Debate the Chiefs offseason and more in the Football Fan Forum
Last season: 4-12
2010 Preview:
This team added some decent players through the draft, but this team is still going to struggle to pressure the opposing quarterback, protect their quarterback, and, thanks to a mediocre supporting cast on offensive, their quarterback play should once again be mediocre, as it was last year. That’s not how you win football games. They will once again be one of the worst teams in the NFL until they can do those things well, even if Eric Berry makes the Pro Bowl this year.
A full season of Jamaal Charles also helps, but they were only 3-6 in games he started last year. That just goes to show you that a good running game doesn’t mean much if you can’t get big gains and first downs through the air and they really struggled with that last year, as they should this year.
Projection: 4-12 3rd in AFC West
Power Ranking: 28
Draft:
#5 S Eric Berry (Tennessee)
I would have gone with Russell Okung, but I can see why they’d take Berry. There was a reason I gave him a near perfect rating this year. This guy is legit. He may be the best safety prospect of the last 20 years. My only issues with him are that he plays safety, which means he’s going to command huge top 5 pick money, making him by far the highest paid safety in the league, and that he won’t have a ton of positions value. He’ll make their defense better, but he won’t help them at the quarterback position, he won’t help them protect the quarterback, and he won’t help them get to the other quarterback. Plus, safeties are often very injury prone because they have to hit like linebackers at cornerback size (see Bob Sanders, Ed Reed, and Troy Polamalu). We’ll see how this goes.
Grade: B+
#36 WR Dexter McCluster (Mississippi)
In the words of a Chiefs fan I know, “we just got McClusterfucked.” McCluster is a fine player and a great weapon, but he’s a luxury pick. The Chiefs already took one luxury pick in the first. They can’t afford to take another. McCluster cannot be the Wes Welker slot receiver they need him to be. He could help in the backfield if it wasn’t already filled with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. He can play a little wildcat, but no one cares about that. He helps as a kick returner, but they don’t need a kick returner. This is not a good use of a pick for a team like the Chiefs.
Grade: C-
#50 CB Javier Arenas (Alabama)
I can see it now, the Chiefs will be the first team to run a 3 kick returner offense. It’ll be really cool, but they’ll lose every game. The Chiefs have taken 3 luxury picks in 3 picks, a safety, a slot receiver/3rd down back/kick returner, and a nickelback/kick returner. They are all talented players, but how good of a team is this going to be without a true franchise quarterback, a true franchise left tackle, and a poor pass rush. They also need a true NT badly.
Grade: C-
#68 G Jon Asamoah (Illinois)
Not quite as much of a luxury pick as their first three because he will help their line, but he’s not a left tackle so I don’t know how much help he gets Matt Cassel, who has the slowest delivery in the NFL.
Grade: C-
#93 TE Tony Moeaki (Iowa)
Moeaki is also a luxury pick as a tight end, but considering Matt Cassell won’t have a ton of time in the pocket next year, they might as well get his a tight end who can catch short passes over the middle. If Moeaki stays healthy, he could be one of the best tight ends in this draft class, but that’s a very big IF.
Grade: B-
#136 S Kendrick Lewis (Mississippi)
Oh, another safety, that’s cool. Whatever happened to Mr. Positional Value Scott Pioli? He hasn’t done anything to help their pass rush, anything to help their defensive line, and he’s barely gotten them any offensive line help. Lewis shouldn’t have been drafted anyway. He lacks speed majorly.
Grade: F
#142 RLB Cameron Sheffield (Troy)
Oh yes, Chiefs fans can rejoice, they’ve finally taken a pass rusher. This is a great pick, right in the draft range, all that good stuff, but it’s probably too little too late. The Chiefs are doomed to another bad year next year and for the next few years if they keep it up.
Grade: A
Overall:
The Chiefs took good players, but I really don’t think they made themselves much better by taking 2 safeties, 2 kick returners, a guard, and a tight end. McCluster can do somethings offensively for them and Moeaki has upside and Asamoah is a good guard who can start sometime next year and Berry is an amazing player, but at the end of the day, this team really isn’t much better where it matters and if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.
Grade: C-
Key undrafted free agents:
QB Bill Stull (Pittsburgh)
3-4 DE Jeffrey Fitzgerald (Kansas State)
C Andrew Lewis (Oklahoma State)
NT Garrett Brown (Minnesota)
Positions of need:
Rush Linebacker:
The Chiefs more than doubled their sacks totals from 2008 to 2009! That would be amazing if it weren’t for the fact that the Chiefs managed a mere 10 sacks in 2008. 22 sacks isn’t exactly good either and without Tamba Hali’s 8.5, they would have only 13.5. Mike Vrabel is done as a big time rush linebacker opposite him so they need to secure a replacement for him early in the draft, though not too early because teams are taking big risks when they draft rush linebacker since it’s a position that college teams simply don’t use in their schemes. Anytime you are trying to convert someone from one position to another, it’s a risk, so using the 5th pick on a rush linebacker would be a stupid move by the Chiefs.
Drafted Cameron Sheffield (#142)
Offensive Tackle:
Brandan Albert was one of the worst left tackles in the league last year. I guess the trade where they send Jared Allen to the Vikings for the 15th pick, which they used on Brandan Albert, was not a smart move. Albert, luckily, is versatile enough to move to either left guard or right tackle, so they can still use him, but a true franchise left tackle is needed. Matt Cassel holds on to the ball longer than pretty much every other quarterback in the NFL, so getting him good blockers is especially important. Part of the reason that Cassel struggled so much in 2009 in Kansas City as opposed to 2008 in New England is that Kansas City’s o-line is nowhere near as good as the Patriots.
