1st All-ACC, Honorable All-ACC (all-purpose), 52tckls/1TFL, 1FF, 9PBUs, 7INTs, Return TD

combine: 4.5s 40, 33.5"vert, 10'broad, 19reps

strengths: Good instincts & eye balance to hunt big plays. Plays with physicality inside the route. Quick to pounce when recognizing the throw. Plays with a receiver's ball skills once the ball goes up. Operates with good route balance from zone. 

weaknesses: Labors getting out of his lateral transitions. Heady route runners will find separation from him. Run support and lack of tackle strength are concerns. High number of holding  & pass interference penalties.

grade: 6.17 (Good backup with potential to develop as a starter)

RD 4 (133) WR Jalen Royals - Utah St  6', 205

2024: 2nd All-Mountain West, 55rec/834yds/6TDs

combine: 4.42s 40, 13reps

strengths: Keenly aware of where defenders are positioned. Fights hard for his catch space on contested throws. Impressive body control and coordination to get catch-ready. Can be hard to bring down by 1st tackler in the open field. 

weaknesses: Lacks desired suddenness to shake an NFL press. Early vertical push fails to concern defenders. Average foot quickness & burst to separate. 

grade: 6.32 (Will eventually become a plus starter)

RD 5 (156) LB Jeffrey Bassa - Oregon  6'1", 232

2024: Honorable All-BIG 10, 54tckls/7.5TFLs, 1.5scks, 2PBUs, 2FFs

combine: 4.63s 40, 38.5"vert, 9'10"broad, 21reps

strengths: Good communication to teammates before the snap. Drifts downhill and cuts off runner's operating room. Tracks run play with good effort and pursuit speed. Tackles with good balance & wrap--up technique. 

weaknesses: Much more robotic than instinctive in the run game. Lacks patience and will run past back-side fits. Not a twitchy, burst-oriented player in space. 

grade: 6.15 (Good backup with potential to develop as a starter)

  

RD 7 (228) RB Brashard Smith - SMU  5'10", 194

2024: 3rd AP All-American (All-Purpose)/1st All-ACC, 235att/1,332ys/14TDs, 39rec/327yds/4TDs

combine: 4.39s 40, 32.5"vert, 9'9"broad

strengths: Very good stop-and-start quickness when probing. Processes 2nd level quickly to spin around or side step defenders. Former wideout with outstanding hands & ball skills. Able to line up and run a variety of routes form the slot. 

weaknesses: Runs with a little too much hesitation in his approach. Has a tough time outrunning pursuit to the corner. Requires better understanding to read and set-up block development. Below-average leg drive to break through arm tackles. 

grade: 6.00 (Traits or talent to be an above-average backup)