The Redskins really needed interior line help, but I think they slightly overpaid for Chris Chester, giving him 20 million over 5 years. The Redskins are really splurging on free agents this offseason, signing OJ Atogwe, Santana Moss, Chris Chester, Stephen Bowen, Josh Wilson, and Barry Cofield. It won’t take them into the playoffs because their quarterbacks suck, but it might make them just good enough to not be able to draft Andrew Luck next year.

Grade: B

Chris Carr came out of nowhere to have a productive season in his contract year last year so the Ravens should have been wary about giving him big money. They didn’t do that at all giving him 14 million over 4 years. If he plays like he did last year, this is an absolute bargain of a deal. If he doesn’t, it’s not a huge risk.

Grade: A 

The Chiefs improved from 4-12 in 2009 to 10-6 in 2010. But did they actually get any better? That can be tough to tell because of how easy Kansas City’s schedule was last season. In 2010, Kansas City played 4 games against teams with better than a .500 record (including playoffs). They went 1-3 in those games with a point differential of minus 55.

Their one win was a 7 point week 1 home victory over the early season version of the San Diego Chargers. They won that game despite the fact that Matt Cassel threw for 62 yards. Their 3 scores came on a punt return, a pick six, and a long run. San Diego avenged that loss later with a 31-0 beat down in San Diego. In those 4 games, Cassel was 35 for 69 for 294 yards, 1 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.

If we include 3 games against teams that went .500 or better, meaning including 3 games against 8-8 teams, they were 2-5. Those two wins were, of course that fluke win against San Diego, and a 42-20 win over Jacksonville who was starting their 3^rd string quarterback. In we include those 3 games, Cassel was 79 for 155 for 818 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. As of a sudden, Cassel doesn’t look like a Pro Bowl quarterback and this team doesn’t look like a legitimate playoff team.

As further part of their easy schedule, 12 of their 17 games (including playoffs) were against teams that ranked 17^th through 32^nd against the run. Why is this important? Well, this is a run based offense. Running back Jamaal Charles is the offense’s best player and the Chiefs led the league in rushing attempts.

Compare last year’s schedule to this year’s. They play 8 games against teams with better than .500 records from 2010 and 10 games against teams with .500 or better records from 2010. They also play Detroit, a young up and comer in the NFL. They have a brutal late season stretch in which they play New England, Pittsburgh, Chicago, the Jets, and Green Bay. In 5 weeks, they play all 4 teams that made the Conference Championships last year, and 3 of the 4 teams who had first round byes last year.

Fortunately, they did add talent in the offseason. Le’Ron McClain has been added to the backfield to block for Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, their two headed rushing attack. Charles is much, much better than Jones, but Todd Haley insists on giving Jones more carries than Charles. Charles had 1467 yards on 230 carries last year, while Jones had 896 yards on 245 carries. Charles had 571 more rushing yards or 15 fewer carries. On top of that, Charles also caught 45 passes for 468 yards, while Jones caught just 14 passes for 122 yards.

The Chiefs added a real wild card in Jared Gaither up front. Gaither, once of the best tackles in the league in 2010, has a potential career threatening back injury. It scared Baltimore off from resigning him, Oakland and Buffalo off from signing him, but Kansas City took a chance on him. If he can stay healthy, he’d stabilize either the left or the right tackle position, both of which are weaknesses on this team.

Branden Albert allowed 11 sacks, making him one of the worst left tackles in the league. On the right side, Barry Richardson allowed 5 sacks and 32 quarterback pressures, all while committing 11 penalties. He has been moved to 2^nd string for this season in favor of Ryan O’Callaghan, who barely played last year. Those stats were even with an easy schedule that allowed them to get a lead, play from ahead, and run the ball frequently. Imagine how bad they would have been if they were playing from behind more often. If Gaither can stabilize either of those positions, that would obviously be great, but don’t get your hopes up.

Rounding out the offensive line, they have Jon Asamoah at left guard, a 2010 3^rd round pick who takes over after long time Chief Brian Waters was cut this offseason after 11 years in town. At center, 38 year old Casey Wiegmann is still as reliable as they come. If he struggles or gets hurt, 2^nd round pick rookie Rodney Hudson will step into the lineup. The Chiefs, however, would prefer Hudson be eased into the action as Wiegmann heads towards the end of his career. At the other guard spot is Ryan Lilja who surprisingly had a very good season in his first year in Kansas City last year, after a few nondescript years in Indianapolis.

