Despite drafting late, Chiefs manage to find contributors

The biggest downside to success in the NFL may come each April, when the team that wins the Super Bowl also wins the rather dispiriting opportunity to pick last in each round of the draft.

Not that it’s a bad tradeoff.

Yet despite having to wait deep into the night to finally make their selections, the Kansas City Chiefs have managed to get a massive return on their draft investments.

First-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire and thirdround pick Willie Gay have been on the field for each of the first nine games, L’Jarius Sneed has two picks in three games — he broke his collarbone and missed the others — and Michael Danna and BoPete Keyes also have played important defensive and special teams snaps.

Those rookies that just about every other NFL team had an opportunity to pick? They’re a big reason why the Chiefs are 8-1 and head to Las Vegas on Sunday with a chance to not only avenge their only loss of the season, but also essentially sew up the AFC West.

The credit for it goes largely to general manager Brett Veach, who received a long-term contract extension this week.

“I knew he was a really good evaluator,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said, “but it’s one thing to be a good evaluator and be the guy sitting in the chair having to make the decision, both on draft day and in signing free agents.”

That’s actually been the case the past couple of years.

The Chiefs chose late in the 2019 draft, too, after losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC title game. Yet without a first-round pick at all — they traded it for defensive end Frank Clark — they still managed to net six players that have become significant contributors. Mecole Hardman is their No. 2 wide receiver, Juan Thornhill starts alongside Tyrann Mathieu at safety, and Khalen Saunders, Rashad Fenton, Darwin Thompson and Nick Allegretti have all seen the field this season.

• Defensive end Alex Okafor has been designated for return from injured reserve, a day after returning to practice. The Chiefs have 21 days to activate Okafor to the 53-man roster.

Okafor, 29, could play this week when the Chiefs (8-1) visit the Las Vegas Raiders (6-3) on Sunday night. The Chiefs’ defensive line took a hit after Taco Charlton was lost for the season with a broken ankle.

TWO NINERS ADDED TO COVID LIST >> The 49ers added two more players to their coronavirus reserve list, as center Hroniss Grasu and linebacker Joe Walker will be required to self-isolate.

Moving onto the coronavirus reserve list does not mean that the players have tested positive for the virus. The list is for players who have tested positive or have been in close contact with someone who’s tested positive.

Grasu and Walker join defensive linemen Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw on the 49ers’ COVID-19 reserve — both added earlier during the bye week.

SCOTT, FORMER MIAMI SAFETY, SUPER BOWL MVP, DIES AT 75 >> Jake Scott, the star safety who was the most valuable player in the Super Bowl that completed the Miami Dolphins’ 1972 perfect season, died Thursday in Atlanta. He was 75.

Scott died after a fall down a stairway that left him in a coma, former teammate Dick Anderson said.

Scott played in three consecutive Super Bowls, won back- to- back championship rings and made the Pro Bowl five years in a row with Miami. He had two interceptions, including a 55-yard return from the end zone, against Billy Kilmer and Washington as the 1972 Dolphins won 14-7 to finish 17- 0.