Latest Rufus Dawes propaganda

[FloridaMan88]

From kcchiefs.com. I think Peterson might have skipped over his Bob Moore middle man and wrote this one himself.


DAWES: The Wedge Issue
Sep 21, 2004, 3:03:44 AM by Media Watch by Rufus Dawes


Free agency has become a wedge issue.

As you may or may not know, wedge issues are political campaign topics that work well for one side and not for another. Free agency is a wedge issue for the Chiefs simply because media and increasing numbers of the public believe the team did nothing in free agency this off-season to prop up its defense and its wide receiver corps.

In contrast, the rest of the league profits by significant pick-ups from other teams that automatically catapults its teams into the playoffs and beyond.

Free agency works well for the rest of the NFL but poorly for the Chiefs. That’s the heart of the matter, so say the media and the public. But in making that point over and over again, few names are seldom discussed. Who are these players who would have made the Chiefs what they aren’t today? Let’s examine this past season’s free agent market to find out:

Defensive Line: (DE) Jevon Kearse, (DT) Warren Sapp, (DE/DT) Robaire Smith, (DT) Cornelius Griffin, (NT) Ted Washington, (DT) Luther Elliss, (DE) Philip Daniels, (DE) Grant Wistrom

Assessment: The Chiefs drafted Ryan Sims and Junior Siavii over the past couple of years, young players they believe and evidently still believe will be good players. Picking up an aging Warren Sapp, Ted Washington or a Brian Young isn’t going to facilitate that. Taking Sims and Siavii nullifies picking up Griffin and Smith. Kearse certainly could have been a consideration but he would have come at an enormous price and carries some injury liability. Elliss has a history of injury, too, and is injured again. Phillip Daniels is Eric Hicks but older. Wistrom got $15 million to sign, so case closed there.

Linebacker: Ian Gold, Randall Godfrey, Eric Barton, Marcus Washington, Carlos Emmons, Mike Barrow, Jesse Armstead, Barrett Green

Assessment: Kawika Mitchell was taken in the second round last season and, according to Vermeil, is the future. So, too, is Scott Fujita, a young player who only recently broke into the starting lineup. The other outside backer, Shawn Barber, is a free agent the team only picked up a year ago and has a substantial investment in. So, any move you make at linebacker the replacements have to be clearly better than what you have now. Two are young and one is the product of just what the team is accused of not doing enough of: picking up accomplished unrestricted free agents.

Armstead and Barrow are long in the tooth. Godfrey’s an inside backer and the team has one who’s not going to get any better sitting on the sideline. Washington, Emmons, and Green are comparable to what the Chiefs have now, so can you argue that the team would be better served by benching any of its current starters? Ian Gold is coming off major knee surgery.

Defensive Back: (CB) Troy Vincent, (CB) Bobby Taylor, (S) John Lynch, (CB) Shawn Springs, (CCB) Antoine Winfield, (CB) Fernando Bryant

Assessment: Vincent and Taylor are aging. The Chiefs made a run at Vincent but he was looking for more money and he got it. So did Winfield who received a $10 million signing bonus. Bryant is comparable to Warfield and McCleon while Shawn Springs in some circles maybe even suffers in comparison.

When did safety become a problem for the Chiefs? The team re-signed both its starting safeties including one who was an all-pro last year. How would inking John Lynch help?

Wide Receiver: Marcus Robinson, Tai Streets, Dez White

Assessment: As this list clearly indicates, pickings were slim. There weren’t any from the AFC. Robinson is big – nearly 6'4" – and doesn’t fit Vermeil’s style of play. Streets is similar to Kennison and Morton. White could have been a consideration since he’s young and only going into his fifth year, but don’t forget, at the time the Chiefs were counting on Boerigter.

No NFL team has had much luck in luring away a wide receiver from another team in the free agency era and had it turn out to be a sure-fire success. The Chiefs have been more successful than most. Derrick Alexander and Andre Rison were two of the most successful pick-ups and we all know how long they lasted. The former was the team’s MVP and set a team record and the latter a Pro Bowler.

Summation: Dick Vermeil says he “lives in a state of concern,” but apparently he saw nothing in the free agent market to lead him to believe it would alleviate it. Was he right? From published accounts, Vermeil and company counted on the young players developing and, indeed, they still may.

