Poor Preseason Puts Heat on Pioli, Cassel

[Hammock Parties]

Poor Preseason Puts Heat on Pioli, Cassel


Did the Chiefs seriously just complete another losing preseason?

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 1-7 in the preseason for the Scott Pioli era. Over the last four years, the Chiefs are a woeful 3-13 in preseason. While it would be foolish to assign too much relevance to exhibition wins and losses, when they come in tandem with 10 Chiefs regular season wins in three years, the correlation is a concern.

When you factor in the performance of the Chiefs’ key starters and draft picks this preseason, there’s even more reason for concern.

Aside from the shocking revelation that Todd Haley can control his previously nuclear sideline temper for an entire month, the most important thing we learned from August is that Pioli and his highly-paid quarterback, Matt Cassel, still have a lot to prove. Preseason provided no legitimate answers to the questions that have surrounded the pair since last season.

In Pioli’s case, the question is simple – can he effectively identify and cultivate game-changing, impact players?

Most of his initial draft class appears to have been written off already. Jake O’Connell, Javarris Williams, Quinten Lawrence, Colin Brown and Donald Washington have been pushed down the depth chart by 2010 rookies.

The three who don’t appear to have been written off - Alex Magee, Tyson Jackson and Ryan Succop – are a mixed bag. Magee actually showed up this preseason, recording a sack, which makes the crown jewel of Pioli’s 2009 rookie class, Tyson Jackson, look like a lump of cubic zirconia. After a disastrous rookie year, Jackson didn’t show much progress over the last month. He was invisible. If he made an impact play, I missed it.

Clearly, the Chiefs don’t consider Jackson much of a threat as a pass rusher. He comes off the field frequently on third down. It’s not hard to see why – Magee and Wallace Gilberry are far more athletic and explosive, not to mention cheaper. Considering his price tag, Jackson’s impact should be more noticeable.

Has Pioli picked the right players? Getty Images

After missing four field goals all of last year, Succop missed three this preseason. Sure, they were long kicks. Is that supposed to make Chiefs fans feel better when a game is on the line this season and Succop needs to make another long kick?

Conclusion: there are no signs from the 2009 draft class of a game-changing, impact player. How about Pioli’s 2010 draft class? Any signs there?

Pencil in safety Eric Berry as a legit possibility. After seeing Berry blast through a fullback to upend a ball carrier against the Buccaneers two weeks ago, I began speaking in tongues. The Chiefs shut down starting quarterbacks this preseason (apart from one busted play against Tampa) and Berry was definitely part of it.

The problem is Pioli’s second-round picks, wide receiver Dexter McCluster and cornerback Javier Arenas, and his third-round pick, tight end Tony Moeaki. Carl Peterson is no longer hanging around Arrowhead Stadium, which means second-round picks should be having a huge impact, even as rookies.

Are McCluster and Arenas having a huge impact? Based on preseason, the answer is no. While they’ve both proven to be exciting, athletic players who can change a game on special teams, they have to be more.

Arenas has to make an impact on defense. In a perfect world, he’d challenge for Brandon Carr’s starting job by season’s end. If he’s Allen Rossum, a great “cornerback” who has elite return skills but never plays defense, Pioli reached on the pick.

McCluster’s preseason receiving numbers – seven catches, 40 yards, no touchdowns, two or three drops – are disappointing. While it’s great that McCluster can make explosive plays as a running back, he needs 600 receiving yards and three or four touchdowns to justify the pick Pioli spent, and that’s setting the bar low. Kenny Britt and Hakeem Nicks, selected in 2009 in roughly the same draft slot as McCluster, both went over 700 yards as rookies.

And let’s go ahead and set the bar a little higher for Moeaki, who finally caught a pass Thursday night. Third-round picks, especially on teams lacking viable starting tight ends, have to make more of an impact.

But maybe we should temper the expectations for any of KC’s pass catchers. Because based on Cassel’s preseason, the Chiefs will again struggle to throw the ball.

Will Cassel chuck it down the field? Getty Images

I’m honestly flabbergasted that Cassel managed to complete 64 percent of his passes this preseason, throw more touchdowns than interceptions, and finish with a lousy 79.3 rating. Previously, football scientists believed such a feat was impossible, because the NFL weights completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio so heavily in their passer rating formula.

