Gretz: Chiefs LBs suck
 

Check out his blob blog update for today:

If there was one position where the Chiefs may be active on the waiver wire the day after the final NFL cutdown, it will be at linebacker. In his first two seasons with the Chiefs, Herm Edwards has kept seven linebackers. Right now it’s tough to find seven backers who have performed well enough in this pre-season to deserve a roster spot.

Count on Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams and Pat Thomas to be there as the Chiefs starters. Williams will not play over the rest of the pre-season because of a broken bone in his hand, but the Chiefs expect him to be ready to play in the season opener.

Also count in veteran Donnie Edwards who continues to rehab his hamstring pull and should be back on the practice field next week.

That’s four; it’s a struggle to find two or three more. Among the remaining LBs, rookie Wes Dacus has the best shot at making the final 53. He’s running fifth now, moving up to the starting group in Wednesday’s practice when Williams could not go with a finger injury. Dacus may get the start this Saturday against Miami.

Oliver Hoyte, LeRue Rumph and Steve Octavien have not been consistent enough in the pre-season to warrant a spot on the final roster. Rumph and/or Octavien could end up on the practice squad. E.J. Kuale has performed primarily in the kicking game.

And that leaves veteran Napoleon Harris. This will be an interesting call for the decision makers. Harris was a disappointment last year and he lost his starting job at middle linebacker early in training camp. Since then he’s been battling a knee injury. He would provide an experienced backup, but he would not be much help on special teams and the backup linebackers have to contribute in the kicking game. If he were not an unrestricted free agent signed last year, there’s no way he would make the team.

==========================================

If we were all about a youth movement, shouldn't we have gone out and got some young, talented, but inexperienced guys instead of signing turds leftover from the draft?

He's right on, this time.

Our LB's DO suck.

It's too bad we didn't have a shot at Karlos Dansby.

the question is would anybody trade anything for harris?

lol another free agent bust

Yea, im not sure why they signed the guy?? He was a disappointment for two teams previous.

I was certainly no Kawika fan, but he was young and growing.

At least we have Gun coaching this unit! :D

he was young and growing, at the speed of fungus

Probably because Herm and the staff think they can make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

Wasn't Hoyte a Fullback?

I think he was a Boomer. i.e. Linebacker converted to fullback. He is just moving back to his original position, if I remember correctly.

So Donnie Edwards is now a backup?

Great signing.

Free agency has doomed this team as much as the draft.

thats what I thought too....

Mitchell move seemed FU.

Nothing will change with this team until they do a full out overall major super house cleaning. The culture at One Arrowhead Drive is a losing one, and that needs to be changed. That can only be done with new blood; a new direction.

I think Donnie is only being considered a backup at this time because of his injury. I would think that once he's fully healthy, he'd play over Williams.

Regardless, can't argue one bit about the bolded line.

good thing we let Mitchell and Fujita walk.

Maybe the smartest post ive ever seen on here.

Harris will make the roster and be starting again when its all said and done...

Well said, Mr. Vanilla Thunder. It begins and ends with Clarkie. At this point, our problems are systemic. This linebacker situation is just another symptom of Peterson's disease. The franchise is dysfunctional. We fire guys who are better than the guys we're starting now and pick up new guys who can't even make the team when the starting guys suck worse than the guys we had before. It's insane.

FAX

It's so true though. With all due respect to the Hunts, what the **** kind of owner allows a GM to stay with his team for 19 years with no real success, but ticket sales? The NFL is both about winning Super Bowls, and business, but it's obvious to the people that possess common sense that it's more about business as far as the Chiefs go.

You keep your tickets, you keep buying merchandise...then the status quo remains status quo.

The only way for fans to get their voice in is to not buy tickets, not buy merchandise. But that will not ever be the case. We are in football hell because we love our team so much that we won't ever say no to a friend that says, "hey man, I got an extra ticket, you wanna go? 80 bucks." Or say no to that new hat or jersey that your favorite player possesses when you go to the mall.

We really are in hell. Most of the teams are though, except for the usuals, because they know how to draft, how to be selective with free agents, etc. They have the right people running the show. We, obviously, don't.

And until they show different, the fans have the right to not believe in what Herm is trying to do, until they show it on the field.

It's the Show Me State, bitches. Show us.


sorry for the rant

No need to be sorry. I agree 100%

I just hope Clark wakes up soon. Chiefs fans will always be Chiefs fans. Of course they will buy the tickets and gear. It doesnt matter who the GM is. So why do the Hunts continue to hold on to this fossil?

Who was the DC who wanted all of these changes made?

Clarkie said all the right things last off-season. The problem is that he seems to be backing off his expectation that we compete for a playoff spot this year. I'm certain that modification in his position is due to reports from marketing that ticket sales are improving.

