Chiefs Chiefs’ failure to develop quarterbacks and wide receivers explains current drought - Page 3

**The Franchise** · 12-12-2014, 04:58 PM

The Chiefs are on the verge of matching an ignominious NFL record that has stood for 64 years.

Not since the stone-age era of the NFL has a team played an entire season without completing a touchdown pass to a wide receiver. The 1950 Pittsburgh Steelers hold that distinction, but that was before offenses spread their receivers across the field. That team attempted just 255 passes in a 6-6 season.

The Chiefs, 7-6 going into Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, last produced a touchdown pass in the regular season on Chase Daniel’s 2-yard toss to Dexter McCluster in the 2013 finale at San Diego.

Since McCluster’s catch, the Chiefs have attempted 405 regular-season passes without a touchdown to their wide receivers. They are the first team to go 13 games in a season without a touchdown catch by a wide receiver since the 1965 Eagles.

“I’ve never seen it,” Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said, “but this is football … anything can happen. I try to get them in every chance I get. If I got to hurdle somebody to do it, that’s what I’m going to do. That’s all I can do. Once they come, they’re going to start coming. They just haven’t yet.”

That’s not to say the Chiefs are incapable of scoring touchdowns. Running back Jamaal Charles leads the NFL with 14 touchdowns, including five on receptions; and tight ends Anthony Fasano and Travis Kelce have caught four touchdown passes each.

Also, the Chiefs rank 12th in the NFL with 33 offensive touchdowns and are tied for third in red-zone efficiency with 26 touchdowns in 39 possessions, or 66.7 percent. (Oakland, 2-10, ranks first at 17 for 22, and 77.3 percent, for whatever that’s worth).

“It’s not like the Chiefs don’t have any receivers,” said former Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, now an analyst for ESPN. “It seems to me, more of their passing is inside the numbers. There haven’t been explosive plays, as far as receivers catching the ball and running down the field.

“That’s not their offense. Their offense is dinking and dunking it and move the chains and eventually, Jamaal or Knile Davis makes a play, or Kelce. To me, this offense is driven by Jamal Charles and tight ends.”

Still, in a league predicated on passing, and with the rules geared in favor of quarterbacks and receivers, how can a team not have a single touchdown catch by a wide receiver?

“You can justify low production, but not no production,” said former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein, now an analyst for CBS Sports. “You can look at a lot of different receiving groups around the league that aren’t overly stocked at that position, and they’ve still gotten the ball to their people who are supposed to catch the ball and score touchdowns.

“I don’t think it’s the system. You look at Andy Reid’s system in the past, his wide receivers have been very productive. It’s exposing how desperately the Chiefs do need more weapons, and you have to put some of the blame on the quarterback.”

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, when not avoiding a pass rush that has led to his being sacked 41 times this season, has thrown 16 touchdown passes. Among full-time starters, only Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton, with 13, and Cleveland’s since-benched Brian Hoyer, with 12, have thrown fewer.

“The quarterback has to find a way to get the ball to those guys,” Beuerlein said, “and get them involved in the offense if you want to be playing meaningful football in December. They’ve got a good running game, they’ve got a tight end. If you can establish those wide receivers somehow, it makes you a much better football team.”

The closest a Chiefs wide receiver has come to catching a touchdown pass was on Nov. 2, when A.J. Jenkins, from the New York Jets’ 11, caught a short pass but stumbled to the turf and was tackled a yard short of the goal line. In the same game, Smith’s pass intended for Bowe in the end zone was deflected at the line of scrimmage and caught by Fasano for a 1-yard touchdown.

“I can’t remember the last time we threw a ball to a receiver who was in the end zone or into the end zone untouched…” said former Chiefs wide receiver Danan Hughes, an analyst for Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

“I think it’s related to the lack of homegrown quarterbacks. When you don’t raise your own quarterback, normally you’re filling in gaps, filling in potholes with sand throughout the course of time.”

The Chiefs have inducted 40 players into their Hall of Fame since its inception in 1970. Only two are wide receivers — Chris Burford, who caught 391 passes with 55 touchdowns during 1960-67, and Otis Taylor, who caught 410 with 57 touchdowns from 1965-75.

And they’ve inducted just one quarterback — Pro Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson, who led the club to Super Bowl I and a victory in Super Bowl IV. But even Dawson was not homegrown. He was signed by Lamar Hunt’s Dallas Texans in 1962 after five years of riding the bench in the NFL.

By contrast, eight running backs, seven linebackers and even two placekickers adorn the club’s Ring of Honor.

