5 best first-round draft picks in Kansas City Chiefs' history feat. Patrick Mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs are still arguably the best team in the NFL, despite their recent Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The team has won three of the last six championships and advanced to three consecutive Super Bowls.

If the Chiefs didn't make wise selections annually in the NFL draft, they wouldn't have been able to accomplish everything they have in recent years.

Making wise choices on draft day has been crucial to their recent history, from choosing Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis in the first round in 2022 to moving up to pick Patrick Mahomes in the first round in 2017.

Here, we will examine the best players the Chiefs have ever chosen in the first round of the draft.

Ranking the Kansas City Chiefs’ best first-round picks in history

#5 - Eric Berry (safety)

In the 2010 NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected Eric Berry with the fifth overall pick after he played collegiate football for the Tennessee Volunteers. He went on to have a successful nine-year career in Kansas City, where he was selected to the first-team All-Pro three times and was named to the Pro Bowl five times.

Berry holds a unique place in Chiefs legend because of his reputation as a hard-hitting defensive back during his playing career. A year after beating cancer (Hodgkin's lymphoma), he was voted NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2016 and was selected to the 2010 All-Decade Team.

In his career, he recorded 445 total tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 51 passes defended, 14 interceptions, five pick-sixes, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

#4 - Derrick Johnson (linebacker)

Derrick Johnson was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft and spent 13 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was a vital member of the defense.

Before leaving for the Oakland Raiders in 2018, Johnson recorded 941 solo tackles and 213 assisted tackles, making him the Chiefs' overall top tackler. In addition, he received a 2010 First Team All-Pro selection and was a four-time Pro Bowler.

#3 - Tony Gonzalez (tight end)

Prior to Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce raising the bar for tight ends, Tony Gonzalez was the league's undisputed top tight end.

Gonzalez, who was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, was a supreme matchup monster in Kansas City because of his unparalleled speed and athleticism. He amassed 10,940 receiving yards and 916 catches during his 12 years with the team.

Ahead of the 2009 season, Gonzalez was moved to the Atlanta Falcons, where he continued to be a highly productive player for a few more years before leaving the game after the 2013 campaign.

Kansas City declared in January 2018 that Gonzalez would be inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, his first year of eligibility.

#2 - Derrick Thomas (linebacker)

When Derrick Thomas played with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1989 to 1999, he was among the NFL's most formidable defensive players. He was selected fourth overall by the team in the 1989 NFL draft and went on to put together a career that puts him in the conversation for the greatest pass rushers of all time.

Throughout his career, Thomas was selected to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, led the NFL in forced fumbles twice, was selected to nine Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro teams and set the single-game sacks record in 1990.

A car accident after the 1999 season left Thomas paraplegic, and he died from a pulmonary embolism shortly after. In 2009, he was inducted posthumously into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

#1 - Patrick Mahomes (quarterback)

Patrick Mahomes is not even 30 years old, and he's arguably the greatest Kansas City Chiefs player. The Chiefs traded up to select him with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and all he has done since then is win.

In his time in the league, Mahomes won three Super Bowls, was named the Chiefs' first NFL MVP in 2018 and added another in 2022. He has also broken other NFL records. He is the youngest player to win both a regular season MVP and a Super Bowl title. Additionally, he was named MVP of the 2020, 2023 and 2024 Super Bowls.

The Chiefs drafted a number of players who went on to become legendary in the first round of the draft, but none of them have Mahomes' ceiling.