Mr. Vanilla Thunder is right. From top to bottom, this organization seems to have been more concerned about the success of the "business" than the success of the "team". I don't really understand that. It seems to me that, if you're fielding a playoff caliber team year after year, the business would naturally thrive.

FAX

IMO, they hold onto Carl because he is a good business man, and he did bring the Chiefs back from the dead when he was hired in 89 and brought Marty in. Carl should've resigned with Marty in 98, then I don't think fans would be too hard on Carl or the Hunts.

Marty knew his time was up, I hated him as a coach, but at least he knew it was time to go. Carl is too comfy where he's at.

maybe roster hopefully not starting :grr:

Point, Mr. Coogs. Was it our resident mad German who was responsible for canning Fujita, though? Or, was it Robinson? I can't remember. Nevertheless, if our defense suffers this year, it may well be the last we'll see of Guntheriffic.

FAX

I know. Doe's Clark think the Patriots are just "getting by" with their constant Super Bowl appearances lmao!!!

You win, you get more pub, more money, everything.

The Chiefs are good at marketing and getting their fans to the games, but they are not good at putting a consistent winner on the field.

Okay, geniouses out there who know what the problem is. Tell me what we do RIGHT NOW to fix the situation.

We've got unplayable LBs backing up a starting unit that contains one pretty decent player and two other "meh".

What do we do?

He went to the Cowboys in 2005. That would make it under Guns watch. My guess is that is when Bell came in as well.

Scanlon not on the roster?

I would go to the waiver wire, as Gretz said in his blog, not sure if they'll make a move. You're rebuilding, yes, but you want to have good young players to deal with geez!! haha

Short term fix: Wait to see who gets cut next week.

Long term: Sack Carl Peterson as soon as possible.

Good question, Mr. SNR. What can we do? If there are no solid LBs available through waivers this year, we have to watch Herm try to make chicken salad all year. Then, we have to draft LBs like there's no tomorrow and wait two more years for them to develop.

Not to beat an expired horse that is no more and has passed on to the great pasture in the sky where the grass is always green, the water blue, and the fillies cute but kinda skanky, but this comes back to whether or not Herm is the phenomenal judge of talent that lots of peeps make him out to be. Somebody, in addition to Guntheriffic, must have thought that these guys could play.

FAX

Bad News : Our LB's are playing like $3it, and likely suck as a unit.

Good News : we know it BEFORE the season, we ADMIT it, and we aren't running around powdering bottoms and changing diapers.

"Thanks for trying. I understand, but you're terrible. Cheers."

Waivers and practice squad designees.

I thought a famous person once said that you don't take LB's in the first round because they are so easy to find in the middle rounds.

Anyone know if Boldin can play LB?

I thought this was a good article by Gretz. It wasn't oozing with propaganda. That bieng said, ****! I had hoped Octavien would come around and we'd have some solid depth we could develop.

Posted via Mobile Device

Wait just a ding dong dippity dang minute, men. We're talking about Gretz here. Gretz of "The Chiefs know what they're doing." fame. Gretz the Carl-can-do-no-wrong man. Gretz the excuse-maker supreme.

Maybe we should wait and see how these guys actually perform on the field in a real game before jumping off the bridge of despair into the freezing waters of hopelessness without the life vest of hope or the bungee cord of optimism. I mean, maybe he's full of it again.

FAX

The annual "Gun is a great DC, BUT he's got to have ....." talk is starting early this year.

Yes, i agree. All Gun has to have is a Superstar Pro Bowl player at these positions to succeed:

LDE
DT
DT
RDE
LOLB
ROLB
MLB
LC
RC
FS
SS

Gun just needs a few more years, please be patient.



Love Carl.....

I think we can only count on Johnson, PERIOD, to do anything.

We have one decent LB. Everybody else sucks.

What a disaster. Dorsey and Tank are going to have to make sure nobody gets past the line of scrimmage.

i'm a herm fan but every FA he has brought in has been awful

5-1-5 defense. Stuff the running game, and blanket the receivers. Linebackers are superfluous.

If Morgan could step up, Pollard could make one hell of a Cover 2 linebacker.

agreed he's got the size and the speed to do well in that position. just would need to tackle better IMO

too late


a team has to identify it's problems BEFORE FA/Draft not before the 3rd preseason game.


it's the difference between good organizations and crappy ones.

but did anyone really see this coming? if you say yes prove it that you felt that way prior to the draft

I did say that, and I believe it, but you need to take into account this team hasn't been drafting LB's AT ALL, this team is full of old FA's and undrafted guys.

what do you mean did anyone see this coming?

we were going into this offseason with 1 proven linebacker and a stopgap old guy

Derrick Johnson
Donnie Edwards

we were rebuilding so Donnie Edwards couldn't fit into the plans.


