Kansas City Chiefs Fans Should Be Thrilled By This Peter Woods Quote

This time last year, Clemson defensive lineman Peter Woods was projected to be a top-10 - and, in some way-too-early mocks, a top-five - pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Woods and the Tigers as a whole experienced a down season in 2025, so Woods was still on the board for the Kansas City Chiefs to select with the 29th overall pick in the first round on Thursday night.

Kansas City’s All-Pro defensive tackle and three-time Super Bowl champion Chris Jones immediately co-signed the pick, writing on X, “There we go.”

Jones’ approval should be enough for Chiefs fans to get on board, but if not, a recirculating two-week-old quote of Woods’ will be enough to sell Chiefs Kingdom.

“I pride myself in that, just having that versatility,” Woods told Kay Adams on “Up & Adams” on April 14. “Every time I get on a Zoom with a coach or anything, or talk to anybody, they always ask me, ‘How was it making the transition from defensive tackle to defensive end?’ I always answer with, like, ‘That’s all I’ve ever known.’ It never really ever felt like a transition.”

Woods continued, “As long as I’ve been playing football, I’ve been playing the whole line.”

Woods said that he feels most comfortable playing “inside of the three-tech,” but he added, “I feel like I also do some crazy stuff on the outside that people can’t do, either. I’m a defensive lineman. I don’t like to put a cap on what I can do. Just whatever my team wants me to do.”

On the most basic level, the Chiefs want Woods to take some of the load off of Jones’ shoulders.

Last season, the Chiefs struggled immensely to get to opposing quarterbacks and, largely due to a nonexistent pass rush outside of Jones, struggled even more to get off the field on third down. If Woods - and former Oklahoma edge rusher R Mason Thomas, selected in the second round - can simply prevent opposing offenses from double-teaming Jones and calling it a day, it’ll be an improvement.

Woods has shown flashes of incredibly high upside, but the knock on him is that he can be boom-or-bust. At just 21 years old, Woods can now develop and learn under a future Hall of Famer.

Read about the Chiefs’ full 2026 draft class here, and watch Woods’ full segment with Kay Adams below.

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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 7:31 PM.