In February, the Kansas City Chiefs met with Ole Miss linebacker Chris Paul Jr. at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

Here’s what you need to know about Paul:

Background

Coming out of high school, Paul Jr. wasn’t a high recruit. Paul was a three-star recruit from Georgia who had decent offers from Tennessee, Nebraska and Michigan State, but none from the biggest college football schools. Paul went to Arkansas for three years, redshirting his first year and playing two others. In 2022, Paul made Freshman All-SEC and second-team Freshman All-American teams.

After 2023, Paul entered the transfer portal and committed to Ole Miss. Ole Miss built almost the entirety of their defense through the transfer portal last year (one of my favorite defenses to watch in college football), and many of them hit. Paul was one of those hits. Paul was a Butkus Award finalist, second-team All-SEC (coaches) and third-team All-American (AP).

Paul competed at the East-West Shrine Bowl and the 2025 NFL Combine. He did very well in the speed and explosiveness testing, but Paul’s measurables of 6’0 7/8”, 222 lbs. and sub-30-inch arms were underwhelming.

Strengths and weaknesses

Paul’s strengths and weaknesses are very distinct.

To first discuss his strengths, Paul is an elite coverage linebacker. Paul is good in every aspect of coverage. He can cover plenty of ground in zone coverage with his range and speed, and he shows good instincts. Paul can drift into deeper intermediate zones and then rally underneath because he trusts his ability to close on the ball.

In man coverage, Paul is arguably better. In the LSU game, there are reps of Paul successfully defending LSU tight end Mason Taylor downfield. Taylor is one of the best receivers in this draft. Paul is also very good at defending running backs one-on-one, so if you want to play man coverage, you don’t need to hide him.

One underrated trait about Paul is his elite ball skills. He is oddly very good at tracking the ball and getting pass breakups. He has the speed and range to cover any tight end or running back archetype.

In the run game, Paul’s biggest strength is his range. Ole Miss worked hard to have their defensive tackles two-gap to keep Paul free from blocks. Paul was able to help his defensive tackles out by using his range to force runs to the sideline and tackle in space before they could reach the edge. Paul can mirror any running back or quarterback in space and get tackles.

Now, for Paul’s weakness, it’s simply his size. Even on film, you see the lack of mass or length. He doesn’t deal well with blocks, and you have to hide him from blocks in the run game. As I mentioned, Ole Miss had its defensive tackles maintain multiple gaps in order to help Paul and its other more undersized linebackers thrive. In the NFL, these issues will only be compounded.

How he fits with the Chiefs

If Paul is going to be picked by Kansas City, the easiest way to get him on the field is by making him the Dime linebacker. Paul would instantly be the Chiefs’ best linebacker in coverage. If you could trust him to get calls into the defense or have other veterans help him, he would add a different element to this defense. His ability to cover in man coverage or drop into deeper zones would allow Spagnuolo to get even more creative on third downs. Spagnuolo wouldn’t have to worry about hiding a linebacker in coverage.

Besides that? It’s challenging.

His size makes it hard to see more than a limited role. Maybe you hope Paul could add more weight over time or find enough solutions to take on blocks, but I have a hard time ever seeing him become a three-down linebacker, which stinks because I like his skillset.

The bottom line

The challenge for Paul is not his tape; it’s just where you draft his role. I have no doubt Paul can cover at an NFL level. My concern is I’m not sure he’ll be able to do much else. So, where do you draft that?

I think around the end of the top 100 or early on Day 3 makes sense. You’re more willing to take specialized skill sets by that point in the draft. For example, the Chiefs drafted Leo Chenal, a limited player with very distinct strengths at the end of the third round. Paul is the polar opposite body type, but he could see a similar role in the NFL.