Chiefs Babb: Chiefs draft Memphis nose tackle

**Tribal Warfare** · 04-27-2012, 04:00 AM

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.”

Direckshun · 04-27-2012, 04:08 AM

Definitely a need-first pick, rather than a value-first pick.

The Chiefs, under Pioli, never cease to surprise.

The upside is that they are so uncommitted to any one way of evaluating players they clearly avoid tunnel vision.

They treat the scouting process like an art, not a science. Every prospect is evaluated on their own terms.

**the Talking Can** · 04-27-2012, 04:17 AM

Quote:

“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.”

so...you suck as a coach is the reason he was a mediocre player in an 8 man football league?

**the Talking Can** · 04-27-2012, 04:19 AM

and i wake up to the pick being trashed on espn....

Direckshun · 04-27-2012, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

so...you suck as a coach is the reason he was a mediocre player in an 8 man football league?

Sounds like it.

**the Talking Can** · 04-27-2012, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Sounds like it.

sounds like bullshit

Direckshun · 04-27-2012, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

sounds like bullshit

TTC is willing to stake his reputation on Memphis being a supremely coached football factory.

MMXcalibur · 04-27-2012, 04:38 AM

Dontari Poe is my favorite Chiefs player to come out of the 2012 NFL Draft.

**the Talking Can** · 04-27-2012, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direckshun

TTC is willing to stake his reputation on Memphis being a supremely coached football factory.

i willing to stake my reputation on the fact that the #11 pick in the draft doesn't need Bear Bryant to dominate against scrubs in one of the worst leagues on the planet...

but thanks for trying to make something up...your dishonesty is charming

Direckshun · 04-27-2012, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

i willing to stake my reputation on the fact that the #11 pick in the draft doesn't need Bear Bryant to dominate against scrubs in one of the worst leagues on the planet...

but thanks for trying to make something up...your dishonesty is charming

I'd love to know his leg press. I don't know enough about his attitude and persona, either.

If he's got a monster leg press, he's got a very good shot.

But the attitude is what's going to make or break him. Nose tackle in the two-gap is so physically demanding. He better have that Jerrell Powe attitude where he couldn't be happier to just wrestle in the phone booth.

I like his endurance. Not a lot of nose tackles have that degree of endurance.

The elements are there. It will take three full years of development before we know what we have here.

**the Talking Can** · 04-27-2012, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I'd love to know his leg press. I don't know enough about his attitude and persona, either.

If he's got a monster leg press, he's got a very good shot.

But the attitude is what's going to make or break him. Nose tackle in the two-gap is so physically demanding. He better have that Jerrell Powe attitude where he couldn't be happier to just wrestle in the phone booth.

i hope he pans out too

but no one can tell me did anything in college to deserve being picked here

Direckshun · 04-27-2012, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

i hope he pans out too

but no one can tell me did anything in college to deserve being picked here

I'm pretty sure nobody's trying to. Not even the Chiefs or the guy's own coaches.

So.

milkman · 04-27-2012, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

i hope he pans out too

but no one can tell me did anything in college to deserve being picked here

That's the problem.

If he were actually giving the effort that Pioli and Crennel are trying to sell us that they saw on tape, how does a physical freak like that not dominate the cub scout league he played in?

**the Talking Can** · 04-27-2012, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

That's the problem.

If he were actually giving the effort that Pioli and Crennel are trying to sell us that they saw on tape, how does a physical freak like that not dominate the cub scout league he played in?

that's the point i've been trying to make...you can't say this guy is a combine monster with a motor that never stopped and then say 'but he did jack shit in shitty league"

doesn't add up

but at least drafting NTs with no production isn't risky....

farmerchief · 04-27-2012, 05:41 AM

I don't really know how I feel about the pick? The players I thought the chiefs were targeting, linebacker,safety,corner went before them. The only other choice, imo, was a guard or Poe.

04-27-2012, 04:00 AM
Tribal Warfare The Boom Boom Room Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $662813	Babb: Chiefs draft Memphis nose tackle 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.”
Posts: 42,152

04-27-2012, 04:08 AM	#2
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $4193447	Definitely a need-first pick, rather than a value-first pick. The Chiefs, under Pioli, never cease to surprise. The upside is that they are so uncommitted to any one way of evaluating players they clearly avoid tunnel vision. They treat the scouting process like an art, not a science. Every prospect is evaluated on their own terms.
Posts: 59,314

04-27-2012, 04:19 AM	#4
the Talking Can Supporter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: street Casino cash: $10022208	and i wake up to the pick being trashed on espn.... __________________ Clark Hunt: "Thank god for the Dominican pool boy"
Posts: 51,585

04-27-2012, 04:38 AM	#8
MMXcalibur Pessimistically optimistic. Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Denver, CO Casino cash: $2215086	Dontari Poe is my favorite Chiefs player to come out of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Posts: 16,432

04-27-2012, 05:41 AM	#15
farmerchief Field General Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Freeport,Ks Casino cash: $1995067	I don't really know how I feel about the pick? The players I thought the chiefs were targeting, linebacker,safety,corner went before them. The only other choice, imo, was a guard or Poe.
Posts: 2,300