The Chiefs were targeting former Oklahoma defensive end R Mason Thomas as a high priority with their second-round draft pick, and they didn’t want anyone to know. Including Thomas.
Thomas, who went to Kansas City with the 40th overall pick in April, says he was shocked when his phone rang during the second round and it was the Chiefs, talking to him for the first time since a meeting at the Scouting Combine two months earlier.
“I would’ve never known a Kansas City, Missouri, area code would call my phone on draft day. They didn’t really talk as much,” Thomas said. “I had a formal meeting with them, and that was the first meeting of the Combine. After that we didn’t talk. So I guess they’re low-key. They like to keep it quiet.”
Some teams like to bring in the players they’re interested in drafting for meetings at the team facility to get to know them better. Other teams view those meetings as a way for other teams to identify the players they want and perhaps move up ahead of them in the draft. The Chiefs decided not to let anyone know Thomas was their guy, until they let Thomas know when they were on the clock.
