Notre Dame Football: DeShone Kizer To Kansas City?

The Kansas City Chiefs are going to take former Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer with their 27th overall pick.

That’s the projection of three sites - DraftTek, FanSided, WalterFootball - which released mock drafts Wednesday, as the Kizer-to-KC chatter has intensified online.

THERE’S PRECEDENT

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The notion of Andy Reid selecting DeShone Kizer doesn’t seem far-fetched, at least based on one big prior decision.

In 2007, the then-Philadelphia Eagles coach took Houston Cougars quarterback Kevin Kolb with the team’s first pick (No. 36 overall). Donovan McNabb was the expected starter at 31 years old, but was returning from a late-season ACL injury. Kolb was given the opportunity to learn under McNabb and A.J. Feely, the Eagles’ backup, before appearing in six games during his second season.

Alex Smith will be 33 - and entering his 13th professional season - when the Chiefs begin again this fall. He’s stayed relatively injury-free since joining Kansas City in 2013, and achieved personal bests in completions and yards last season. The Chiefs have two other quarterbacks, Nick Foles and Tyler Bray, but signaled last week they’re moving on from Foles. Foles enjoyed a modicum of success with Philadelphia in 2013, but hasn’t done much since. Bray seems like only an emergency option.

A VET INSTEAD OF KIZER?

The Chiefs are reportedly interested in the Dallas Cowboys’ oft-injured Tony Romo, but they’re also entering the fourth year of a $68 million deal with Smith. Their starter is a $17 million hit against the cap, and Romo is due even more.

Kansas City will sign their 27th pick to four-year deal estimated to be worth $10.04 million, with about half coming as a signing bonus. Whether the Chiefs ultimately pick Kizer or Texas Tech quarterback Pat Mahomes - who is more mobile, but also less familiar with a typical NFL offense - it would seem to make more sense than overextending themselves for the 36-year-old Romo.

IF NOT CHIEFS, THEN...BROWNS? BILLS? CARDINALS?

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With the NFL Draft still two months away - and an important NFL Combine opportunity next week - analysts are still lack consensus on Kizer’s ultimate destination.

While WalterFootball has had Kizer to the Chiefs for at least a week, Draftek moved him up six spots this past week - and away from the Cleveland Browns’ second round pick. Brad Weiss, writing for FanSided, went in the opposite direction. He had Kizer going 12th overall to the Browns just five days ago - and dropped him 15 spots Wednesday.

Ryan Wilson, in his first CBS Sports mock draft released Wednesday, still likes Kizer to the Browns at 12th overall. SB Nation’s Dan Kadar now thinks the Arizona Cardinals will trade up to 11th to snag Kizer, after having slotted him 10th to the Buffalo Bills in his Feb. 13 mock draft.

Other prognosticators remain bearish on Kizer’s first round prospects. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox and The Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling both released updated mocks Wednesday that do not include the former Irish signal caller.