C.j.
Hanson.
C.j.
Hanson.
Holy Cross· 6'5"· 300 lb
"A 9.84 RAS out of the Patriot League: Hanson could beat any linebacker to the second level, and the question at 248 was whether he could hold up against the first."Pre-draft read
Three-year starter at guard in Holy Cross's downhill, gap-heavy run game, and the rare FCS interior lineman whose calling card is movement rather than mass. He fires off flat, covers ground to the second level before the linebacker can fill and carries 300 pounds without wasted motion, which is why the Crusaders pulled him on power, counter and trap.
The hands and the football IQ back the athleticism up: he times his strike well, executes trap and snatch blocks that put defenders on the ground and rarely misses an assignment against a stunt. Pass protection is the flatter part of the profile — he sets quickly but opens his chest and can be walked back once a rusher gets under his frame. The signature is effort: he blocks to the whistle.
Gap and duo run scheme that pulls its guards, paired with a quick-game passing offense that shortens the protection reps he has to win.
Year 1: developmental swing guard and short-yardage jumbo body. Ceiling: starting movement guard in a pulling run scheme.
Drop-back, seven-step passing offense that leaves him isolated against interior power rushers with no help inside.
Everything about his value assumes an offense that lets him move instead of asking him to sit and anchor.
Holy Cross Football: Point of View with C.J. Hanson
Holy Cross feature on Hanson at guard: mic-and-camera look at the pulls, climbs and communication that defined his senior year.
Holy Cross OL CJ Hanson speaks at NFL Pro Day (3/21/24)
Pro day session in Worcester where he confirmed the Combine explosion numbers for scouts.
With the 248th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft the Kansas City Chiefs select C.J. Hanson
The draft-day selection at 248 overall, the pick Kansas City acquired in a trade with Buffalo.
Hanson is a movement guard first and a mauler second. At 6-5 and 300 pounds he is built like a pro interior lineman, but the trait that got him drafted is athleticism — a 9.84 RAS built on a 33.5-inch vertical and a 9-foot-7 broad jump at the Combine, numbers that translate directly to the pulls and climbs Holy Cross asked him to make.
The résumé is deep for the level: 38 career starts, roughly 2,300 snaps, first-team All-Patriot League in both 2022 and 2023, All-ECAC as a senior, team captain, and a 2023 season with eight pressures and zero sacks allowed on PFF's count. He anchored a line that finished top-10 nationally in rushing. The flags are the ones every FCS lineman carries plus a few of his own: the competition was Patriot League and Ivy opponents, his base narrows under pressure, he ends up on the ground more than he should, and he never truly dominated a level he should have overwhelmed as a fifth-year senior.
The board had him as a late Day 3 developmental piece — a backup with starter upside if the technique caught up to the traits. Kansas City, a team that has repeatedly bet on interior athletes, traded with Buffalo to take him at 248, the second-to-last pick of their draft. The price matched the projection exactly.
- 01
Athletic testing
A 9.84 RAS with a 33.5-inch vertical and a 9-foot-7 broad jump; elite explosion numbers for a 300-pound interior lineman.
- 02
Second-level range
Consistently the first lineman climbing to the linebacker, and light enough on his feet to be the primary puller on power and counter.
- 03
Run-game nuance
Executes trap, snatch and combo concepts cleanly, flips his hips to seal defenders and understands where the back is cutting.
- 04
Experience and leadership
Team captain with 38 starts and roughly 2,300 college snaps; he sees stunts and games before they hit him.
- 05
Pass-protection production
Allowed eight pressures and zero sacks in 2023 with a 71.5 PFF pass-blocking grade, the best mark of his career.
- 01
Level of competition
Patriot League and Ivy opponents rarely tested him with NFL-caliber length or interior power, so the tape needs projection.
- 02
Base and balance
Narrows his stance under contact and ends up on the ground too often, especially when he has to redirect on the move.
- 03
Leverage in protection
Opens his chest on contact, which lets rushers get inside his frame and walk him back toward the quarterback.
- 04
Recovery agility
Lateral quickness is average once he is beaten; when a defender crosses his face he is a step slow getting back in front.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- 33.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 115inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics, so no season table is listed. Verified career markers only: 38 starts and roughly 2,337 snaps at Holy Cross (2019-2023), eight pressures and zero sacks allowed in 2023. Per-season games are not published by an official source and are left blank rather than estimated.
Honors
- First-team All-Patriot League (2022, 2023)
- All-ECAC (2023)
- Team captain (2023)
Late-round guard who lives as a swing interior backup, bouncing between the 53 and the practice squad without a steady starting role.
Small-school interior athlete who turned developmental status into real starts for the same franchise — the realistic best case, and his direct roster competition.
Athletic small-school guard whose anchor never translated; camp body who never carved out a regular-season role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Kansas City kept him on the 53-man roster as a rookie and he dressed for one game in 2024, riding out a Super Bowl LIX run as a developmental body behind Trey Smith and Mike Caliendo. The 2025 cycle was less comfortable: cut at the August roster deadline, re-signed to the practice squad the next day, then active for three appearances during a 6-11 season that saw Kansas City churn its interior line. He returns in 2026 for a third season with the Chiefs, still without an NFL start.
The evaluation has held up honestly. Hanson was drafted for movement traits and college polish, and he has proved to be exactly what a 248th pick usually is: a developmental interior body who sticks around because he is smart, cheap and never a problem, but who has not shown enough anchor to be trusted as an every-week option. Four games and zero starts in two seasons is not a hit, and there is no argument that Kansas City missed value at that slot. The open question is whether a third year of NFL strength work finally makes him a swing backup rather than a roster-bubble name.
Data note: Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics, so no season table is listed. Verified career markers only: 38 starts and roughly 2,337 snaps at Holy Cross (2019-2023), eight pressures and zero sacks allowed in 2023. Per-season games are not published by an official source and are left blank rather than estimated.