At wide receiver, they added much needed talent. Chris Chambers had the 2^nd most catches by a wide receiver on the team last season. He had 22 catches. That’s bad. The Chiefs added Jonathan Baldwin through the draft and Steve Breaston through free agency. Baldwin will start opposite Dwayne Bowe while Breaston will line up in the slot where he thrived in Arizona when Todd Haley was the coordinator there.

However, this is not the same Steve Breaston who had 1000 yards out of the slot with Haley in 2008. He has major knee problems now. Meanwhile, Baldwin is a talented player, but rookie receivers tend to struggle and a lockout shortened offseason doesn’t help. Still, both of these players will be a major upgrade over what they had last year at receiver after Bowe. Their #2 and #3 ranked receivers from 2010 were rookie tight end Tony Moeaki and Jamaal Charles respectively.

Overall, they did add talent to their offense this offseason, but I think Matt Cassel is still a very overrated quarterback. He’s good at game managing a run heavy offense, but the Chiefs won’t be able to run as well as they did last year, with a tougher schedule. The tougher schedule works against them two fold. They’ll have fewer leads, which means they won’t be able to run as much, and they won’t face 12 teams ranked in the bottom half of the league against the run again. It doesn’t help that Cassel is protected by two mediocre at best tackles and an offensive line that is banking on Jared Gaither’s bad back to be good.

Defensively, things are a little brighter. They have two former top 5 picks at defensive end in Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson, neither of whom have lived up to their billing. However, both still have upside and neither is terrible. They’re solid starters. In the middle at nose tackle, the marginal Ron Edwards is gone. They’ve replaced him with Kelly Gregg, an underrated player formerly of the Ravens. Gregg will be a stopgap until rookie 6^th round pick Jerrell Powe takes over.

At rush linebacker, they have a player in Tamba Hali who might be the best pass rusher in the game. He led the league with 64 quarterback pressures and he also had 14.5 sacks. He was recently rewarded with a 60 million dollar deal over 5 years, a deal he was well worth. Opposite him, however, it is a different story.

Mike Vrabel retired, not like he had anything left. Andy Studebaker, a mediocre player, is penciled in as the starter, but the Chiefs are hoping rookie 3^rd round pick Justin Houston can beat him out at some point. Houston was a 1^st round talent who dropped to the 3^rd because he failed a drug test for marijuana at The Combine, which I feel is a non-issue.

Inside at linebacker, Derrick Williams is one of the best middle linebackers in the game. Promising young player Jovan Belcher, who played very well down the stretch in 2010 will be the other starter. They also brought in Brandon Siler to provide depth at the position. Siler was the 3^rd stringer in San Diego and he will play that same role in Kansas City this season unless Belcher regresses.

Their secondary is also a strength. Everyone knows about Brandon Flowers, one of the best cornerbacks in the game. However, Brandon Carr, their #2 cornerback, is very talented and very underrated. He allowed a completion percentage of just 45.5% last year and he had a league leading 19 pass deflections, though he did allow 5 touchdowns to just one interception.

Another well known player, Eric Berry, is their strong safety. Berry was the 5^th overall pick in 2010. He did not deserve to go to the Pro Bowl as a rookie, because he allowed 7 touchdowns and missed 11 tackles, but he’s not a bad player anything and he played much better in the 2^nd half of his rookie season, as is to be expected. He should continue to improve into his 2^nd season in the league.

The free safety position, however, is a bit of a liability. Jon McGraw is 32 years old and a marginal player. The Chiefs hope 2^nd year player Kendrick Lewis can beat him out in camp. Lewis played the majority of the snaps at free safety in 2010, with moderate success, but the veteran McGraw is listed atop the depth chart, something that could definitely change.

They have a lot of talent on defense, but I still don’t think they have a very good quarterback. Cassel is very overrated. He struggled in 2009 and he struggled against quality opponents in 2010. He won’t be able to lean on his running game as much this season, he’s poorly protected, and he plays a brutal schedule. I don’t think they’ll be as bad as they were in 4-12 because I think they have more talent than they did that year. I also don’t think they are quite as bad as what my projected record says they are. It’s just they have such a brutal schedule. This is probably about a 7, maybe 8 win team with a normal schedule.