The NFL is a quarterback’s game in which the rules favor passing, and the Chiefs’ inability to develop their own franchise quarterback and game-changing receivers goes a long way in explaining why they have not won a playoff game in 20 years and are stuck in the current rut in their passing game.

The Chiefs have spent nearly 40 years in the wilderness trying to replace Dawson and Taylor.

Since Taylor’s career ended, the Chiefs have drafted some productive receivers, in Henry Marshall, a third-round pick in 1976, and Carlos Carson, a fifth-round pick in 1979. They also signed undrafted Stephone Paige (1983). But none was elite and only Carson was selected to a Pro Bowl.

The Chiefs also whiffed big time with first-round busts Anthony Hancock (1982), Sylvester Morris (2000) and Jon Baldwin (2011), as well as with early-round picks such as third-rounders Lake Dawson and Chris Penn (1994) and second-rounder Kevin Lockett (1997).

Bowe, selected in the first round of the 2007 draft, has lived up to his 23rd-overall selection, producing three 1,000-yard seasons and leading the NFL with 15 touchdowns in 2010, his only Pro Bowl year.

In fact, Bowe, 30, has caught more passes — 520 — than any wide receiver in franchise history. But he has just eight touchdown catches in his last 42 games and none in more than a year, or since Dec. 8, 2013. It’s debatable whether he’ll join Taylor and Burford in the club’s Hall of Fame.

“For a lot of years, the receivers were not going to be used as primary targets,” said Edwards, who was on the Chiefs’ staff from 1990-95 as a scout or coach under Marty Schottenheimer and was head coach when the club drafted Bowe.

“You had Christian Okoye, you had a solid run game for years, and Marty Schottenheimer didn’t draft receivers high. You went through that era when it wasn’t a necessary to get a top-round quarterback or top-round receiver … it wasn’t the nature of Kansas City football.”

The Chiefs traded up in the first round of the 1997 draft and selected a future Hall of Famer in tight end Tony Gonzalez, who turned out to be the second-most prolific pass catcher in NFL history to Jerry Rice. But no tight end has ever led a team to a Super Bowl.

The Chiefs complemented Gonzalez by acquiring or signing veterans from other teams through the years, such as Andre Rison, Derrick Alexander and Eddie Kennison. All had their moments, but except for Rison in 1997, none reminded anyone of Otis Taylor.

The Chiefs’ track record at drafting quarterbacks is even more abysmal. In fact, they haven’t taken a quarterback in the first round since Todd Blackledge was selected seventh overall behind Hall of Famer John Elway and ahead of Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Dan Marino in the famous draft of 1983.

The Chiefs wasted second-round picks on Mike Elkins (1989) and Matt Blundin (1992), who appeared in a total of three games; a third-round pick on Brodie Croyle (2006), who went 0-10 for Edwards; and a fifth-round pick on Ricky Stanzi (2011), who became a punch line for quarterback ineptitude.

Instead of developing their own, the Chiefs, believing a veteran quarterback was all that separated them from being a Super Bowl contender, spent the past 20-plus years importing veterans from elsewhere, starting with Dave Krieg (1992), Joe Montana (1993), Steve Bono (1995), Elvis Grbac (1997), Trent Green (2001), Matt Cassel (2009) and Smith (2013).

That’s produced two playoff wins, both by Montana in 1993.

“Most of the quarterbacks who had success in Kansas City came from other teams,” Edwards said, “but that happens a lot of places. The Pittsburgh Steelers have Big Ben (Roethlisberger) and before that they had Terry Bradshaw. But after Terry Bradshaw, it took ’em a while to find a guy … The Buffalo Bills had Jim Kelly. Who’s come after Jim Kelly?

“You can go down the line … You can go to the Oakland Raiders. When was the last time they had a guy? They had Rich Gannon, who they got from somewhere else, and before that, it was Jim Plunkett, and he came from somewhere else. Green Bay had Brett Favre and drafts Aaron Rodgers. He sits on the bench for a few years …

“When you think about the Colts, that’s a whole different story. You talk about the horseshoe being lucky. Goodness gracious, you get rid of Peyton Manning, and then you get Andrew Luck. When you draft a guy at quarterback that can take you (to a championship), you’ve got a guy.”

Certainly, the Chiefs were guilty of bad timing in 2013, the year after Luck was the first overall pick in the draft. A year later, when they had the No. 1 pick, there was no quarterback or receiver considered worthy of a first-round pick.

