Its Time For 2014 Draft Class to Produce

[Easy 6]

Pretty good read from Arrowhead Addict so I'll throw it out there

http://arrowheadaddict.com/2016/04/1...ust-produce/5/

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Pretty good read from Arrowhead Addict so I'll throw it out there

http://arrowheadaddict.com/2016/04/1...ust-produce/5/

Calling that article a "pretty good read" is like saying Michael Strahan has a "slight" gap between his two front teeth.

[DaneMcCloud]

Sorry, that's a stupid article.

LDT definitely improved over the course of the season and Fulton was better than average at center.

Aaron Murray will be the back up and Tyler Bray is no lock to make the roster, as the guy has never taken a snap during regular season practice the entire time he's been in KC.

[RunKC]

Change the article title to "it's time for Dee Ford and Phillip Gaines to stay healthy and produce" for accuracy

[RealSNR]

This article was ghost written by Adam Teicher.

That's how it reads.

[Mr. Laz]

Chiefs Draft Class of 2014 Must Produce
by Laddie Morse 1 day ago

The 2016 season is in front of the Kansas City Chiefs and with free agency winding down and the draft 12 days away the vision of the coming year is coming into focus. However, the Chiefs draft class of 2014 must produce for this year’s team to win big.

The Chiefs class of 2014:
1st Round: OLB Dee Ford
2nd Round: QB Alex Smith (trade)
3rd Round: CB Phillip Gaines
4th Round: RB/WR De’Anthony Thomas
5th Round: QB Aaron Murray
6a Round: OG Zach Fulton
6b Round: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif


OLB Dee Ford

When John Dorsey and Andy Reid took Dee Ford in the first round two years ago, many fans were disappointed. Afterall, the biggest team needs at that point were offensive line, corner and wide receiver to name a few. Two picks later San Diego Chargers took CB Jason Verrett. 9 picks and 13 picks later Minnesota and Oakland each took their QBs of the future: Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr. Only three picks after the Chiefs took Ford, the Panthers took WR Kelvin Benjamin.

While playing backseat driver to the GM and head coach regarding their draft picks might seem like wasted time, it wouldn’t be that way if Ford had begun to show the promise that a 23rd pick in the draft would be expected to show by now.

Dee Ford hasn’t been without positive moments. He nearly single-handedly delivered a victory in 2015 against the Chargers by making several great plays including three sacks and a game saving pass deflection in the end zone as time expired.

That alone should prove enough to show his worth but it served more as an anomaly and not the standard for his contributions to this point in his two year career.

However, that game also serves to show us how much potential he has and how much more we should be able to expect from him. Not that he’s going to produce three sacks per game but his lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks has been his bugaboo: in all his other games outside of the San Diego game, covering two seasons, Ford has a sum total of 2.5 sacks.

When Tamba Hali begins to fade into the team’s history books… as well as this season as Justin Houston continues to completely heal from knee surgery which may have him out until mid-season or even later… Dee Ford will be increasingly needed to perform in the possessed manner that he showed us he could in the San Diego game.

So, what’s going on with Dee Ford?

Although I was disappointed when the Chiefs first drafted Ford, by watching some of his game tape and ESPN’s Sports Science video, I became quite enamored. Following is the Sports Science video.


ESPN Sports Science claims Ford’s first bag punch was with 500 lbs. of pressure. However, it looks like he barely taps the bag. Yes, Ford has shown off his speed from time to time, but his inexperience has caught him off-sides enough to render his speed useless at times and his apparent inability to “hit”… as in… an Eric Berry kind of hit… is a huge disappointment so far.

Dee Ford can get after the quarterback. I still believe that. However, he doesn’t seem to have developed very many moves that will get him there consistently. Using a speed rush around the corner will not work every time in the NFL and one of the only times I recall him using an inside move, got him a clean sack. For Ford to become a force for the Chiefs, and create the kind of “fear” and “pre-game preparation” in opponents, Dee Ford must develop a tool-bag of moves he can dip into, especially when a game is on the line and a play has to be made.

QB Alex Smith

The Kansas City quarterback has been a touchstone for conflict whenever the subject of whether or not he’s a good QB comes up. One fact that can not be denied is that he has progressed during his career.

Alex Smith only started 7 games his first season in the league but in his second year when he started all 16 games for the 49ers, his completion percentage was 58.1. His completion percentage in his first year in Kansas City was 60.6 and this past season it rose to 65.3%.

