Babb: Chiefs move quickly to get tight end Moeaki

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs move quickly to get tight end Moeaki
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

Tony Moeaki was sitting on his couch, surrounded by family, when it happened. It seemed to pass in an instant. The tight end from Iowa saw on the television that a trade had been made. The Chiefs were picking now at No. 93 overall, at the end of the third round.

Then Moeaki’s phone rang. He was going to Kansas City.

“It happened within seconds,” he said Friday night. “Lightning quick.”

Things can happen that quickly during the NFL draft, and a player’s luck can change that fast, too. It has happened to Moeaki before.

Here was a promising tight end, with sure hands and strong shoulders, but his legs and feet kept failing him. He broke his left foot in 2007, missing all but four games. A season later, he made one start and had a sprained ankle to worry about, too. The promising tight end was now known as an injury risk, and who knew if he’d ever reach the potential he brought to Iowa City from Wheaton, Ill., a town west of Chicago.

“Definitely frustrating,” Moeaki said. “But that part is behind me.”

The Chiefs are confident that’s true.

Moeaki started all 10 of his games last season, his fifth at Iowa after being granted a medical redshirt year by the NCAA. He had a career-high 30 catches and four touchdowns. That was the kind of season his talent had made possible, but his legs were keeping him from.

When Kansas City made the call late Friday to trade its fourth-round pick (No. 102 overall) and the last of its three fifth-round selections (No. 144), it was ready to bet that Moeaki’s word was good. The Chiefs seem to be drafting with character in mind this year, and they’ve done their homework.

Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli is researching prospects like a president vets a Supreme Court nominee. Team captains. Players with their communities in mind. Youngsters with high football IQs and almost spotless resumes. Moeaki has all that, with the caveat that his talent hasn’t yet overshadowed the injuries.

Still, the 22-year-old Moeaki said he considers himself fully healthy. He said he’s a “complete tight end,” one who’s made his share of blocks, caught his share of passes. But those are his words.

So maybe Pioli turned to an old friend for some reassurance. Pioli and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz are longtime friends. Moeaki said Friday night that he got used to seeing Pioli hang around the Hawkeyes’ football offices.

Pioli wouldn’t say what kind of endorsement Ferentz gave Moeaki. He said he doesn’t feel comfortable speaking for others. Then again …

“I’ll say Kirk is very fond of him,” Pioli said.

Pioli said he was watching the draft, too. And as the selections kept passing, Pioli kept thinking Moeaki would be gone by the time the Chiefs’ turn came around again Saturday morning, when the fourth round started.

“He was a player that we were talking about earlier,” Pioli said. “We didn’t know what the sweet spot was going to be to try to pick him up.

I didn’t know if we had enough ammunition to make a trade and move up. … The opportunity came where we felt like giving up that late of a fifth-round pick, to be able to move up into this round and get one of the couple of guys that we would’ve been disappointed if we lost before it was our turn to pick.”

So the Chiefs came and got him.

Moeaki said he was casually watching the end of the third round when it all happened. The TV flashed. The trade happened. The phone rang. It was Pioli.

It was done.

“It all fell together,” he said. “I’m just excited that he got me.”

[notorious]

Originally Posted by L.A.Chieffan

Croyle and Moeaki bunking with each other at camp....

Oh ****, if they bump into each other they will explode.

[KCrockaholic]

Jamaal is a tough SOB. I have faith in him to stay healthy with the addition of TJ to help take the load off his shoulders when needed.

[johnny961]

Originally Posted by notorious

I am still worried about Charles.

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing myself. I wonder how long he can take the pounding if we use him for 20+ carries a game continually.

[KCrockaholic]

Originally Posted by johnny961

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing myself. I wonder how long he can take the pounding if we use him for 20+ carries a game continually.

We won't. See - Thomas Jones

[Fish]

[johnny961]

True. I forgot about that pick up.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

I may hate this guy more than Jake O'Connell

[Titty Meat]

That guy sucks.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I may hate this guy more than Jake O'Connell

Considering where he was picked, I don't know if that is possible. (Meaning that you shouldn't have that much hate towards McConnell.)

[BossChief]

Ive said this a few times before, but the "endorsement" Ferentz has given Moeaki is that he feels he is the best tight end he has coached.

HUGE endorsement from a guy that coached Dallas Clark.

[Pushead2]

I hate that this pick happened...

[Coach]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I may hate this guy more than Jake O'Connell

I couldn't becuase of Sean Ryan.....

[KC kid]

I want to know WHY people thinks he sucks. Just saying you hate him or he sucks is the start to a conversation that ends in name calling. His hands? Speed? Route running? Blocking?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I may hate this guy more than Jake O'Connell

O'Connell was drafted by an arrogant front office that froze out their scouts.
I'm not worried about Moeaki from an ability standpoint. We can talk all we want about Jimmy Graham, but while I may not trust Pioli on offensive picks, I trust Weis, who was a Tight Ends coach under Parcells. And I'm sure it has a lot to do with Moeaki's ability to both block and catch.

I wouldn't have traded up, but given Weis' reliance on the "Detroit Option" (double TE sets) that can be effective both in the running and passing game, I don't think this is a pick that we can really bitch about until we see if it works.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by KC kid

I want to know WHY people thinks he sucks. Just saying you hate him or he sucks is the start to a conversation that ends in name calling. His hands? Speed? Route running? Blocking?

Undersized & often injured comes to mind....