Quarterback: C

Running backs: A-

Receiving corps: C+

Offensive line: C-

Run defense: B-

Pass rush: B-

Pass coverage: B+

Coaching: C-

Projection: 5-11 2^nd in AFC West

Quarterback

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I don’t think they can get deep into the playoffs with Matt Cassel. Kyle Orton isn’t the long term answer either. Neither is Tyler Palko, who was brutally awful this season after Cassel got hurt. Ricky Stanzi, a 2011 5^th round pick, couldn’t even beat out Palko was the starting job with Cassel got and they signed Kyle Orton just to stop the bleeding rather than give Stanzi a shot. He might not even be back next season. They can get by with Cassel for a couple more seasons, but I think it would be in their best interests to find a long term solution at quarterback. After Luck and Griffin are off the board, Tannehill and Osweiler could be nice developmental prospects who could start for this team in 2013 or 2014.

Offensive Tackle

Branden Albert wasn’t awful this season at left tackle. They could get away with keeping him there. They could also move him to right tackle. Whatever they do, they really need a new bookend tackle opposite him, either a left tackle or a right tackle. Barry Richardson was absolutely offense last year, arguably the worst starting offensive tackle in the league. He allowed 8 sacks, 36 pressures, and committed 9 penalties. When they ran behind him, they averaged just 2.6 yards per carry. Jonathan Martin will be in play when they pick at 12.

Running Back

Matt Cassel isn’t the best quarterback, but he did get into the playoffs in 2010 thanks to a fantastic running game. That should be their game plan again going into 2012. They went from 4^th in yards per carry in 2010 to 28^th in 2011. They need to get back to that 2010 rank. Jamaal Charles will be back, but he’ll be coming off a major injury as a sub-200 pound back who has never carried the ball more than 230 times in a season. They carried the ball a league leading 556 times in 2010. Even if Charles carries the ball say 250 times, they need someone else to carry the ball 250 times or so. Jackie Battle is a career journeyman who had one good game last year. Thomas Jones turns 34 this offseason and is at 2678 career carries. Dexter McCluster is 170 pounds so he can’t carry that kind of load. Trent Richardson will be in play at 12 and could be a best available pick. If they don’t take him, expect them to take a power compliment to Charles in the mid rounds.

Cornerback

Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr are a great cornerback duo, but Carr is a free agent. If he’s not resigned, they’ll need another cornerback in the mix to keep Javier Arenas in the slot where I think he’s best.

Signed Stanford Routt 

Nose Tackle

The Chiefs took Jerrell Powe in the 6^th round last year. He didn’t play this year because Kelly Gregg had a great season, but he’s 35 this offseason and is leaning towards retirement. If they don’t think Powe is the long term solution, they’ll take another nose tackle in the draft this year.

Guard

Ryan Lilja is a decent player, but lost some snaps down the stretch to 2^nd round pick Rodney Hudson. Hudson is expected to play center long term, so they may want to bring in someone else to compete with Lilja in 2012.

Tight End

Tony Moeaki missed the entirety of the 2011 season with injury. This is nothing new for him. He couldn’t stay healthy at Iowa either. They should bring in another tight end for depth purposes because they didn’t have a pass catching option if his absence.

Wide Receiver

Dwayne Bowe is a free agent. He’s their best offensive player so he’ll need to be resigned. Meanwhile, slot receiver Steve Breaston once again dealt with injury problems in 2011. They could bring in some insurance for him as it appears he will not be cut this offseason, despite that the fact Todd Haley, his top supporter, has been fired.

() FA Rank

QB Brodie Croyle

RB Jackie Battle

FB Tim Castille

FB Mike Cox

WR Terrance Cooper

TE Leonard Pope

OT Barry Richardson

OT Ryan O’Callaghan

C Casey Wiegmann

C Rudy Niswanger

NT Ron Edwards

3-4 DE Shaun Smith

3-4 DE Wallace Gilberry 

RLB Tamba Hali (#5)- franchised 

Hali has 23 sacks in the last 2 seasons as a 3-4 rush linebacker and he also has 3 years of experience as an end in a 4-3.

