Tracking the Top 30 visits by team and position.
 

Pretty genius work here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Using <a href="https://twitter.com/walterfootball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@walterfootball</a>&#39;s prospect meetings tracker, I put together a chart that shows how many of their top 30 visits each team has used on each position.<br><br>The Cardinals - who currently hold the #3 pick - have notably spent eight of their visits on the offensive line. <a href="https://t.co/72juDEzwAO">pic.twitter.com/72juDEzwAO</a></p>&mdash; Sam Hoppen (@SamHoppen) <a href="https://twitter.com/SamHoppen/status/1648057820858777600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The full image:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ft8Tc47X...png&name=large

What stands out to me:

Related to the Chiefs: they are not super interested right now in the RBs, despite a little bit of shortage at the position. They are also not as interested in DTs as I thought they may be -- at least from this reporting.

Related elsewhere: the Raiders are absolutely QB shopping. The Bengals are doing what the Bengals have always done and not selling out in one spot or another and just gradually adding talent. The Bills are the opposite, and are absolutely selling out at WR and DT.

The Steelers remain obsessed with the trenches. The Seahawks do not seem to be in the market for skill positions very much. The Giants and Steelers sniffing out QBs is interesting to me. And Eric Bienemy seems to be more comfortable with his skill position talent than he is with his trenches.

So OT, DE, or WR, eh?

Who'da thought?

This chart will be interesting to review after the draft. How much is smoke and how much is real.

I think it is interesting because it shows less interest in RBs, TEs, or DTs than most of us thought.

According to CBS sports:

Kansas City Chiefs

WR Quentin Johnston (TCU)
WR Rashee Rice (SMU)
WR Kahlef Hailassie (Western Kentucky)

OT Broderick Jones (Georgia)
OT Darnell Wright (Tennessee)

OL Cooper Hodges (Appalachian State)
OG Anthony Bradford (LSU)

DT Keeanu Benton (Wisconsin)
DT Brodric Martin (Western Kentucky)
DL Deslin Alexandre (Pitt)
DL Desjuan Johnson (Toledo)

EDGE Will McDonald IV (Iowa State)
DE BJ Thompson (Austin)

LB Jeremy Banks (Tennessee)

CB Cam Smith (South Carolina)

S Jerrick Reed Jr. (New Mexico)

I know they don't have a first-round pick, but the Rams are not playing the long game.

Visits are chump change. You bring guys in who you like and you say this: "We think you're an amazing player and there's no chance of you being available when we draft. But we wanted to introduce you to our facilities and our city, and when you become a free agent, we hope you'll remember us." Then you buy them some delicious fatty food, give them a tour of the bikini beaches, and send a hooker to their room. Four or five years from now it'll pay off.

Chiefswire has a good story on the importance of Top 30 visits as it relates to Jaylen Watson.

https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2023...draft-process/

I'd say this turned out to be a fairly good data set for making predictions. At least for the Chiefs.