Demorrio Williams was their answer???


that's like firing a .22 caliber at an oncoming tank and hoping your hit something lucky.


there are some positions where the Chiefs threw up the white flag this off season ... linebacker is one of them.

but all the so called experts had lb as one of our biggest strengths all had over 100 tackles last year

That's because no one was getting stops on the front.

I think we're gonna target LBs next off season.

We're gonna have good pick positions, and TON of money to throw around.

:clap:

I understand where you're coming from here. IMO, they did indeed just wave the whie flag at the LB core this offseason. Too much in need to fix...

You and I are usually on the same page, but as you already know, we are nowhere near the same page when it comes to when you draft a LB.

I believe if you have the opportunity to draft the guy that's going to man the middle, and be the leader of the defense in the top 10, you take.

Even on the outside if there's a guy there that you believe can be a difference maker you have to take him.

I'm pretty sure that #4 overall wasn't wasted back in '89.

Agreed.

However, our biggest problem was that we had problems everywhere, so there was no way in hell we were going to address them all.

OK, I take that back.

Our biggest problem was, and still is Carl, who, of course, is responsible for all these other problems.

I agree. Yeah you might be able to get a lot of serviceable LBs later, but a game changing LB is the leader, and sets the tone for the defense.

He's the guy who's going to be making the most tackles on your football team. Put a mid round guy in Urlacher's spot, the Bears never go to the bowl.
Same with Ray Ray, and others.

Seems not long ago, everyone thought LB was one of our strongest possibilities?

Maybe its just my age.

I think Donnie is all but done.

He's old, and he can no longer stay on the field.
His one strength, speed. is neutralized by his hammy issues.

He was never as good otherwise as most Chiefs fans think he was.

mecca doesn't believe that you pass on LBs altogether in the first round, and Lewis was taken somewhere around 25, 26 overall.

He just believes that top 10 overall should not be used on LB.

I think it all depends on the caliber of LB, or any other position for that matter.

See post #48.

I like your takes on here.

But I've never seen you once say a player is as good as everyone thinks he is.

:clap: You said it all! Gets my vote for post of the year...

I can see that.

I rarely comment on players that are getting deserved praise, I guess.

So, in an effort to be a little more positive, I believe that Willie Roaf and Will Shields, in spite of all the props they got, were still a little underrated.

Gotta give some kudos to Herm on this. Previously we would be playing him regardless.
See #99 Kendrell Bell for an example

I wonder if ****her is still waiting in his offce with Bell for someone to come and "tell it to their faces" that Bell sucked?

FWIW, yes we have had our share of FA busts, but I bet Denver has had more since Shanny's inception in 95. Shanny is such a sucker for the big name FA.

A typical stoopid Gunther take, he makes Herm look smart. Why are we cursed with these dumbasses? I am starting to understand the people that say this team is getting stocked for the next HC. Chan Gailey?

Unless it's a pass rusher which makes DT an exception to my rule as far as that goes.

He's not even the worst in the AFCW...Al Davis

Yep. Even if every draftee develops into a solid starter some point down the line we'd need at least another draft that delivered 5 or 6 starters to fill all the holes on this team. This whole season is about talent evaluation. It is going to be like another 16 weeks of preseason, except our fake starters will play longer and our real starters will get more injured and older.

We dont even know if we have a reliable QB yet IMO.

I don't think that is a question. I'm as much of a Brodie supporter as anybody, but I don't think there is an arguement that he is reliable. Potentialy, yes. Definitely, no.

We dont know if he can stay healthy for a whole season

We dont know if he can win a game.

We dont know if he will ever develop.

Whats your defination of reliable??

This gets my vote for post of the year :)

It doesn't really matter that our LBs appear to suck. So does our OL. So does our DL (young and full of potential doesn't mean jack yet). So do our QBs (until proven otherwise). Our CBs are totally untested (everybody but Surtain) or past-it (Surtain). The list goes on. People are already hoping that Pollard get demoted. Wasn't he "Bonecrusher" a year ago?

This team is bad, but is hopefully getting better. The LBs are only a small part of the big picture problem.

So, in your opinion, the Bears made an error in draft judgement in selecting Brian Urlacher number 9 overall?

Seems to me that the first QB KC has tried to develop in years, should get the benefit of the doubt if he shows signs of improvement.

Maybe CP knows the market better than we give him credit for?

:eek:

Maybe he made the fans this way?

Stop putting ourselves in this position? :shrug:

Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm agreeing with you. Nobody can say he is reliable.

YES! ABSOLUTELY! My vote for post of the year!! :clap:



No, I really don't think that. I've just seen that bullshit on this thread on three different occasions already, and wanted to join in.

For as good as he is I'd say to an extent yes, he has a tendency to disappear without other players around him and numerous other teams have excellent MLB play with later picks used.