“When you go for a top–round pick at the quarterback position, your normally come back with or have someone who is young at the wide receiver position who can grow up with that quarterback,” Edwards said. “Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning … young quarterbacks who came into an organization and were successful either had a No. 1 or No. 2 receiver who was drafted within one or two years of their being drafted.”

The 2014 draft was rich with wide receivers, but the Chiefs elected not to take a single one. They selected Dee Ford with the 23rd pick of the first round when Florida State’s Kevin Benjamin was still on the board. Benjamin, selected by Carolina with the 28th pick, has caught 59 passes for 848 yards and nine touchdowns.

Without a second-round pick, the Chiefs took cornerback Phillip Gaines of Rice in the third round, four spots ahead of John Brown of nearby Pittsburg State, who has caught five touchdown passes for the Arizona Cardinals.

Projecting the success of wide receivers from the college game to the NFL is almost as unpredictable as quarterbacks, and the Chiefs, believing in the investments they’d made in their current receivers, including Bowe, who signed a five-year $56 million contract in 2013, Donnie Avery, A.J. Jenkins, Junior Hemingway, Frankie Hammond Jr., and failed Canadian Football League signee Weston Dressler, tried filling other needs in the draft.

“I think that with what we have,” general manager John Dorsey said at the end of the 2014 draft, “we’re going to be very competitive at that position. The players we got here (in the draft), I’m very happy with.”

Barring a trade, the Chiefs will be selecting in the middle of the 2015 draft. It’s uncertain whether touted receivers such as Alabama’s Amari Cooper, Louisville’s DeVante Parker or West Virginia’s Kevin White, will be available to them. But there’s little doubt that acquiring a wide receiver or two will be a top priority.

“Bowe is a solid receiver who can be made better if they can find someone who can take the top off the defense and be that kind of go-to-guy,” Beuerlein said. “They don’t have that wide receiver to scare anybody at this point.

“You’re going to have to invest a high draft choice to get that player they’ve desperately needed for a lot of years.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl...#storylink=cpy

Marcellus · 12-12-2014, 06:19 PM

I'm as big a Smith supporter as almost anyone and fact is he has played like shit the last 3 weeks. Not good enough period.

I don't know whats up, I don't think its his norm, but simply put its been bad at times when we needed him to pick up the team a little.

Reid needs to pull his head from his ass as well and figure out whats up. Its squarely on those 2 guys right now.

**Dave Lane** · 12-12-2014, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

so pestilence bitching about the QB again......

check

Anyone that believes this is not the number one issue facing the Chiefs is wrong.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 12-12-2014, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Anyone that believes this is not the number one issue facing the Chiefs is wrong.

Well, the number one issue is ownership.

Let us nevar forget.

Marcellus · 12-12-2014, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

Anyone that believes this is not the number one issue facing the Chiefs is wrong.

Really? Smith isn't elite, I have never claimed he is but Reid has been as bad at his job as Smith and our OL is a dumpster fire and its not because of Smith.

I doubt anyone here could realistically argue against the fact Reid by himself has cost us 2-3 games this year.

Think of where that puts us.

Marcellus · 12-12-2014, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Williams

Well, the number one issue is ownership.

Let us nevar forget.

Please do explain? Because Clark is cheap right? Been proven wrong on this over and over and over.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 12-12-2014, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Please do explain? Because Clark is cheap right? Been proven wrong on this over and over and over.

As I explained in the other thread, all of the money on earth means nothing if you don't know what the **** to do with it.

Does he spend? Oh yes!

Does he throw good money after bad after moistening his finger, sticking it in the air, and getting advice on what to do from god only knows who, instead of investing personal time and effort in to the endeavor?

You bet your ass he does.

FloridaMan88 · 12-12-2014, 06:51 PM

It is hard to develop QB's and WR's when you don't make it a priority to draft them high in the draft when you have the opportunity.

Is it possible to get great QB's/WR's later in the draft? Absolutely, but the odds are against you.

For the Chiefs to go 30+ years without drafting a QB in the first round and only taking 3 WR's in the first round during the past 25 years or so makes it difficult to land franchise-changing players at both positions.

**Dave Lane** · 12-12-2014, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Really? Smith isn't elite, I have never claimed he is but Reid has been as bad at his job as Smith and our OL is a dumpster fire and its not because of Smith.

I doubt anyone here could realistically argue against the fact Reid by himself has cost us 2-3 games this year.

Think of where that puts us.

