Chiefs forced to spend $20 million to meet new salary floor?

[milkman]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Clabo maybe. I still believe any team can be very good with a good not great RT. But I understand the reasoning, since the Chiefs are going to have to be a very good running team. Breaston, I don't buy into. And at NT, you typically don't have to break the bank for that position. I like Belcher too, but he still has just as much potential to be adequate as he does to be outstanding. David Harris is already outstanding, and he was outstanding even when the Jets had major problems at Nose Tackle. And he is phenomenal against the run, which would be huge for the Chiefs.

There are plenty of options at RT and the Slot if the Chiefs want to wait for the second wave. They could still probably land a guy like Jamaal Brown, Marshall Yanda, or Ryan Harris, probably without breaking the bank. At Slot, Lance Moore and James Jones shouldn't break the bank. Hell, I don't think not bringing one in changes the offense much at all. At the Nose, you could go with a guy like Aubrayo and only have weight on your cap for 2 years.

Just another point here.

We disagree on the value of the slot receiver, especially in this offense, with Cassel at the helm.

The more weapons that Cassel has, the better, and a reliable slot in 3rd down situations for cassel would be huge.

And it all still comes down to priorities.

We could wait for the second wave, but in either scenario, daivid Harris is not a priority at this time.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

Just another point here.

We disagree on the value of the slot receiver, especially in this offense, with Cassel at the helm.

The more weapons that Cassel has, the better, and a reliable slot in 3rd down situations for cassel would be huge.

And it all still comes down to priorities.

We could wait for the second wave, but in either scenario, daivid Harris is not a priority at this time.

I'm definitely going to push back on the slot receiver part. I think this team is best built to win by a power running game and a dominating defense, and a passing game good enough to not lose games. Until Cassel proves otherwise, that's my feeling. If that's the case, I don't agree with loading the field with options our QB has no idea what to do with. Breaston would still be #4 behind Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki, and often times even Charles. I don't see Cassel throwing for more than 3,500 yards in any given season. You'd expect Bowe, Baldwin, and Moeaki to account for about 2,500 of those. The RBs to account for probably 500. How much is there really leftover for a slot?

I'd be fine with a guy like Breaston if we had a Brees type QB who can put up over 4,000 yards. But given that Cassel + our love of running the ball is probably going to limit Cassel to about 200 yards a game, I think overspending on a slot is a waste.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I don't see Cassel throwing for more than 3,500 yards in any given season. You'd expect Bowe, Baldwin, and Moeaki to account for about 2,500 of those. The RBs to account for probably 500. How much is there really leftover for a slot?

Cassel threw for almost 3700 yds. coming off the bench as a backup for the Patriots. He threw for over 3,100 with only Bowe and Moeaki as targets. Throw in a few hundred for Charles. He also did that with the 17th most attempts. I think there is plenty of room for a slot receiver to come in and help elevate Cassel's numbers.

I'm not trying to get away from the running game, b/c I know how much you love traditional hard-nosed football. I would actually love to see the Chiefs ADD a RB in place of Jones to make the running game more potent.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by aturnis

Cassel threw for almost 3700 yds. coming off the bench as a backup for the Patriots. He threw for over 3,100 with only Bowe and Moeaki as targets. Throw in a few hundred for Charles. He also did that with the 17th most attempts. I think there is plenty of room for a slot receiver to come in and help elevate Cassel's numbers.

I'm not trying to get away from the running game, b/c I know how much you love traditional hard-nosed football. I would actually love to see the Chiefs ADD a RB in place of Jones to make the running game more potent.

I just don't see it. I think the Chiefs rely on a totally different kind of attack. They want to control the ball and keep the defense off the field. That's why you have a lot of big boys like Bowe and Baldwin who are threats to go deep, but much bigger threats in a possession type attack. The Chiefs don't mind dinking and dunking and running time off the clock. Different from the Pats, who didn't mind at all chucking the ball downfield.

As the Chiefs get better on defense, the Chiefs are going to run teh ball even more. That's not a knock on Cassel. Big Ben has had a lot of sub 3500 yard seasons too.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I just don't see it. I think the Chiefs rely on a totally different kind of attack. They want to control the ball and keep the defense off the field. That's why you have a lot of big boys like Bowe and Baldwin who are threats to go deep, but much bigger threats in a possession type attack. The Chiefs don't mind dinking and dunking and running time off the clock. Different from the Pats, who didn't mind at all chucking the ball downfield.

As the Chiefs get better on defense, the Chiefs are going to run teh ball even more. That's not a knock on Cassel. Big Ben has had a lot of sub 3500 yard seasons too.

I disagree. When Cassel put up those numbers with the Patriots, he almost never connected downfield. A LOT of those yards came after the catch. Which, if you ask me, is what the Chiefs are trying to build their passing game to be. They already have 4 guys who can run after the catch, in Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki and Charles. A good slot excels at racking up RAC yards.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I disagree. When Cassel put up those numbers with the Patriots, he almost never connected downfield. A LOT of those yards came after the catch. Which, if you ask me, is what the Chiefs are trying to build their passing game to be. They already have 4 guys who can run after the catch, in Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki and Charles. A good slot excels at racking up RAC yards.

They still threw downfield a lot more than the Chiefs do, because they have threats like Moss and Welker who are dangerous more than 20 yards down the field. But more importantly, it wasn't the same kind of ball control offense you see the Chiefs run. They not only run the ball a whole ton, they also try to take a lot of time between snaps to run out of clock.

And while Bowe and Baldwin are good YAC guys, they're not nearly the kind of threat Moss and Welker are.

I think the Chiefs' offense today is a lot more similar to the Steelers' offense was in Big Ben's earlier years than it is the Patriots'. Big and physical vs. fast and shifty.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I'm definitely going to push back on the slot receiver part. I think this team is best built to win by a power running game and a dominating defense, and a passing game good enough to not lose games. Until Cassel proves otherwise, that's my feeling. If that's the case, I don't agree with loading the field with options our QB has no idea what to do with. Breaston would still be #4 behind Bowe, Baldwin, Moeaki, and often times even Charles. I don't see Cassel throwing for more than 3,500 yards in any given season. You'd expect Bowe, Baldwin, and Moeaki to account for about 2,500 of those. The RBs to account for probably 500. How much is there really leftover for a slot?

I'd be fine with a guy like Breaston if we had a Brees type QB who can put up over 4,000 yards. But given that Cassel + our love of running the ball is probably going to limit Cassel to about 200 yards a game, I think overspending on a slot is a waste.

Anybody can throw for 3500 plus in this league. If Haley gets a bug up his ass, he'll hit it easily. It's all about efficiency though. Hell, that POS Orton was on pace for about 5 grand at one point. Mostly "empty" yards though, so...

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by PGM

Anybody can throw for 3500 plus in this league. If Haley gets a bug up his ass, he'll hit it easily. It's all about efficiency though. Hell, that POS Orton was on pace for about 5 grand at one point. Mostly "empty" yards though, so...

Good point. Our biggest weakness as an offense last year was, that when we needed to move the chains on third down, there was nobody to throw the ball to. Bowe was doubled and Moeaki got bumped at the line and taken care of in coverage. Charles can't always make long runs for the first, and Jones was done before last year started.

Hell, Cassel threw for over 3,100yds. last year with Bowe being shutdown in one full game and relegated to 1 catch in two more. Not to mention Moeaki missing a full game and being held to 1 catch in 3 more.