But Cassel pulled it off by quickly dumping the ball short on almost every snap this preseason, averaging a shockingly low five yards per pass attempt. In some cases, Cassel was dumping the ball to running backs behind the line of scrimmage before receivers running down the field had even completed their patterns.

Either the approach was Cassel’s diabolical plan to avoid looking too inept, or KC’s new offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, watched film of Cassel taking too many sacks and missing too many throws down the field the last two seasons. After sweating profusely for a moment, Weis yanked his 1983 Morristown High School Football playbook out of mothballs, fired up a Xerox machine, and voila! He produced the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs playbook and hatched a plot to turn Cassel into a mistake-free, accurate passer.

Humor aside, here are the facts: had Dwayne Bowe not caught a short pass from Cassel and rumbled for a 30-yard gain Thursday night, every one of Kansas City’s starting receivers and tight ends would have averaged fewer than 10 yards per catch this preseason. Quite literally, in four exhibition games, Cassel did not complete a pass that traveled 15 yards or more from the line of scrimmage.

All of this happened in the midst of an improved offensive line that barely resembled the unit responsible for Cassel’s knee injury last year. Cassel handed the ball to three dynamite running backs this preseason, threw it to a receiver (Bowe) who appears to have made a quantum leap in maturity, and had not one, but two former Super Bowl offensive coordinators talking inside his helmet between plays.

Chan Gailey, Bobby Wade, Larry Johnson and Mike Goff are gone. The excuses are drying up.

Is preseason a mirage, or will Cassel continue to play quarterback as if he were coached by Herm Edwards and Dick Curl? We’re talking about a player who will make more money this year than Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Tom Brady.

That means he has something to prove. So does Pioli. The heat is on.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Sound like objective journalism to me.

Actually it's completely objective. Because I am rooting for Pioli and Cassel.

But it is what it is. When your quarterback can't complete passes that travel past 15 yards, you got a problem.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

See, this is what happens when a draft class doesn't absolutely suck ass.

The 2009 draft was so god awful that we see guys like McCluster make a couple plays - not even BIG plays - and we think "impressive!"

I'll say this much - it certainly looks like Berry, Lewis, DMC and Arenas will actually contribute, which is a far cry from completely disappearing ala scrubs like Donald Washington. But Berry may be the only true game changer.

Gotta have elite talent to win it all.

Wow. A second pearl, nay, a diamond, of wisdom. Are you and Cool han Luke collaborating?

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Actually it's completely objective. Because I am rooting for Pioli and Cassel.

But it is what it is. When your quarterback can't complete passes that travel past 15 yards, you got a problem.

Three! The trifecta!

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Wow. A second pearl, nay, a diamond, of wisdom. Are you and Cool han Luke collaborating?

Well, sac, it seems some people in this thread are comfortable with McCluster turning into Kevin Faulk, who went to 0 Pro Bowls.

That just screams elite talent, doesn't it?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

See, this is what happens when a draft class doesn't absolutely suck ass.

The 2009 draft was so god awful that we see guys like McCluster make a couple plays - not even BIG plays - and we think "impressive!"

I'll say this much - it certainly looks like Berry, Lewis, DMC and Arenas will actually contribute, which is a far cry from completely disappearing ala scrubs like Donald Washington. But Berry may be the only true game changer.

Gotta have elite talent to win it all.

But it's not just Chiefs' fans. It's Peter King, our biggest critic. It's lots of these sports writers and experts who think the kid's going to be something special. I get that you want to see more from him before saying he'll be a game-changer, I just don't like the way you're using his preseason performance as if it's some sort of indication that he's not what he was advertised to be. He's shown more than enough flash of electricity--if you can't see that or still think that he probably doesn't have the upside to be a game changer, then you're blind.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I just don't like the way you're using his preseason performance as if it's some sort of indication that he's not what he was advertised to be.

He hasn't done anything yet lined up as a wide receiver.

He needs to be more than a guy coming out of the backfield catching screen passes and flares.

[Jerm]

Are we seriously questioning McCluster after his FIRST FOUR PRE-SEASON GAMES AS A PROFESSIONAL???

I mean seriously...

[Messier]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

See, this is what happens when a draft class doesn't absolutely suck ass.

The 2009 draft was so god awful that we see guys like McCluster make a couple plays - not even BIG plays - and we think "impressive!"

I'll say this much - it certainly looks like Berry, Lewis, DMC and Arenas will actually contribute, which is a far cry from completely disappearing ala scrubs like Donald Washington. But Berry may be the only true game changer.

