Gretz: Tales of Turk & Tank

[Tribal Warfare]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2007/05...of_turk__tank/


GRETZ: Tales of Turk & Tank

May 15, 2007, 2:50:57 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ


The Turk & Tank Show came to an end on Monday at the Truman Sports Complex as the Chiefs wrapped up their rookie mini-camp with the fifth and final practice.

Turk would be Chiefs second-round choice Turk McBride. Tank would be third-round selection Tank Tyler.

Turk & Tank, Tank & Turk: these two guys are going to be joined at the hip for many reasons in the coming seasons with the Chiefs. Although there are some around Arrowhead Stadium who disagree with this assessment, I believe the boys of T&T will make a bigger impact on the field as rookies than will No. 1 draft choice Dwayne Bowe.

Now, there are several reasons for this opinion, and we’ll address those later in the week. None have anything to do with the drops Bowe suffered during his first workout on Saturday. That had more to do with jitters and nervousness than anything else. And it’s not all about Bowe either. It has plenty to do with McBride and Tyler, who I think are going to remind fans more of Tamba Hali, than they will of previous defensive tackle failures like Sims, Freeman, Siavii & Downing.

Monday was actually a pretty quiet day for T & T. After very intensive practices on Sunday, the Chiefs coaching staff pulled their foot off the gas pedal a little bit and the intensity of the work was dropped a notch.

Of course, when your position coach is Tim Krumrie, there is only so far you can lower the intensity. The greatest thing that Turk & Tank have going for them is Krumrie and the way he coaches the defensive linemen. It’s all about intensity with Krumrie, going fast, quick and aggressively. He puts the linemen through about a 20-minute workout that makes what the other positions do look like a vacation.

The common denominator in every drill that Krumrie teaches is quickness, rolling the hips and moving forward. It’s all about playing the game on the other side of the line of scrimmage, the offensive side. It’s about aggression.

That’s not something that can be turned on when the game starts. It has to become a habit, an every day practice habit. It’s too hard for a defensive lineman today in the NFL to play with aggression half the time. With offensive linemen allowed to legally clamp their hands on defensive player and hold, the only way the D-Line can make an impact is to constantly be aggressive.

A guy like Hali arrived with that attitude last year and working with Krumrie just fed the hunger he already possessed. A guy like Ryan Sims never adapted to the style, preferring to believe he could turn on the switch at game time. McBride shows the same characteristics as Hali. He’s go, go, go. He’s probably not as advanced as Hali was because he didn’t get the same number of college snaps. Plus, he moved around between tackle and end.

But already, McBride is showing he’ll play some at end. In fact, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him in the starting lineup down in Houston when the regular season starts. Jared Allen is going to miss the first four games thanks to an NFL suspension and that’s provided an open door for McBride to walk through. It could be Hali, McBride and Ron Edwards and James Reed at tackle on first down. Once Allen gets back the nickel defense could be Hali and Allen at end, with McBride and Tyler playing inside.

Some fans have wondered why they should believe the Chiefs have now figured out how to evaluate defensive linemen. Well, Hali would be the best evidence to date that things are changed. Remember, he had a poor workout last spring at Penn State and a lot of teams dropped him on their draft board. The Chiefs never wavered, because they went first with what they saw on the tape from four seasons at Penn State.

They did the same with Turk & Tank, and that significantly improves their chances of making an impact this season.

[Tribal Warfare]

BUMP

[Direckshun]

So, DL then?

Is DL what I should get my hopes up for, people? What do you think?

[Direckshun]

Nobody? LBs, then?

[Direckshun]

You guys are bumming me out.

Kicking game?

[CoMoChief]

hopefully this pans out and ive got a pretty good feeling it will. both of these guys are NOT projects and played very well in college as did Hali. We won't be worrying about the DL for quite some time IMO.

Next season we need to focus on drafting OL and the secondary, particularly the CB position where we are very paper thin at. I dont know exactly kinda FA's will be out there then but maybe we could use some cap space on a good somewhat young and productive FA. LT is a huge need as we all know as is RT and Weigman won't hold up much longer in this power up the middle offense Herm runs.

The following season we need to look at OLB and possibly another WR to replace Kennison.

It will take a few seasons, and possibly a couple horrid seasons, but I think in about 3 seasons after Croyle by then hopefully gets situated at the position, that we will really be set at making a serious SB run. By then our defense should get it done enough to really carry us in games. Because we all know that Herm IS changing this offense before our very eyes.