In seven seasons in Frisco, Smith had a 59.3 completion percentage rate. In K.C., in three years, it’s been 63.7%.

Some Chiefs fans are calling for the team to draft a quarterback to replace Alex Smith this year. However, only one of the top 10 QBs available in this year’s draft has a completion percentage rate higher than Smith had in college (see below). If you add Smith’s escapability to that, I don’t see one quarterback prospect on this list who could come in and replace Smith immediately and be an improvement. In the long run, Carson Wentz and Vernon Adams seem to fit Andy Reid’s system and might be able to be an eventual replacement for Smith… if the Chiefs decide Aaron Murray or Tyler Bray are not “that guy.”

68.6% : Brandon Doughty
66.3% : Alex Smith (college)
65.9% : Kevin Hogan
64.9% : Vernon Adams
64.1% : Carson Wentz
62.9% : Paxton Lynch
62.8% : Dak Prescott
62.3% : Jared Goff
61.7% : Cardale Jones
57.5% : Connor Cook
56.1% : Christian Hackenberg

In Alex Smith’s first 7 seasons with San Francisco, he started an average of 10.7 games per year. In his 3 seasons in K.C he’s averaged 15.3 games per year. For the 49ers Smith averaged 9 interceptions per year and in K.C. he’s averaged only 6.66, even though he’s obviously started more games each year.

This may sound like an article in defense for Alex but over at Arrowhead Pride, MNchiefsfan, Seth Keysor, published an article on December 11th about Alex Smith stating he’s been playing his best football (in the previous three games). Keysor is a favorite writer of mine to read and in this piece he goes on to address how Alex Smith has progressed of late. He says that Alex Smith is indeed throwing the ball downfield more and goes on to explain,

“I don’t know what’s gotten into Smith. But whatever it is, they need to make sure he keeps it up. Because, to build on what I said following the Chargers game, the Chiefs with Smith playing at the level he’s currently playing are a very, very, very dangerous team.”
The point I’d like to make about Alex Smith is that he appears poised to take another step up in his progression this season, which means he’s plenty capable of leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a championship, this year. Maurice Jones-Drew agrees with me too, in fact, he said this week that he believes the Chiefs will win Super Bowl 51 this year and listed Alex Smith as the number one reason.

CB Phillip Gaines

There hasn’t been a Chiefs offseason issue more heatedly discussed than: the replacement for cornerback Sean Smith. Does that place an undue amount of pressure on third year man Phillip Gaines? Who knows for sure but you can bet, like most players, he’s chomping at the bit to get his chance to be the one.

The Chiefs may take a corner early in this year’s draft but Phillip Gaines will still play a huge role in the Chiefs defensive backfield this year, even if a rookie corner comes in and plays as good as Marcus Peters did last year.

The real pressure on Phillip Gaines exists simply because so many NFL teams use multiple wide receiver sets and even if the Chiefs do find mister-right-cornerback in this draft Gaines will be called upon most likely as a nickel back.

Let’s review who Phillip Gaines is. He played his college ball at Rice,

+ In 2009 he started 4 games as a true freshman and missed the last 3 with a wrist injury.

+ In 2010 Gaines started 10 games, played in 12, with 64 tackles, 6 passes defensed and 0 INTs.

+ In the spring of 2011 Phillip Gaines was arrested on a marijuana charge and spent one year on probation. On the field he hurt his foot in the 4th game and got a medical hardship for the remainder of the year.

+ He was healthy for the first time in 2012, started all 13 games, had 33 tackles, with 18 passes defensed (which ranked 2nd in the country).

+ In 2013 Phillip Gaines had 36 tackles with 9 passes defensed and because he was the primary right cornerback, teams were throwing away from him, and still he had 4 INTs and 4 tackles for a loss.

In June of 2015, Sean Keeler wrote a piece for Fox Sports called, “Chiefs CB Gaines is starting to become king of once-dreaded ‘Island’” in which he quoted head coach Andy Reid,

“He’s smart and he’s fast and he’s got good hips. He hit a low during training camp (last year) where nothing was going right for him for about two days there. And then he kind of picked himself off the mat and whether he rearranged his thought process, whatever it was that took place, he just kept getting better from that point. And he had some good downs for us last year and now coming out here, he’s jumped right in and he looks terrific.”
Gaines added six pounds of muscle last offseason and since his ACL injury was the third week of the season he should be back up and ready to go stronger than ever for the Chiefs offseason program.

