Chiefs Director of Player Personnel/College Scouting Ryne Nutt Quotes
April 28, 2025
OPENING STATEMENT: “The first thing I want to do is kind of recognize some of our area guys and our directors who don’t get a lot of pub. I just feel like this is the chance to kind of give them some recognition, so I’d like to do that. They bust their butts all year long – eight months a year. The travel, the meetings, the calls – they do so much, they’re the unsung heroes of our organization I feel, especially in this process. We have two directors, (Co-Director of College Scouting) Pat Sperduto and (Co-Director of College Scouting) David Hinson, our two college directors, (Senior College Scouting Executive) Terry Delp does the Midwest, Dru Grigson (who) we just hired, his role will be determined later on here. (Southwest Regional Scout) Jason Lamb does the southwest, (National Scout) Jon Howard does the west national, (Western Regional Scout) Greg Castillo does the west regional and then you have (Northeast Area Scout) Cassidy Kaminski doing the northeast and (Mid-Atlantic Area Scout) Will Christopherson does the Mid-Atlantic, so that’s our staff there. Madison Aponte is our Player Personnel Coordinator who helps kind of as a liaison between myself and them and she does a phenomenal job as well. That’s the crew, they do a heck of a job (and) I want to give them their due. With that said, you guys can shoot. Give me the questions you’d like.”
Q: How does Josh Simmons rank as an offensive tackle prospect before the injury?
NUTT: “Josh (Simmons) is – you could make your case for the best, but he’s definitely in the top three in this draft class in terms of what he provides. The only difference maybe between him and some other guys is he started two years and some of these other guys, like the LSU kid (Patriots LT Will Campbell) I think started more and you could say experience and stuff like that, but Josh is physically – he is elite. I mean, he is big, he’s strong, his feet jump off the tape. When you put this tape on, his set is as pretty as it looks now in terms of offensive line pass setting. He got better every year, his first year at Ohio State he flipped to the left side from the right side the year prior and I think it just took him a little time to adjust to just everything, like a new playbook, a new surrounding (and) a new position essentially. It’s not as easy as people think going from the right side to the left side, there is a big difference and sometimes it just takes people a little longer and I think that was the case with Josh. This last year, you can watch those six games, and it’s not unfair to say he was the best tackle up to that point. It stinks he got injured because I do think – I mean, I guess it’s good for us because we got him and that’s the only way we would’ve gotten him because that kid, he was a top-20 pick. It stinks for the kid, it hurt him on his wall and the money but things happen for a reason and it’s kind of not where you start, it’s where you finish and I think just the set up here that we have with (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid and (Offensive Line) Coach (Andy) Heck is going to be great for this kid. In terms of years past, I would say Josh, when he was healthy at this year, this tape, would be one of the better ones in the last few years. He kind of reminds me of (Vikings LT) Christian Darrisaw who’s done really well for the Vikings. He’s got a little bit of (Chargers LT Rashawn) Slater in him who plays for the Chargers. The kid’s arms are longer than I think people think, the (NFL) Combine measured him at 33 (inches) but his Pro Day – or 34 and an eighth, and I think that’s closer to what we kind of had, I think we had around 34 when we brought him in. The kid is super talented and super willing to work, and we’re excited to have him where we got him.”
Q: What’s the strategy knowing that Brashard Smith’s on the board and trying to determine when you should make the pick?
NUTT: “We knew before the draft (that) this was a very deep running back class. There were guys that fell into the fourth round that we thought would be gone in the beginning of (round) three and possibly maybe even (round) two, so we kind of knew it was deep. We knew Brashard (Smith) was somebody we liked, kind of in the mid-rounds but with it being so deep, there was maybe a chance to get him. What happened was, in the fifth (round), there was a player in Jeff Bassa who was there, who was clearly the best player on our board. That would’ve been the time to take a running back but when you have another player that is higher on the board, (General Manager) Brett (Veach) likes to go by, ‘Listen, we’ve worked on this board for eight months, let’s let this thing speak to us.’ So, we took the player we had slightly higher in Jeff Bassa and then it allowed Brett to refocus and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to take a running back now. I know who I want.’ We get to the seventh round and Brett felt like giving up another seventh-round pick to move up was well worth it – I think everybody did – to get the kid that we liked in the mid-rounds. That was kind of the thinking there.”
Q: On the process of drafting Jalen Royals.
NUTT: “First off, his (Jalen Royals) game is very similar to Rashee’s (Rice). Where you watch a kid who lines up primarily on the left side, that’s how some offenses in college work, they want to go fast, so they’ll have the receiver line up on the same side every time to do that. So, you’re wondering, ‘Alright, he’s always playing on the left side, is he going to be able to move around?’ and he does, he plays outside but he primarily plays inside in the slot. When I say he’s like Rashee in terms – he’s got big hands, strong hands and he’s very good after the catch. You saw him downfield too on some of those clips, I’m sure you saw him and the kid had what, 15 plus touchdowns in 2023? He was on pace in 2024 to kind of smash the 2023 production before he got injured so we thought – RAC (Run After Catch) is a big part of our offense, that’s something we look for in receivers, we look for speed, the kid had that, 4.40 (40-yard dash), we look for strength, he has that, he’s got RAC and then we look for route running and that’s probably an area where Rashee had to kind of develop a little bit, so we kind of thought they were similar in that respect. He came on the scene, we watched his tape before the Senior Bowl, (General Manager) Brett (Veach) will kind of pick guys that you pick and choose and we’re like, ‘Hey, this guy’s kind of interesting.’ Then, he goes to the Senior Bowl, and we thought he did well, so he got even more on the radar. Then, he goes to the Combine and runs a 4.40, you know what I mean, and he jumps a 36 (inch broad jump) and we’re like, ‘Oh, this kid’s explosive.’ Then, you get the kind of coaches involved and we Zoom him, and we talk and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we could use this kid.’ With Rashee coming back from injury and trying to get right, the hopes are this kid can step in and try to get some playing time and help us out.”
Q: What role does Omarr Norman-Lott fit for you guys?
NUTT: “He’s (Omarr Norman-Lott) got some similarities to Turk (Panthers DT Tershawn Wharton). He’s bigger, he’s not as fast but their play style’s very similar. This kid was like 99th-percentile in terms of rush win-rate. He was one of the top defensive tackles in winning one-on-one pass rush and that’s what we first off need and that’s what we saw could add value. These guys, these interior linemen that are athletic, this kid jumped 31 and a half (inches), 9’5” (feet), he has big hands, those guys go quick, we knew they go quick. We thought – and an interior guy that can rush as well goes even quicker so (General Manager) Brett (Veach) was pretty – before the draft, before that round, Brett was pretty adamant about, ‘Okay, he’s one of these guys we have to consider,’ and we put up a list of four or five guys and he was one of them and he ended up being one of the top guys left and that was a position of need as well. We feel like he can come in and help rush the passer. I feel like he didn’t start a ton in his career there at Tennessee, but it’s really what you do with snaps, and they rotate a lot. So, really it’s just what he does in those 20 to 25 snaps a game and the kid was high-motor, he was highly productive and highly disruptive and those are the things we look for and I think we’ll be able to – (Defensive Line) Coach (Joe) Cullen’s the best defensive line coach in the NFL, I believe and he’ll be able to get that out of him and I think more. Even against the run, the kid I thought was solid and stout enough so that might be an area, just because he's 305 pounds, that can be a little better, but we’re excited to get this kid and work with him because we think there’s a ton of potential.”
Q: What is the unique trait or characteristic of each of the draft picks that separated them from their competition?