We will never accomplish anything with Alex. We are burning through many of our best players prime years. That IS a bigger issue. Andy with a more capable QB might be exactly right with his playcalling. Andy has issues without dispute, but he needs a QB with balls larger than BBs.

**Easy 6** · 12-12-2014, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Williams

Well, the number one issue is ownership.

Let us nevar forget.

Not really dude, Clarky has paid for sterling resumes over and over again only to get a subpar product in return... we should narrow our laser onto the real culprits.

Clarks biggest fault is not engaging the NFL office hard enough on behalf of his team, he has the kind of sway that I tend to believe he doesnt even realize.

58kcfan89 · 12-12-2014, 07:49 PM

I guess my biggest issue right now isn't that the WRs are trash or that the OL sucks or any of the other dozens of problems this team has. It's what appears to be a lack of a long-term plan for this franchise.

This roster as it's currently constructed isn't winning a Super Bowl. Yet instead of blowing it up when Dorsey & Reid were hired, we traded for (ANOTHER) QB and tried to make a run of it with a few makeshift signings and waiver wire guys to pair with our Pro Bowlers.

Now, about to go into our 3rd offseason with this regime, we still have huge holes to fill all over the roster. We need an entirely new WR corps, at least 3 new OL, at least 1 MLB, help all over the secondary (I know what the stats say, but does anyone really trust this secondary?) and depth all over the place. That's to say nothing about the quarterback....

I guess right now I'm not seeing how this team turns into a legit title contender in the next few years. We've got a ton of holes to fill and I have little faith in this front office to draft a difference-maker. Kelce and D. Thomas are nice pieces but no one's won a SB building an offense around a RB, TE, a gadget player and a conservative as shit QB, which appears to be the current plan.

The Smith extension still baffles me. Why were we in such a hurry to extend a guy before the season started knowing that this might be a down year with a poor supporting cast? I've resigned myself to the knowledge that this franchise will never draft a franchise QB, but do they have to be so obvious about it? The Bowe signing, as well. I get that we were backed into a corner that offseason at WR, but did we really need to give him that much money? (I'm not even taking the Houston contract situation into account.)

This offseason is huge. There's still a ton of holes on this roster and I don't have a ton of faith in our front office to fill them based on what they've done to this point. I'm willing to give Dorsey & Reid a little more time, but I'm far from impressed to this point. There's always 2024, right?

Sandy Vagina · 12-12-2014, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 58kcfan89

The Smith extension still baffles me. Why were we in such a hurry to extend a guy before the season started knowing that this might be a down year with a poor supporting cast?

This surprised me as well. Alex has been unimpressive lately, but he's still my boo, and I didn't expect this team to be as bad or broken as it is. Still.. the only good reason to extend him then was either they expected him to gain leverage by having a grand year.. which is hard to see.. or actually saving a few mil on this year's cap.. which I don't know that they really used for much.. Bailey?

Either way, I expected them to just wait.

Guess they must really be all sold on him. Just better the OL, ILB, and WR2 spots, and I think it will still pay off in the long run.

Kaepernick · 12-12-2014, 08:56 PM

Just brutal article.

**notorious** · 12-12-2014, 09:23 PM

Daniel Snyder isn't cheap, he just spends his money like a dumbass.

Chiefs Pantalones · 12-12-2014, 09:40 PM

"Chiefs’ failure to develop quarterbacks and wide receivers explains current drought"

Tell the world something we don't know, captain obvious. The next article will tell us the sky is blue.

Discuss Thrower · 12-12-2014, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Please do explain? Because Clark is cheap right? Been proven wrong on this over and over and over.

Why have the Chiefs done the same thing at QB in terms of trading for a journeyman or backup under four of the last six head coaches and last three general managers?

Seems clear to me these guys are are all hired because their beliefs in terms of what guy you trot out as signal caller match up with the ownership.