Mike Mayock of NFL.com said of Phillip Gaines coming out of college,

“He’s a long corner who had a tremendous combine workout. I felt like he’s a developmental guy, but he has starter skills.”

With 4.38 speed, and as Mayock likes to often say, “twitchy” quickness, Gaines should eventually mature into an excellent corner. That combination of speed and quickness is what makes him such a threat inside or out. Two months ago Tarek Mavani wrote an article for AA called, “Chiefs Film Room: What do we have in Phillip Gaines?” in which he said,

“… the area where Gaines’ game shines the brightest: bump and run coverage. It’s kind of ironic how this has developed into such a vital component of his game considering NFL.com’s scouting profile on him said he lacks physicality (oh, and they also said he shouldn’t be drafted). Safe to say NFL.com whiffed on that piece of analysis; the guy thrives when he gets his hands on a receiver at the line.”

With this being Gaines third season, although he was out most of last year, we should be able to expect that this is the year he puts it all together and shows everyone his skills. Probably more than any other player drafted in 2014, Phillip Gaines will need to come through for the Chiefs in order for the team to achieve it’s Super goal.

WR/RB De’Anthony Thomas

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, De’Anthony Thomas (DAT) has the best game tapes and highlight reels of any college prospect I have ever seen, bar none.

I think the big question facing DAT and the Chiefs now is, can he play in the NFL without getting his brains bashed in. And… can the Chiefs management and DAT come to an agreement about just how bad his concussion is… when he gets one.

DAT was cleared to play following the concussion protocols that the Chiefs have in place but he left the team for “non-football illness” reasons in January. While I believe the standards the Chiefs have in place are higher than most team’s standards, I can understand DAT’s point of view: whether that was to take time off to attend to a tummy ache… or whether that was him considering retirement… or taking stock of his health… or whatever might have been. Recently we’ve all been made very aware of how tough the game of professional football really is and sometimes players have no idea of what they’re going to do… until they step away from the game for awhile.

Now, De’Anthony Thomas assures us he’s coming back and I couldn’t be happier about his decision. I’ve never seen a player so completely hounded, tracked and mirrored… before the snap… of the football. That alone makes DAT a threat wherever and whenever he’s lined up on the field. That makes DAT a threat no matter whether he gets the ball or not. DAT is a threat. In an article called, “Chiefs offseason Issue: Making De’Anthony Thomas more productive,” Adam Teicher wrote,

“Thomas is a talented player. He’s fast and opponents have to respect his speed whether he gets the ball or not. The Chiefs have been a better offensive team with him on the field regardless of where they go with the ball.”
Thomas may not be as tough as Dante Hall, who was a kick returner extraordinaire for the Chiefs from 2000 to 2006. Although DAT is the same height as Dante, he weighs ten pounds less. And perhaps is ten pounds more fragile.

In any event, the Chiefs need Thomas to succeed this year. He can help the Chiefs win the field position game too. Punter Dustin Colquitt is excellent, but if DAT can utilize his speed and quickness to extend the field position several times per game it would be huge. Not to mention his abilities as a running back and a wideout… or Speedy-Gonzales-decoy.

Last offseason when Andy Reid announced that DAT was going to move to wide receiver, I thought he could possibly be their number two wide receiver, or at least their permanent slot. Since DAT’s concussion, I’ll be glad to see him make a few game time appearances on offense and then handle most of the punt returns.

De’Anthony Thomas can be a difference maker. Let’s hope he makes a difference this season.

QB Aaron Murray

With the departure of backup quarterback Chase Daniel to Philadelphia, the Chiefs need to answer the question: who will serve as backup quarterback this year? At the moment, the answer appears to be third year pro Aaron Murray.

Knowing Andy Reid, and his history with quarterbacks like we do, it seems unlikely that he would allow Daniel to walk if he didn’t have a plan in place to provide a dependable backup at the quarterback position in 2016.

Some have projected that Aaron Murray is not fit to take over that position. What does seem clear is that we, the public, don’t know or have any knowledge that, Aaron Murray can do that job. While we may not know if Murray is ready… Andy Reid does.

Who wants one of these quarterback free agents: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tarvaris Jackson, Jimmy Clausen, Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Whitehurst, T.J. Yates, Michael Vick, Matt Flynn, or Josh Freeman?

