Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is skipping out on the biggest showcase of NFL prospects.
Reid explained this week his decision to skip the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, saying the team’s general manager is taking the lead while he joins quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the injured reserve.
Andy Reid on the IR
Reid took time to speak with reporters via Zoom call this week, saying he was on the mend from a recent injury and unable to travel to Indianapolis for the combine.
“I had a little knee procedure done,” Reid said, via USA Today’s Chiefs Wire. “I’m on IR for about a second here. Not long though.”
Reid can join Mahomes, who is rehabbing after his own devastating injury. The Chiefs quarterback saw his 2025 season come to an abrupt end when he suffered a torn ACL and LCL in a December loss.
Reid went on to say that the team was deep in deliberations over how to use the No. 9 overall pick, which came as the result of the team’s worst finish in more than a decade.
“You try to find some positives in sitting where you’re at and why you’re there. Then the positives are you get yourself geared down and get better,” Reid said. “So, if this has a chance to help you get better, and that’s how [general manager] Brett [Veach] feels, and that’s the way he’s going about it.”
Reid expressed faith in Veach to find the right player for the Chiefs.
“Nobody wants to be picking at ninth but we are, that’s the reality of it, so you dig in and you put a plan together and go for it the best you can,” Reid said. “He’s had his guys in here, they’ve done a couple of lockdowns already, where he’s had them in for a couple of weeks, they live in that room and go through all of these different players. Good things normally come out of those meetings, and I look forward to how the draft goes.”
Chiefs Expected to Address Pass Rush
As SI.com’s Logan Lazarczyk noted, Veach gave strong indications that the Chiefs would use their top pick to address their pass rush. That led Lazarczyk to predict the team would land University of Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr., seen as one of the top prospects at his position in this year’s draft.
“Based on Veach’s comments on Tuesday, the Chiefs are most likely to address pass rusher or running back in the first round,” Lazarczyk wrote. “However, running back only seems plausible if the top three pass rushers – Arvell Reese, David Bailey, and Bain Jr. – are off the board.”
Lazarczyk added that the Chiefs could grab one of the other pass rushers if they’re available.
“If Bain Jr. is available, which could be more likely now that he is not participating in on-field drills this week,” he wrote. “The Miami product has been knocked for his arm length, but his production profile and the eye test prove those doubts wrong. Kansas City would be thrilled with one of these pass rushers being available at No. 9.”
