TCU’s Lucas Niang headed to Super Bowl champion Chiefs
When people look back on the 2020 NFL Draft, TCU right tackle Lucas Niang may go down as one of the steals of the draft.
Niang landed with the Kansas City Chiefs, who used a third-round pick (96th overall) on him Friday night. He’s the first TCU player drafted by the Chiefs since offensive tackle Herb Taylor in the sixth round in 2007.
Niang was viewed as one of the top offensive tackles in the 2020 class, but slipped after undergoing season-ending hip surgery. Reports are that Niang is recovering well from surgery and will be ready for the 2020 season.
Niang didn’t allow a sack in his college career, including seven games in 2019 and all 13 games he started in 2018. He had 1,027 career pass-block snaps.
Niang ranked as the highest-graded pass blocker in the Big 12 (minimum 300 snaps) by Pro Football Focus in 2018.
That came on the heels of a successful sophomore season that saw Niang become the starting right tackle for the final eight games of the 2017 season, and a true freshman season in 2016 when he played in 12 of 13 games.
Niang came to TCU after a standout high school career at New Canaan (Connecticut) High School.
TCU has now seen four players drafted in the opening three rounds of this year’s NFL Draft, which is a first in program history. The program had multiple first-round selections for the first time since 1939 when wide receiver Jalen Reagor went 21st overall to the Philadelphia Eagles and cornerback Jeff Gladney went 31st overall to the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock went to his hometown Houston Texans with the 40th overall pick in the second round on Friday night.
With Niang, TCU coach Gary Patterson has now had 52 players drafted into the league.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 10:33 PM.
