Noah Gray Thread

[jetlord 10,209]

17 minutes ago, Lamardirts said:

We won't know until next draft but I wonder if he changed his strategy up a little.   Hit some doubles at the front then take a couple swings at the end.  If the swings don't work out you still have your doubles who can play and develop into the core of this team.   Seems like early on he would swing on those early picks and reach.   I think this draft has the potential to be elite for us and worse case a solid draft that filled important holes with capable players.     If Trey Smith and/or Kaindoh pan out this draft could set us up beautifully for the future.  

The players taken wouldn't be that impressive for a lot of teams, but every  pick fills a role the Chiefs needed to fill.  Smith could be a steal if he can learn a few techniques and remain healthy.  Not sure how quickly the DE will develop, but for where he was picked, it was worth a shot.  Same with TE #2 and X receiver.  Veach done good.  

[Goldbrick 364]

8 hours ago, AFCWEST said:

 He's comfortable out of the slot as well which is a big plus! Even out of the backfield as a FB!

Sounds like a threat no matter where he lines up.  Kinda like Kris wilson😁

[CranjisMcbasketball 780]

Watched a few minutes of YouTube clips of this guy, i liked what i saw quite a bit.

[robgar 1,046]

Kris wilson with a work ethic.. 

[AFCWEST 1,238]

With Bell back and Gray KC has some much better options this season. How about Bell lined up on that left side! CEH Unstoppable. Kelce can get a few extra plays off. I really like Gray. Be fun to see Gray & Kelce lined up outside on 4th and 2.

[oldtimer 8,686]

So once they identified Gray as a player they wanted, how exactly did the trade and move up come together for Kansas City? According to Veach, the Chiefs began targeting Gray as soon as they welcomed fourth-round pick Joshua Kaindoh to the team.

“Looking at the board and kind of working through that,” Veach said. “Josh Kaindoh was a guy we were interested in and once we fulfilled that kind of need there at defensive end with Josh, we quickly looked at the board and we knew that we wouldn’t be able to get up all that high. So once we got into that range where we felt we could do a flopping of picks that would get us up, we were going to be aggressive. So we just had to wait. So we were literally waiting for 15, 20, 25 picks to go by. We had two different deals in place, we actually had the Jets, at first they weren’t committing to the move. I think there was a team behind them that said they would commit to the move. We had just said that if our guy was still on the board, we’d be interested. Once the Jets got on the clock, they called us back and said that they would be interested.”

Veach was willing to trade up for Gray, but he also made it clear that it was only to a certain extent. The team wasn’t interested in surrendering a pick to ensure that they could move up and get Gray. Ultimately, they wanted to have that sixth-round pick to see what type of value was available. That was the right call, seeing as they were able to land a player considered to be a steal in Trey Smith.

“But we were really identifying that trade about 20 picks ahead,” Veach explained. “We were just waiting, we couldn’t get into that range because we didn’t want to surrender a pick. We could have moved up even higher by just surrendering a flat pick, but we wanted to work in volume and we identified a few teams that were willing to swap picks. And we were OK with shifting down later and allowing a team to come up higher later if we could move up a little in that fifth.”

Only time will tell if Gray can live up to the expectations of the front office staff, but he’s someone that they specifically targeted because of his skill set. They put a lot of work in to ensure that they got a shot to work with and develop him behind Kelce, an opportunity that Gray himself relishes.

“That was a guy, again as soon as we selected Josh Kaindoh, we had our eyes locked on,” Veach concluded. “We called Josh and we welcomed him to the Kingdom and as soon as we got off the phone we were back in the draft room, on the phone, calling every team to see how we could flop picks with them to get back up there and get Noah.”

[Biggjliv4 1,292]

Is it football season yet, ready to watch these guys play already

[West 6,713]

Veach is a very good GM.

One more SB win and he can be mentioned as the BEST.

w

[jetlord 10,209]

2 hours ago, West said:

Veach is a very good GM.

One more SB win and he can be mentioned as the BEST.

w

Even better than Pioli?