12-12-2014, 04:58 PM
The Franchise Most Valuable Villain Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $2075047	Chiefs’ failure to develop quarterbacks and wide receivers explains current drought The Chiefs are on the verge of matching an ignominious NFL record that has stood for 64 years. Not since the stone-age era of the NFL has a team played an entire season without completing a touchdown pass to a wide receiver. The 1950 Pittsburgh Steelers hold that distinction, but that was before offenses spread their receivers across the field. That team attempted just 255 passes in a 6-6 season. The Chiefs, 7-6 going into Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, last produced a touchdown pass in the regular season on Chase Daniel’s 2-yard toss to Dexter McCluster in the 2013 finale at San Diego. Since McCluster’s catch, the Chiefs have attempted 405 regular-season passes without a touchdown to their wide receivers. They are the first team to go 13 games in a season without a touchdown catch by a wide receiver since the 1965 Eagles. “I’ve never seen it,” Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said, “but this is football … anything can happen. I try to get them in every chance I get. If I got to hurdle somebody to do it, that’s what I’m going to do. That’s all I can do. Once they come, they’re going to start coming. They just haven’t yet.” That’s not to say the Chiefs are incapable of scoring touchdowns. Running back Jamaal Charles leads the NFL with 14 touchdowns, including five on receptions; and tight ends Anthony Fasano and Travis Kelce have caught four touchdown passes each. Also, the Chiefs rank 12th in the NFL with 33 offensive touchdowns and are tied for third in red-zone efficiency with 26 touchdowns in 39 possessions, or 66.7 percent. (Oakland, 2-10, ranks first at 17 for 22, and 77.3 percent, for whatever that’s worth). “It’s not like the Chiefs don’t have any receivers,” said former Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, now an analyst for ESPN. “It seems to me, more of their passing is inside the numbers. There haven’t been explosive plays, as far as receivers catching the ball and running down the field. “That’s not their offense. Their offense is dinking and dunking it and move the chains and eventually, Jamaal or Knile Davis makes a play, or Kelce. To me, this offense is driven by Jamal Charles and tight ends.” Still, in a league predicated on passing, and with the rules geared in favor of quarterbacks and receivers, how can a team not have a single touchdown catch by a wide receiver? “You can justify low production, but not no production,” said former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein, now an analyst for CBS Sports. “You can look at a lot of different receiving groups around the league that aren’t overly stocked at that position, and they’ve still gotten the ball to their people who are supposed to catch the ball and score touchdowns. “I don’t think it’s the system. You look at Andy Reid’s system in the past, his wide receivers have been very productive. It’s exposing how desperately the Chiefs do need more weapons, and you have to put some of the blame on the quarterback.” Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, when not avoiding a pass rush that has led to his being sacked 41 times this season, has thrown 16 touchdown passes. Among full-time starters, only Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton, with 13, and Cleveland’s since-benched Brian Hoyer, with 12, have thrown fewer. “The quarterback has to find a way to get the ball to those guys,” Beuerlein said, “and get them involved in the offense if you want to be playing meaningful football in December. They’ve got a good running game, they’ve got a tight end. If you can establish those wide receivers somehow, it makes you a much better football team.” The closest a Chiefs wide receiver has come to catching a touchdown pass was on Nov. 2, when A.J. Jenkins, from the New York Jets’ 11, caught a short pass but stumbled to the turf and was tackled a yard short of the goal line. In the same game, Smith’s pass intended for Bowe in the end zone was deflected at the line of scrimmage and caught by Fasano for a 1-yard touchdown. “I can’t remember the last time we threw a ball to a receiver who was in the end zone or into the end zone untouched…” said former Chiefs wide receiver Danan Hughes, an analyst for Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. “I think it’s related to the lack of homegrown quarterbacks. When you don’t raise your own quarterback, normally you’re filling in gaps, filling in potholes with sand throughout the course of time.” The Chiefs have inducted 40 players into their Hall of Fame since its inception in 1970. Only two are wide receivers — Chris Burford, who caught 391 passes with 55 touchdowns during 1960-67, and Otis Taylor, who caught 410 with 57 touchdowns from 1965-75. And they’ve inducted just one quarterback — Pro Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson, who led the club to Super Bowl I and a victory in Super Bowl IV. But even Dawson was not homegrown. He was signed by Lamar Hunt’s Dallas Texans in 1962 after five years of riding the bench in the NFL. By contrast, eight running backs, seven linebackers and even two placekickers adorn the club’s Ring of Honor. The NFL is a quarterback’s game in which the rules favor passing, and the Chiefs’ inability to develop their own franchise