RLB Mike Vrabel

MLB Corey Mays

MLB Cory Greenwood (exclusive rights)

CB Brandon Carr

CB Maurice Leggett

CB Travis Daniels

S Jon McGraw

S Reshard Langford (exclusive rights)

Offseason moves:

Franchised Tamba Hali

Draft

3-4 DE Michael Brockers (LSU)

G Brandon Brooks (Miami-OH)

NT Josh Chapman (Alabama)

QB Kirk Cousins (Michigan State)

WR Juron Criner (Arizona)

RB Cyrus Gray (Texas A&M)

TE James Hanna (Oklahoma)

RLB Bruce Irvin (West Virginia)

WR A.J. Jenkins (Illinois)

S Trumaine Johnson (Montana)

C Ben Jones (Georgia)

RLB Chandler Jones (Syracuse)

RB Doug Martin (Boise State)

3-4 DE Drew Nowak (Western Michigan)

G Kelechi Osemele (Iowa State)

QB Brock Osweiler (Arizona State)

NT Dontari Poe (Memphis)

OT Mitchell Schwartz (California)

OT Donald Stephenson (Oklahoma State)

QB Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M)

S Brandon Taylor (LSU)

RB Robert Turbin (Utah State)

26. WR Jonathan Baldwin A

Jonathan Baldwin would have been a good pick at 21 if they were to take him there, in my opinion, but they moved down knowing a lot of teams weren’t high on him, with a first round grade. Baldwin may have some character problems, but he’s one of the most talented physical receivers I’ve ever seen and he has been productive in school despite quarterback problems. He also fills a huge need as a receiver opposite Dwayne Bowe.

55. C Rodney Hudson B

Center was a need and Hudson fits the range, but I’m not convinced he can play center. I also am not in love with the idea of taking a center in the 2^nd round, especially one without extensive experience at the position.

70. RLB Justin Houston A

Justin Houston was a consensus first round prospect or even top 20 pick until he failed a drug test at The Combine. It was just weed and he’s not a quarterback so that doesn’t knock him down that much in my book. He’s a steal here.

86. 3-4 DE Allen Bailey B

Defensive end depth was not a need at all with both Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson at the position as former top 5 picks being paid top 5 pick money, but Bailey is a steal and Dorsey and Jackson haven’t exactly played up to their draft stock and their salaries. One or the other could get cut in the next couple years.

118. CB Jalil Brown B+

Cornerback depth was not a huge need, but at the same time, you can never have enough cornerbacks and Brown was a 3^rd round value in my book so he’s a steal in the 4^th round. They still need a nose tackle and some help at tackle though.

135. QB Ricky Stanzi A

Matt Cassel sucked down the stretch last year and the last time he played a schedule other than the little sisters of the poor, the Chiefs went 4-12. If he struggles this year with a tougher schedule, he could be cut or traded in the offseason in a cost cutting move and Stanzi might be able to take over. He was a 3^rd round grade in my book. If they don’t move Cassel, Stanzi is still a hell of a lot better at backup quarterback than Brodie “0-10” Croyle.

140. RLB Gabe Miller D

I didn’t have Gabe Miller in my top 300 at all. I never thought he was that great of a prospect at all. He does fill a need as Tamba Hali isn’t signed long term and you can never have enough pass rushers so this isn’t an F.

199. NT Jerrell Powe A

I mocked Jerrell Powe to them in the 3^rd round so he’s an excellent value in the 6^th round. I think he’s a future starter at nose tackle.

223. FB Shane Bannon C

Fullback was a minor need, but it is somewhat of a need. There were better available fullbacks, however.

Overall:

They turned 3 picks in the first 3 rounds into 4 picks in the first 3 rounds after moving down from 21 and they still got Jonathan Baldwin, someone who filled a huge need and who would have been a good pick even at 21. They got an extra 3^rd rounder out of that to take Justin Houston, who I think had a first round value even after a failed drug test. To boot, Houston filled a huge need for them opposite Tamba Hali. Rodney Hudson and Allen Bailey weren’t perfect picks, but Hudson fills a need and fits the range, assuming he can pan out at a new position and Bailey was a great value and provides excellent depth in case Dorsey and/or Jackson don’t improve. That’s a great way to start their draft. On top of this, they also filled needs with great values in Ricky Stanzi and Jerrell Powe in the mid to late rounds. The reason I’m not giving them a flat A is because they didn’t fix the offensive tackle position, choosing to find depth at cornerback and defensive end instead. Also, I didn’t like their late picks of Gabe Miller and Shane Bannon.

Grade: A-

Free Agency Priorities

Offensive Tackle