[Holmes4six! 968]

This gray pick is intriguing. I see a lot of 2-3 TE sets and I think patriots will be doing the same with hunter henry and Jonu smith. 
it will be another element to our offense. 
highlights I’ve seen the kid looks good. Seems to find the soft spot and good hands.  Another big target for mahomes. 

[DieHard 2,061]

On 5/3/2021 at 3:23 AM, robgar said:

Kris wilson with a work ethic.. 

So Tony Moeaki.

[robgar 1,046]

well a Tony Moeki that can actually stay on the field. Moeki was a decent player when he wasnt hurt..

but that was the years of the fragile chiefs.. 

of course we had a offensive line that would of made last years look like they where all pro... 

and a quarterback killer for a head coach. 

and not much of a clue anywhere else in the entire office.. 

so .. 

I like the guy, think he is a good fit.. 

and another big reciever regardless of if he is a fullback, or a TE.. is not something to complain about expeccially in short yardage situations

and situations where we have had some difficulty.. ( inside the 15 ) .. 

 

especcially with what appears to be a pretty decent line in front of them.. 

so go with him at fullback, ceh, and kelce.. the things you can do in short yardage situations is gonna be entertaining. 

hopefully we wont need quite so many trick plays. 

[oldtimer 8,686]

1 hour ago, robgar said:

well a Tony Moeki that can actually stay on the field. Moeki was a decent player when he wasnt hurt..

but that was the years of the fragile chiefs.. 

of course we had a offensive line that would of made last years look like they where all pro... 

and a quarterback killer for a head coach. 

and not much of a clue anywhere else in the entire office.. 

so .. 

I like the guy, think he is a good fit.. 

and another big reciever regardless of if he is a fullback, or a TE.. is not something to complain about expeccially in short yardage situations

and situations where we have had some difficulty.. ( inside the 15 ) .. 

 

especcially with what appears to be a pretty decent line in front of them.. 

so go with him at fullback, ceh, and kelce.. the things you can do in short yardage situations is gonna be entertaining. 

hopefully we wont need quite so many trick plays. 

altho they can be annoying when they dont work in crucial times I think  they are an effort for the players to have "fun". more than a "need"

[DieHard 2,061]

4 hours ago, robgar said:

well a Tony Moeki that can actually stay on the field. Moeki was a decent player when he wasnt hurt..

but that was the years of the fragile chiefs.. 

of course we had a offensive line that would of made last years look like they where all pro... 

and a quarterback killer for a head coach. 

and not much of a clue anywhere else in the entire office.. 

so .. 

I like the guy, think he is a good fit.. 

and another big reciever regardless of if he is a fullback, or a TE.. is not something to complain about expeccially in short yardage situations

and situations where we have had some difficulty.. ( inside the 15 ) .. 

 

especcially with what appears to be a pretty decent line in front of them.. 

so go with him at fullback, ceh, and kelce.. the things you can do in short yardage situations is gonna be entertaining. 

hopefully we wont need quite so many trick plays. 

I like the fit also. I love the route running with the change of direction. I don't care if he can block or not. Our line is rock solid. If he can block a CB in front of Clyde, we are good.

[AFCWEST 1,238]

Gray lined up at a variety of spots last season at Duke, recording snaps in the slot (237), in-line (139) and in the backfield (120).

He's also as sure-handed as they come. According to Pro Football Focus, Gray dropped just three passes out of 107 catchable targets during his career.

 

With the 162nd pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Kansas City #Chiefs select Noah Gray, TE, Duke • 178th Overall, TE7 on PFF Big Board 2020 • 61.7 Overall • 63.4 Receiving 2019 • 61.8 Overall • 63.9 Receiving Career • 944 Yards • 8 Touchdowns • 2.8% Drop

[sith13 1,746]

3 hours ago, AFCWEST said:

Gray lined up at a variety of spots last season at Duke, recording snaps in the slot (237), in-line (139) and in the backfield (120).

He's also as sure-handed as they come. According to Pro Football Focus, Gray dropped just three passes out of 107 catchable targets during his career.