One, Fitzpatrick is holding out for more money from the Jets so we can assume he’s not getting that amount of money from the Chiefs just to come here and serve as a backup to Alex Smith. Two, although Andy Reid has experience with Michael Vick, he’s passed on Vick in previous offseasons so it seems likely he’ll do the same here as Vick holds on for one last hurrah in the NFL. Three, it’s hard to see any of the remaining free agent quarterbacks providing a better alternative than Aaron Murray who has spent a couple of years acclimating to Reid offensive system.

I’m convinced that if the Chiefs aren’t going to use Aaron Murray as the number one backup to Alex Smith, it will be Tyler Bray. In any case, it looks like some dice rolling is going to be involved this year.

OG Zach Fulton and OG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif

What stands out about Fulton and Duvernay-Tardif is that the Chiefs presently are relying upon sixth round choices to provide the interior line help they need. It’s not that sixth rounders can’t play big… but so far neither one has been able to rise to that level.

While I believe Fulton will stick because he can serve as a backup Center or Guard, my hope is that Laurent Duvernay-Tardif can take the next steps up in his development this season. However, Seth Keysor of Arrowhead Pride recently provided an excellent piece on Duvernay-Tardif that indicates he hasn’t shown any progress this season, so you can judge for yourself. Keysor concludes,

“He’s definitely got some tools to be a solid guard in the NFL. But he was not even average in 2015, or all that close to it. Nor did his film change over the course of the year in a way that makes me believe it’s likely he’ll make a big jump forward in 2016.”
I believe the Chiefs will take an Offensive Tackle sometime in the first four rounds of this draft, one who has played Offensive Guard or one who can be converted easily. Or, they will take an Offensive Guard in the first four rounds, even though there are very few good Guards in this draft.

If the Chiefs don’t do that, it looks like they’ll be giving Jah Reid or Paul Fanaika a shot, God forbid.

What do you think Addict fans? Which 2014 draft choice do you think will come through for the Chiefs this year?

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Sorry, that's a stupid article.

LDT definitely improved over the course of the season and Fulton was better than average at center.

Aaron Murray will be the back up and Tyler Bray is no lock to make the roster, as the guy has never taken a snap during regular season practice the entire time he's been in KC.

I have extremely low expectations for Bray, but he's very very intriguing.

He has the best deep ball (velocity, placement, accuracy) I've seen in person. He also has the mentality to not be scared to sling it...but he didn't have much else. Terrible awareness...bad ball security, no "internal clock" and tried to push the ball more than he probably should.

That was a very long time ago, though...and there's no way Andy Reid and John Dorsey kept him around this long if he was t progressing in the classroom.

If they can teach him to work the short passing game, adjust protections and identify coverages, who knows?

4 full offseasons with premier coaching is what the kid will have had by preseason 2016...and he's still extremely young.

Like I said, I don't have high hopes for him...but he's very intriguing.

[Easy 6]

this is going about as well as my mock draft

However, I stand behind my decision to add some new football content to the front page

[Easy 6]

I agree with Boss about Tyler Bray, he is intriguing and Dorsey/Reid have been UNUSUALLY patient with him particularly when you consider his lengthy stays on IR

Seems pretty clear they find him intriguing as well

Thats not to say I'm "all in" on the guy at all, hell he may not even make the roster this year depending on what the draft/further free agency brings... but, they could've (and most gm's probably would've) dropped his ass by now and brought in some journeyman, which tells me they see something worth hanging onto, atleast for now

[saphojunkie]

It's time for arrowhead addict to die in a fire.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

It's time for arrowhead addict to die in a fire.

Eh, while I dont think they're as polished overall as AP, they still have some bright spots like Verderame, and I still think its pretty cool that our own Micjones is over there trying to take his game to the next level

Its exclusive Chiefs content by and for Chiefs fans, thats good enough to keep me checking them out

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Tyler Bray will be the #1 back up?

Okay.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Eh, while I dont think they're as polished overall as AP, they still have some bright spots like Verderame, and I still think its pretty cool that our own Micjones is over there trying to take his game to the next level

Its exclusive Chiefs content by and for Chiefs fans, thats good enough to keep me checking them out

Dude, anyone can write articles for 2 bit websites

['Hamas' Jenkins]

De'Anthony Thomas has the best college game tape the author has ever seen?

How could anyone type that with a straight face?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

De'Anthony Thomas has the best college game tape the author has ever seen?

How could anyone type that with a straight face?

The author is a complete moron