Gretz: On Top of the Draft
 

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/03..._of_the_draft/


On Top of the Draft

Mar 14, 2008, 8:48:14 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ


It’s a funny thing having one of the top choices in the annual NFL Draft.
It’s an exciting time for a franchise because there’s an opportunity to acquire one of the best players coming out of the college ranks. This is where teams get talents like Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, Junior Seau, Marshall Faulk, Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson. All were top five picks.
But to get that chance, a team must be coming off a horrible season. Either that, or they were lucky enough to make a trade with one of the league’s downtrodden teams.
Unfortunately, those first picks in the draft can also produce players like Tony Mandrich, Darrell Russell, Ryan Leaf, Curtis Enis, Tim Couch, Akili Smith and Charlie Rogers. Disappointments all, they failed because of lack of talent, lack of constitution, injury or all of the above.
In this rarified air for the 2008 Draft sit the Chiefs. It’s the first time they’ve been at the top end of the draft since 1989. With the fourth pick that year, they selected Derrick Thomas and he became the foundation of their franchise for the next decade. That’s exactly what an early first-round choice should represent to a team.
This year is only the third time in the last 21 drafts that the Chiefs have been this high in the first round. The year before Thomas was selected, the Chiefs had the second choice and grabbed defensive end Neil Smith in the 1988 Draft.
Thomas and Smith were hits for the Chiefs. But that guarantees nothing on April 26th when they will use the fifth pick of round one.
Just ask the Arizona Cardinals. In the last 20 Drafts, they have had seven selections among the top five players. They had a second pick, four times they’ve had the third pick, they used a fourth choice and a fifth spot as well.
The Cardinals record in the playoffs since 1988 is 1-1. They’ve had 17 losing records in the last 20 seasons.
Or ask the Cincinnati Bengals. They’ve had eight spots among the top five players in the last 20 Drafts, including three times having the first pick of the draft. The Bengals record in the post-season is 2-3 since ‘88. They’ve had 12 losing seasons.
Same for the Detroit Lions; they’ve had six picks among the top five players, but their record in the playoffs over that same 20-year period is 1-6 and 13 seasons finishing with a losing record.
The Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL for the 1999 season. In the nine drafts since then, they’ve had five selections in the top five, including twice having the first choice in the draft. They are 0-1 in the playoffs with seven losing records in nine seasons of play.
That’s not to say that picking early can’t help. It paid off for the Indianapolis Colts. They’ve had seven selections among the top five players since and including the ‘88 Draft. They are 9-9 in the playoffs, but do have that Super Bowl victory after the 2006 season, led by one of those top five players, Peyton Manning. They’ve had double-digit victories in eight of the last nine seasons.
Over the last 20 years, only two teams have not had a choice among the top five players: Pittsburgh and Minnesota. The last time the Steelers selected among the top five in the Draft was 1970, when they drafted Terry Bradshaw with the first choice. The highest drafting spot the Steelers have had in the first round in the last 20 drafts came in 1989, when they selected running back Tim Worley with the seventh pick.
The Vikings haven’t drafted in the top five since 1985, when they got Chris Doleman with the fourth choice. The highest first-round selection for the Vikings since ‘88 is a seventh pick. They’ve done that four times and have hit on three with LT Bryant McKinnie (2002), DT Kevin Williams (2003), WR Troy Williamson (2005) and RB Adrian Peterson (2007.)
In the last 20 years, the Steelers and Vikings have each had 13 winning seasons with Pittsburgh making the playoffs 12 times, Minnesota 10 times. The Steelers won the Super Bowl two years ago, while Minnesota has not reached the championship game in the last two decades.
Buffalo, Miami, Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco have had just one top five selection. The Dolphins will get another chance in April, with the first pick in the ‘08 Draft.
Yet the new man in charge of the Dolphins would love to trade out of that No. 1 choice. Bill Parcells can’t find any takers.
That’s because there’s nothing guaranteed when a team drafts at the top of the first round.
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Oh great an article about how "hey we might pick top 5 but that doesn't guarantee this guy won't suck"

Our front office they are brilliant.

I stopped reading when they didn't mention blowing their high draft pick on Sims but did mention getting it right with DT.

Gretz deserves to be raped and murdered.

What a pointless hack.

"Well, sometimes a pick is good...and sometimes it is bad"


They pay him for that.

Agreed....dare i say that "Goatse" writes better stuff than him...

What a fat faqqot.

Do the Chiefs REALLY want to talk about postseason records since 1988?

I thought the exact same thing when I read that...don't go there.

Reading that was like watching a home shopping network special on silverware.

Well, Sims was the 6th pick, so I guess he can get out on that technicality.

I guess the only comfort is that we hit on the only two top 5 guys we drafted... although they were 20 years ago...

Who?

Is this a "pre"excuse that they are going to muck up this years draft? Are they saying it's a crap shoot or something? This is both dumb and dumber imo.

Pick the guy and coach em up and play them so they develop that is how you build through the draft.

We fall in the same catigory as the Lions and Cardinals when it come to the draft. The Steelers and Colts have brain trust and we don't. Bottom line Carl Peterson is . . . . never mind, get so mad:mad:

sausage fingers strikes again

Alot of the stuff on KcChiefs.com is pretty "captain obvious" anymore. I try to avoid that whenever possible.

Shut up, Gretz.

Yea, its written like its meant for the casual fan and not the die hards.

Problem is, i dont think most casual fans would read many columns on www.kcchiefs.com??