Babb: Chiefs draft Memphis nose tackle

[Tribal Warfare]

Poe-tential: Chiefs draft Memphis nose tackle
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel sat in front of a group of skeptics and seemed almost giddy. He had his man, nose tackle Dontari Poe, and said it had nothing to do with Poe’s performance at February’s NFL scouting combine.

Honest. Well, almost nothing.

“Running 4.9 (seconds), now,” Crennel said of Poe’s time in the 40-yard dash, “not all 350-pound guys can do that.”

The Chiefs selected Poe, a stranger even to many who live in southwestern Tennessee before becoming the superstar of the combine, with the No. 11 overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

“Never coached, never been around a big guy with his type of talent,” said Mike DuBose, Poe’s defensive line coach at Memphis and a former head coach at Alabama. “… With Dontari, because of the circumstances around him, I think he’s just learning to play this game.”

Before he learned the game, as a stout ninth-grader at southeast Memphis’ Wooddale High, Poe played bass drum in the band. Then the school’s football coach, Cedric Miller, passed him one day — you can’t help but notice someone that big — and asked Poe why he was toting a drum and not stretching out a football jersey.

The kid gave it a try, and that was that. Poe went on to Memphis and, although he finished his junior season in 2011 with just one sack, emerged as a potential first-round NFL pick. It all started with a bass drum and a chance encounter.

“Being in the band taught me discipline,” Poe said Thursday night, shifting his words toward football. “It was kind of new going into it, but I kind of caught on quick.”

That’s what DuBose said Poe does well: He gets up to speed quickly. And that’s what the Chiefs will need him to do. The Chiefs gambled on Poe, who the skeptics panned as a combine wonder who underachieved in college, and who his supporters insist was simply not asked to make big plays at Memphis. The talent, DuBose said, is there; specializing him as a nose tackle, as the Chiefs plan to do, will reveal it.

“I don’t think he’s a polished football player, by any means,” DuBose said. “I don’t think that’s Dontari’s fault; I think that’s our fault.”

Unable to make a lasting impression in college, Poe said Thursday, he began training in Arizona after his junior season — waiting for his chance to grab NFL evaluators’ attention. He grew stronger and faster before his time came at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, every pro prospect’s most important job interview.

Poe, at 346 pounds, completed 44 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press. He broad-jumped 8 feet, 9 inches and completed the shuttle run in 4.56 seconds.

Crennel said the Chiefs liked Poe even before his combine performance. Crennel is a former defensive line coach, and the team’s biggest hole in 2011 was, by far, at nose tackle. Poe’s combine performance just solidified their interest. But it also threatened to put Poe out of the Chiefs’ reach.

“All of the reports that they had on the guy,” Crennel said of the Chiefs’ evaluations, “talked about how good he was as a player and his ability, and those reports came before the combine. Now, when we went to the combine and saw what he did at the combine, that perked our ears more.”

Afterward, Poe was no longer a secret. Instead, he was a specimen: a giant who could move like a ballet dancer. Crennel said Thursday that, more than anything, the uptick in attention caused concern inside the Chiefs’ front office. What if the team’s work would be wasted? What if all the chatter meant the Chiefs would now miss out on him?

So when the 11th pick arrived Thursday, a moment of peace amid a first round to that point filled with trades and chaos, the Chiefs and Crennel made good on all that preparation. Crennel couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I think we’re going to see a really good player,” the coach said.

Now that it’s done, Poe just has to make good on the idea that the combine wasn’t his ceiling, but rather a sign of a work ethic and untapped potential that aren’t often seen.

“Like I’ve told everyone else,” Poe said, “my motivation is pretty much unlimited right now. I’m so ready to just get in and prove to them that I belong here, and I belong at the next level.”

[Bump]

a guy that played every down in college doesn't sound lazy to me. The kid is hungry for coaching and welcomes it. I read that somewhere. That sounds pretty good to me especially since we have the best d-line coach in the business.

[melbar]

I think the fact that he played every down, every game rotating between 4-5 different techniques/ positions gives them an incite into his endurance, and ability to learn. They also worked him out personally, so they know how he responded to what they expect from a full time nt. Concentrating on one position and coaching from one of the best d line coaches in the history of the game will be a huge plus I think. I guess I'm just deferring toRAC on this
kid.

[Bewbies]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

21 wins in 3 years, 1 playoff appearance, 1 playoff loss.

And people still think Pioli is God's gift to football.

They need to win 10-11 this year or that number is going to finally get him in some trouble.

Too bad we have Matt Cassel leading the charge.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by melbar

I think the fact that he played every down, every game rotating between 4-5 different techniques/ positions gives them an incite into his endurance, and ability to learn. They also worked him out personally, so they know how he responded to what they expect from a full time nt. Concentrating on one position and coaching from one of the best d line coaches in the history of the game will be a huge plus I think. I guess I'm just deferring toRAC on this
kid.

That and he has two enormous flaws that are extremely coachable. He is horrible at keeping his pads low and using his hands.

Good coaching will help him there. If he responds to using hand technique the way tamba has, he has potentially to significantly improve on that alone. I don't know if that solves his problems. But to those who wonder why he was consistently unimpressive, those are two really big flaws what will ruin any talented nose tackle.