| Direckshun |
03-04-2013 11:04 PM |
Late night bullshit: drafting Geno now? Almost as big a coup as getting Montana in 93
Andy Reid has long been capable of thinking outside the box, and his track record backs that up. But acquiring Alex Smith for two 2nds for the sole purpose of giving the #1 overall guy time to develop would be among the most ambitious ideas he's ever had.
Nonetheless, I believe the Chiefs could be shifting in that direction. They've clung to WR Dwayne Bowe, they've tagged LT Branden Albert, they're on the verge of signing CB Sean Smith to start across from Flowers, and they have reached out to DE/DT Chris Canty (and in my hypothetical, as we've all long believed, Poe's talents might be better suited at DE anyway).
So it becomes official, then: unless the Chiefs do not actually find a single starting-caliber DE, they are simply not drafting to plug a hole with the #1 overall pick. Therefore, they can simply make the pick that helps them the most in the long run -- because if there is a single pick in the NFL Draft that should be made with the long run exclusively in mind, it's the first overall.
HC Andy Reid and GM John Dorsey talked down the QBs in this draft for weeks ever since they were ushered in by team owner Clark Hunt. But that was before the Combine, which had to have been a game changer. New WRs coach David Culley was on the turf at the RCA Dome as he asked all the QBs to throw very specific passes, one after another, to the WRs he was observing. And what was supposed to be a drill to determine WR talent actually determined the QB position once and for all. Quick outs, deep post runs, back shoulder bombs... All of the QBs had some good throws, most of them had off throws, and a good number of them were just terrible. Only one QB really separated himself with Croyle-esque darts on the short throws and beautiful Rodgers-esque accuracy on the deep balls.
Every pass. "Good throw!" "Great throw!" "Now that's a pass!" With a Chiefs coach literally five feet from him, Geno hit every single pass he was asked to deliver, on rhythm. Is there any doubt Culley raved to Reid when they convened later that afternoon? It had to immediately make them reassess.
They had long known this guy was not a world beater at West Virginia. He was a machine some games but lacked the drive to will his team to victories in other games. And West Virginia's coaching staff is said to be one of the least friendly and hospitable to NFL personnel in terms of sharing in formation. But with no filter between them and Geno, they saw his tools -- he was athletic, healthy, good natured, strong, and lest there be any doubt: one hell of a passer.
While they weren't sure that this guy is the future of the Chiefs, they became more willing than ever to find out. They made an incredibly aggressive move to lock down Alex Smith so Geno could ostensibly feel zero pressure as the Chiefs staff begins to groom him, all the while Alex Smith keeps the Chiefs competitive and helps Geno's apparent need to better absorb coaching (thanks, Mariucci). They made sure that any Chiefs QB for the next five years has the best WR in team history to throw to, and locked down Albert for the year, and hopefully for years beyond. Meanwhile, they made aggressive, potentially illegal moves to fill the teams neediest positions at CB and DE.
In short, Andy Reid came to Kansas City because he knew the talent was already amazing, save for one shitty exception at the team's most important position, and he used the best leverage he had at his disposal to fix it in the short and long term.
Should Andy Reid land this pick, he will perhaps have landed the team's biggest coup since Carl Peterson traded for Joe Montana in 1993.
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Late night bullshit: drafting Geno now? Almost as big a coup as getting Montana in 93
(https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=270738)