We’re well past the time or soon to be for the jokes about “Greg Robinson must be laughing or smirking.” The people who continue to repeat it are the ones who were in the front of the mob laying it on Robinson’s back anyway. The onus now falls on the players. The young ones have to develop and the older ones have to step it up, including the influx of free agents the team added last year that got people excited who are griping now. Whether they can do it fast enough to rescue a season only two games old is a matter for future debate.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

[Bowser]

Blow it out your ass, Carl.

[Michael Michigan]

Too bad the front office doesn't work as hard at improving the Chiefs as they do at spin.

[Rausch]

Rufus needs to realize that the FA market is not the only way to improve a team.

The Chiefs were not aggressive in the draft, in trades, OR in free agency.

I can understand not wanting to spend big free agent $$, I can't understand failing to be aggressive in getting players to improve you level of talent...

[Logical]

Originally Posted by Michael Michigan

Too bad the front office doesn't work as hard at improving the Chiefs as they do at spin.

Perfect

[shaneo69]

Many problems with Rufus' reasoning.

1) He mentions one of the reasons for not signing a DT such as Robaire Smith is because the Chiefs have drafted Ryan Sims and Junior Siavii in recent years. Hey idiot, they wouldn't have had to draft Siavii if they would've signed Robaire Smith.

2) He calls Brian Young "aging". Hey idiot, this isn't Bryant Young of the 49'ers, this is 4 year vet Brian Young who started the last couple years for the Rams and outplayed former 1st round picks Damione Lewis, Ryan Pickett, and Jimmy Kennedy. He would've been cheaper than Robaire and again, we wouldn't have had to waste our top pick on a project.

3) In his list of CB's, he doesn't mention David Barrett, who started several years for the Cardinals and now starts for the 2-0 Jets. And he was cheaper than all those other big names at CB.

4) At WR, he fails to mention Dennis Northcutt, who was available after his agent screwed up and he was forced to continue playing under his rookie contract. He demanded a trade (like T.O.) but the only team who showed interest was Baltimore, and Cleveland refused to trade him in-division. With no other options, Cleveland eventually re-did his contract to pacify him. I think we could've used him.


Rufus, you're a freakin' idiot!!! And there's no longer a place to sound off on KCChiefs.com.

[RedandGold]

Originally Posted by shaneo69

Many problems with Rufus' reasoning.

1) He mentions one of the reasons for not signing a DT such as Robaire Smith is because the Chiefs have drafted Ryan Sims and Junior Siavii in recent years. Hey idiot, they wouldn't have had to draft Siavii if they would've signed Robaire Smith.

2) He calls Brian Young "aging". Hey idiot, this isn't Bryant Young of the 49'ers, this is 4 year vet Brian Young who started the last couple years for the Rams and outplayed former 1st round picks Damione Lewis, Ryan Pickett, and Jimmy Kennedy. He would've been cheaper than Robaire and again, we wouldn't have had to waste our top pick on a project.

3) In his list of CB's, he doesn't mention David Barrett, who started several years for the Cardinals and now starts for the 2-0 Jets. And he was cheaper than all those other big names at CB.

4) At WR, he fails to mention Dennis Northcutt, who was available after his agent screwed up and he was forced to continue playing under his rookie contract. He demanded a trade (like T.O.) but the only team who showed interest was Baltimore, and Cleveland refused to trade him in-division. With no other options, Cleveland eventually re-did his contract to pacify him. I think we could've used him.


Rufus, you're a freakin' idiot!!! And there's no longer a place to sound off on KCChiefs.com.

Great points, and I will throw in a little extra. This article and another one that "Rufus" posted recently spin the tale that the Chiefs shouldn't be so quick to jump into free agency, and should build through the draft. Here's a little bit of info that seems to get ignored in the whole equation. If the Chiefs did a better job of drafting, THEY WOULDN'T NEED TO BE DEPENDENT UPON FREE AGENCY!!!

This is where the point regarding the DT situation makes no sense. Junior was drafted to be the "future" of the D-line, but it was made abundantly clear that he was "raw" and it would take some time for him to develop. If you recognize that it's going to take some time to develop him, and your run defense is terrible NOW, wouldn't an aging DT such as Washington or Sapp make sense as a short-term solution while Junior develops?

This same argument holds true for the LB situation. As much as I like Fujita's intensity, our LB corps from top to bottom is marginal at best. I don't know how bringing in someone like an Ian Gold would be considered a negative.