 

With the 162nd pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Kansas City #Chiefs select Noah Gray, TE, Duke • 178th Overall, TE7 on PFF Big Board 2020 • 61.7 Overall • 63.4 Receiving 2019 • 61.8 Overall • 63.9 Receiving Career • 944 Yards • 8 Touchdowns • 2.8% Drop

Just make sure he doesn't practice with D-Rob. 

Those are some promising numbers, might end up being a huge steal. Seems like a better #2 than we had in forever. 

[AFCWEST 1,238]

ESPN's Adam Teicher said "it's easy to see" how rookie TE Noah Gray "could get a significant amount of playing time" in 2021. 

Teicher expects Gray -- a fifth rounder out of Duke -- to play in Kansas City's multiple tight end sets. The rookie could, per Teicher, see extended playing time if the Chiefs rest Travis Kelce during parts of the NFL's new 17-game season. Patrick Mahomes dropped back 96 times last season in multiple tight end sets, throwing for 899 yards and nine touchdowns with zero picks while taking just one sack. Gray, Duke's all-time leading tight end, has stood out in KC's offseason practices as a potential weapon in the team's already-explosive passing attack. He looks like a decent late-round flier in tight end premium formats this summer. 

[KC Warpaint 3,234]

On 5/3/2021 at 3:22 PM, oldtimer said:

So once they identified Gray as a player they wanted, how exactly did the trade and move up come together for Kansas City? According to Veach, the Chiefs began targeting Gray as soon as they welcomed fourth-round pick Joshua Kaindoh to the team.

“Looking at the board and kind of working through that,” Veach said. “Josh Kaindoh was a guy we were interested in and once we fulfilled that kind of need there at defensive end with Josh, we quickly looked at the board and we knew that we wouldn’t be able to get up all that high. So once we got into that range where we felt we could do a flopping of picks that would get us up, we were going to be aggressive. So we just had to wait. So we were literally waiting for 15, 20, 25 picks to go by. We had two different deals in place, we actually had the Jets, at first they weren’t committing to the move. I think there was a team behind them that said they would commit to the move. We had just said that if our guy was still on the board, we’d be interested. Once the Jets got on the clock, they called us back and said that they would be interested.”

Veach was willing to trade up for Gray, but he also made it clear that it was only to a certain extent. The team wasn’t interested in surrendering a pick to ensure that they could move up and get Gray. Ultimately, they wanted to have that sixth-round pick to see what type of value was available. That was the right call, seeing as they were able to land a player considered to be a steal in Trey Smith.

“But we were really identifying that trade about 20 picks ahead,” Veach explained. “We were just waiting, we couldn’t get into that range because we didn’t want to surrender a pick. We could have moved up even higher by just surrendering a flat pick, but we wanted to work in volume and we identified a few teams that were willing to swap picks. And we were OK with shifting down later and allowing a team to come up higher later if we could move up a little in that fifth.”

Only time will tell if Gray can live up to the expectations of the front office staff, but he’s someone that they specifically targeted because of his skill set. They put a lot of work in to ensure that they got a shot to work with and develop him behind Kelce, an opportunity that Gray himself relishes.

“That was a guy, again as soon as we selected Josh Kaindoh, we had our eyes locked on,” Veach concluded. “We called Josh and we welcomed him to the Kingdom and as soon as we got off the phone we were back in the draft room, on the phone, calling every team to see how we could flop picks with them to get back up there and get Noah.”

I really like reading stuff like this because it shows that it is not so easy to just surrender picks for a player that you really like but that will also sabotage the rest of the draft and prevent from filling other needs like Trey Smith

[Fmbl2187 2,279]

The balls thrown to Noah will have to have a nice ark.

[sith13 1,746]

Smith was my sleeper of the draft for the Chiefs among the players selected but Gray is getting a really nice hype as well. Any decent contributor from late rounds is basically a huge win but if the hype and the reports are for real we might be getting tremendous contributions with picks that would normally go to projects. Not to mention this was supposed to be a terrible draft with lack of scouting and small number of prospects entering.