Nose Tackle:
It’s amazing that they could use 2 first round picks and a 3rd round pick on the defensive line in the last 2 years and still not be able to stop the run. This is a 3-4 team without a true 3-4 nose tackle. They might have interest in Vince Wilfork since he’s a former Patriot and in Scott Pioli’s mind that makes him great, but I’d say, barring a trade, like say Wilfork for the 5th pick, they have very little chance of getting him. After they get an elite pass rusher and an elite pass blocker, getting a big guy in the middle of their 3-4 defense should be their #1 target in the draft. Unfortunately for them, this is a very weak nose tackle class and we could see them reach for Terrence Cody at 5 if Russell Okung is off the board.
Wide Receiver:
Chris Chambers was a nice midseason pickup, but their chances of resigning him this offseason aren’t very good. That would leave them with little to nothing across from Dwayne Bowe. Matt Cassel can have all the time in the world in the pocket, but if guys can’t get open downfield, he’ll still struggle this year. You never know, maybe they’ll try to trade for Randy Moss.
Drafted Dexter McCluster (#36)
Safety:
The Chiefs had a very talented safety named Bernard Pollard. Then they decided to cut him because he was too talented and then they watched him blossom into one of the best young safeties in the league down in Houston. Oops. They should probably replace him.
Drafted Eric Berry (#5), Drafted Kendrick Lewis (#136)
Middle Linebacker:
Derrick Johnson is a good middle linebacker, but Todd Haley doesn’t like talent so he benched him midway through last season. It’s a wonder why they couldn’t stop anyone on defense. Some young blood is needed at the position, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to wake Junior Seau or Tedy Bruschi from the dead and start them at middle linebacker given Pioli’s fascination with former Patriots.
Cornerback:
Of all the promising young players they drafted in the first 3 rounds in 2008, Brandon Flowers is the only one who has panned out. Still, despite his emergence as a shutdown corner this year, they still struggled mightily against the pass. Flowers’ shutdown abilities will be next to useless if the opposing quarterback can just pick on the opposite cornerback to move the ball down field. They do have other needs though so, unfortunately, this one could go another season before it gets fixed. They might try to sign Ty Law though.
Drafted Javier Arenas (#50)
Running Back:
Jamaal Charles turned out to be one of the best running backs in the league. Good thing Todd Haley started him all year, oh wait, it took Larry Johnson, and his 2.7 YPC, getting suspended before, Todd Haley decided to start Jamaal Charles. Then it took another week before Haley realized that throwing 40 times with Matt Cassel would not be an effective game strategy. Back to the point, Charles is a great running back, but I have some concerns about his ability to hold up as a 300+ carry back because he’s never gotten a shot to do that in the past and right now the Chiefs have absolutely nothing at the position behind him. They might want to draft a running back late to compliment him and take the pressure off of him.
Signed Thomas Jones
Tight End:
They never replaced Tony Gonzalez. I’m sure Matt Cassel would like having a good pass catching tight end to throw to, but since tight ends have such little positional value, this need could get ignored this offseason. Or, again sticking with the theme of signing washed up former Patriots, they could sign Ben Watson.
Drafted Tony Moeaki (#93)
Free agents:
QB Brodie Croyle (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.7 million
QB Matt Gutierrez
RB Kolby Smith- signed with Broncos
RB Mike Cox (exclusive rights)- resigned 1 year
RB Jackie Battle (exclusive rights)- tendered
WR Chris Chambers- resigned 3 years 15 million
WR Bobby Wade
WR Bobby Engram- signed with Browns
OT Ryan O’Callaghan (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.7 million
OT Barry Richardson (exclusive rights)- resigned
G Mike Goff
G Wade Smith- signed with Texans 4 years 12 million
G Andy Alleman (exclusive rights)
C Rudy Niswanger (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.7 million
RLB Mike Vrabel- resigned with Chiefs
RLB Andy Studebaker (restricted)- resigned
MLB Derrick Johnson (restricted)- resigned 1 year 2.6 million
MLB Corey Mays (restricted)- resigned 1 year 1.7 million
CB Maurice Leggett (exclusive rights)- resigned
S Jarrad Page (restricted)- tendered (2nd)
Offseason moves:
Chiefs waive RB Kolby Smith
Chiefs waive QB Matt Gutierrez
Chiefs re-sign MLB Corey Mays
Chiefs re-sign QB Brodie Croyle
Chiefs re-sign OT Ryan O’Callaghan
Chiefs re-sign C Rudy Niswanger
Chiefs re-sign RLB Andy Studebaker
Chiefs re-sign OT Barry Richardson
Chiefs re-sign CB Maurice Leggett
Chiefs re-sign MLB Derrick Johnson
Chiefs re-sign RB Mike Cox
Chiefs announce retirement of QB Quinn Gray
Chiefs sign G Ryan Lilja
Chiefs sign C Casey Wiegmann
Chiefs sign WR Jerheme Urban
Chiefs sign 3-4 DE Shaun Smith
Chiefs re-sign WR Chris Chambers
Colts sign G Andy Alleman
Chiefs tender RB Jackie Battle
Chiefs tender MLB Corey Mays
Chiefs tender QB Brodie Croyle
Chiefs tender ILB Derrick Johnson
Chiefs tender OT Ryan O’Callaghan
Chiefs tender S Jarrad Page
Chiefs tender C Rudy Niswanger
Chiefs re-sign RLB Mike Vrabel
Chiefs cut G Mike Goff
Chiefs re-sign QB Matt Gutierrez
Chiefs re-sign RB Kolby Smith
Football Fan Spot 