None of us were a fan of GR's scheme, but when our only substantial defense acquisition in the offseason was replacing him with Gunther, it was the equivalent of having a car with a blown engine, and expecting a tire change to make it run.

[JohnnyV13]

LOLOL,

That most definitely a different writer. Look at Rufus Dawes normal columns and the writing style is MUCH different. Dawes uses a lot of prepositions that gives his writing a "loopy" style (the reader has to go in more conceptual circles as he goes through it). This peice is VERY linear: Point A to B to C.

Obviously, someone else wrote it.

Who that is, is anybody's guess.

We could have traded for T.O. and keyshawn johnson. They are both big mouths and egomaniacs, so what, they produce, they are pro bowl callibar at a position we needed addressed 2 years ago. I don't like their mouths, I don't like Moss either. But they are winners. and I hate our current crop of WR's a lot worse. By the time we get a true #1 WR, Priest won't be around and our running game that was once a strength will be a weakness. I don't give a crap what their personality is, I just want them to produce on the field! We could have had both these guys, and either one is better then all the WR's on our roster put together!



I feel so much better getting that out.

[donkhater]

Marcus Washington is better than all three of our current LBs.

Antoine Winfield is a solid, above average CB. Those guys will get $10 million signing bonus in free agency. The sooner the front office recognizes that, the better off they'll be.

Kearse was expensive, but would've been worth the gamble. A DE like that playing in Arrowhead under Gun? It worked before. If healthy he is worth every penny. BIG, BIG upgrade over Vonnie Holliday and Eric Hicks.

With the cap room we had, I can't believe all three couldn't have fit in, especially if Hicks, Woods, and Bartee weren't resigned.

[shaneo69]

Originally Posted by ChiefsKing

We could have traded for T.O. and keyshawn johnson. They are both big mouths and egomaniacs, so what, they produce, they are pro bowl callibar at a position we needed addressed 2 years ago. I don't like their mouths, I don't like Moss either. But they are winners. and I hate our current crop of WR's a lot worse. By the time we get a true #1 WR, Priest won't be around and our running game that was once a strength will be a weakness. I don't give a crap what their personality is, I just want them to produce on the field! We could have had both these guys, and either one is better then all the WR's on our roster put together!



I feel so much better getting that out.

I can't bag on our front office for not getting those guys. T.O. wasn't going to play for anyone but Philly and Meshawn wanted to play for Parcells again.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by shaneo69

I can't bag on our front office for not getting those guys. T.O. wasn't going to play for anyone but Philly and Meshawn wanted to play for Parcells again.

Exactly. Neither of them had any doubts as to where they wanted to go...neither would have looked good in a Chiefs uniform anyway...

[BigChiefFan]

Originally Posted by shaneo69

Many problems with Rufus' reasoning.

1) He mentions one of the reasons for not signing a DT such as Robaire Smith is because the Chiefs have drafted Ryan Sims and Junior Siavii in recent years. Hey idiot, they wouldn't have had to draft Siavii if they would've signed Robaire Smith.

2) He calls Brian Young "aging". Hey idiot, this isn't Bryant Young of the 49'ers, this is 4 year vet Brian Young who started the last couple years for the Rams and outplayed former 1st round picks Damione Lewis, Ryan Pickett, and Jimmy Kennedy. He would've been cheaper than Robaire and again, we wouldn't have had to waste our top pick on a project.

3) In his list of CB's, he doesn't mention David Barrett, who started several years for the Cardinals and now starts for the 2-0 Jets. And he was cheaper than all those other big names at CB.

4) At WR, he fails to mention Dennis Northcutt, who was available after his agent screwed up and he was forced to continue playing under his rookie contract. He demanded a trade (like T.O.) but the only team who showed interest was Baltimore, and Cleveland refused to trade him in-division. With no other options, Cleveland eventually re-did his contract to pacify him. I think we could've used him.


Rufus, you're a freakin' idiot!!! And there's no longer a place to sound off on KCChiefs.com.

Great post and one that I agree with whole-heartedly. Looks like our FO is making more excuses for doing nothing in the off-season. I'm not buying it, Carl.

[gblowfish]

People say King Carl and Rufus are the same person. Clearly they are different individuals, so step off of King Carl. Modest photographic evidence is attached.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

People say King Carl and Rufus are the same person. Clearly they are different individuals, so step off of King Carl. Modest photographic evidence is attached.

That's what Carl needs.................

A cool 1800's style beard, then we will take over the world.........