Gotta have elite talent to win it all.

Yeah, except I don't mean impressive compared to past sucky drafts, I mean impressive. I think we'll have 4-5 players making major contributions to the team this year, and not just by default. And next year it might be all 7. Every team, every year has those picks that just flame out and never play. I think the Chiefs will get mileage out of every pick, and that is, as i said impressive.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Jerm

Are we seriously questioning McCluster after his FIRST FOUR PRE-SEASON GAMES AS A PROFESSIONAL???

I mean seriously...

No one is questioning.

Just pointing out so far that he hasn't done shit as a receiver.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

But it's not just Chiefs' fans. It's Peter King, our biggest critic. It's lots of these sports writers and experts who think the kid's going to be something special. I get that you want to see more from him before saying he'll be a game-changer, I just don't like the way you're using his preseason performance as if it's some sort of indication that he's not what he was advertised to be. He's shown more than enough flash of electricity--if you can't see that or still think that he probably doesn't have the upside to be a game changer, then you're blind.

I have yet to see anyone who is actually paid to give their opinion on the NFL bash the McCluster pick.

I am sure there is blurb out there somewhere right after the draft but most has been glowing praise.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I have yet to see anyone who is actually paid to give their opinion on the NFL bash the McCluster pick.

Did you read the article in the OP?

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Did you read the article in the OP?

Damn, ya got me.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Well, sac, it seems some people in this thread are comfortable with McCluster turning into Kevin Faulk, who went to 0 Pro Bowls.

That just screams elite talent, doesn't it?

I don't necessarily think that they are comfortable with him turning into Kevin Faulk. I'm pretty sure 95% of the board can't recall a single Kevin Faulk run. However, they are superbly interested in seeing him turn into Dante Hall. Do you know how kick ass their Chief's Madden team would be if that happened? One ****ing amazing juke filled breakaway for 86 yards and a TD and it does happen.

People love the highlights. The potential of highlights. McCluster and Arenas give Chiefs fans that possibility, that temptation of excitement that, frankly, hasn't been here for a number of years now. Berry is the same type of guy as well. Everyone was thrilled with the Chiefs picking a goddamn safety in the top five because of the potential for one of those 73 yard blazing interceptions returned for a touchdown. The 2010 Draft was basically Pioli trying to get the KC natives excited about football again. Potentials for big plays will do just that. They had to pick guys like that early and often to make sure that was going to happen. Realists understand that a slot receiver, a nickle back and a safety aren't really core positions that you build a championship team with. However, they offer the potential of that ESPN highlight that gets replayed 43 times over the next week.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

No one is questioning.

Just pointing out so far that he hasn't done shit as a receiver.

But he hasn't struck out either. And you're implying he pretty much has so far in the preseason and that he doesn't have much upside at all. That's where people are having issues.

As I mentioned before, if his downside is to be a Kevin Faulk type player in a Charlie Weis offense, that's a pretty decent place to be. If his upside is to do that and also have the ability to do some Welker-type things, then it's a terrific pick. But hell, how can we possibly see any of those things in a player's first preseason games, especially given the amount he's been asked to learn in a few short months?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I don't necessarily think that they are comfortable with him turning into Kevin Faulk. I'm pretty sure 95% of the board can't recall a single Kevin Faulk run. However, they are superbly interested in seeing him turn into Dante Hall. Do you know how kick ass their Chief's Madden team would be if that happened? One ****ing amazing juke filled breakaway for 86 yards and a TD and it does happen.

People love the highlights. The potential of highlights. McCluster and Arenas give Chiefs fans that possibility, that temptation of excitement that, frankly, hasn't been here for a number of years now. Berry is the same type of guy as well. Everyone was thrilled with the Chiefs picking a goddamn safety in the top five because of the potential for one of those 73 yard blazing interceptions returned for a touchdown. The 2010 Draft was basically Pioli trying to get the KC natives excited about football again. Potentials for big plays will do just that. They had to pick guys like that early and often to make sure that was going to happen. Realists understand that a slot receiver, a nickle back and a safety aren't really core positions that you build a championship team with. However, they offer the potential of that ESPN highlight that gets replayed 43 times over the next week.

Right.

Because Troy Polamalu doesn't impact the Steelers.
And Wes Welker doesn't make the Patriots a lot better.

They're just there for the highlight reels.