quarterback and game-changing receivers goes a long way in explaining why they have not won a playoff game in 20 years and are stuck in the current rut in their passing game. The Chiefs have spent nearly 40 years in the wilderness trying to replace Dawson and Taylor. Since Taylor’s career ended, the Chiefs have drafted some productive receivers, in Henry Marshall, a third-round pick in 1976, and Carlos Carson, a fifth-round pick in 1979. They also signed undrafted Stephone Paige (1983). But none was elite and only Carson was selected to a Pro Bowl. The Chiefs also whiffed big time with first-round busts Anthony Hancock (1982), Sylvester Morris (2000) and Jon Baldwin (2011), as well as with early-round picks such as third-rounders Lake Dawson and Chris Penn (1994) and second-rounder Kevin Lockett (1997). Bowe, selected in the first round of the 2007 draft, has lived up to his 23rd-overall selection, producing three 1,000-yard seasons and leading the NFL with 15 touchdowns in 2010, his only Pro Bowl year. In fact, Bowe, 30, has caught more passes — 520 — than any wide receiver in franchise history. But he has just eight touchdown catches in his last 42 games and none in more than a year, or since Dec. 8, 2013. It’s debatable whether he’ll join Taylor and Burford in the club’s Hall of Fame. “For a lot of years, the receivers were not going to be used as primary targets,” said Edwards, who was on the Chiefs’ staff from 1990-95 as a scout or coach under Marty Schottenheimer and was head coach when the club drafted Bowe. “You had Christian Okoye, you had a solid run game for years, and Marty Schottenheimer didn’t draft receivers high. You went through that era when it wasn’t a necessary to get a top-round quarterback or top-round receiver … it wasn’t the nature of Kansas City football.” The Chiefs traded up in the first round of the 1997 draft and selected a future Hall of Famer in tight end Tony Gonzalez, who turned out to be the second-most prolific pass catcher in NFL history to Jerry Rice. But no tight end has ever led a team to a Super Bowl. The Chiefs complemented Gonzalez by acquiring or signing veterans from other teams through the years, such as Andre Rison, Derrick Alexander and Eddie Kennison. All had their moments, but except for Rison in 1997, none reminded anyone of Otis Taylor. The Chiefs’ track record at drafting quarterbacks is even more abysmal. In fact, they haven’t taken a quarterback in the first round since Todd Blackledge was selected seventh overall behind Hall of Famer John Elway and ahead of Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Dan Marino in the famous draft of 1983. The Chiefs wasted second-round picks on Mike Elkins (1989) and Matt Blundin (1992), who appeared in a total of three games; a third-round pick on Brodie Croyle (2006), who went 0-10 for Edwards; and a fifth-round pick on Ricky Stanzi (2011), who became a punch line for quarterback ineptitude. Instead of developing their own, the Chiefs, believing a veteran quarterback was all that separated them from being a Super Bowl contender, spent the past 20-plus years importing veterans from elsewhere, starting with Dave Krieg (1992), Joe Montana (1993), Steve Bono (1995), Elvis Grbac (1997), Trent Green (2001), Matt Cassel (2009) and Smith (2013). That’s produced two playoff wins, both by Montana in 1993. “Most of the quarterbacks who had success in Kansas City came from other teams,” Edwards said, “but that happens a lot of places. The Pittsburgh Steelers have Big Ben (Roethlisberger) and before that they had Terry Bradshaw. But after Terry Bradshaw, it took ’em a while to find a guy … The Buffalo Bills had Jim Kelly. Who’s come after Jim Kelly? “You can go down the line … You can go to the Oakland Raiders. When was the last time they had a guy? They had Rich Gannon, who they got from somewhere else, and before that, it was Jim Plunkett, and he came from somewhere else. Green Bay had Brett Favre and drafts Aaron Rodgers. He sits on the bench for a few years … “When you think about the Colts, that’s a whole different story. You talk about the horseshoe being lucky. Goodness gracious, you get rid of Peyton Manning, and then you get Andrew Luck. When you draft a guy at quarterback that can take you (to a championship), you’ve got a guy.” Certainly, the Chiefs were guilty of bad timing in 2013, the year after Luck was the first overall pick in the draft. A year later, when they had the No. 1 pick, there was no quarterback or receiver considered worthy of a first-round pick. “When you go for a top–round pick at the quarterback position, your normally come back with or have someone who is young at the wide receiver position who can grow up with that quarterback,” Edwards said. “Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning … young quarterbacks who came into an organization and were successful either had a No. 1 or No. 2 receiver who was drafted within one or two years of their being drafted.” The 2014 draft was rich with wide receivers, but the Chiefs elected not to take a single one. They selected Dee Ford with the 23rd pick of the first round when Florida State’s Kevin Benjamin was still on the board. Benjamin, selected by Carolina with the 28th pick, has caught 59 passes for 848 yards and nine touchdowns. Without a second-round pick, the Chiefs took cornerback Phillip Gaines of Rice in the third round, four spots ahead of John Brown of nearby Pittsburg State, who has caught five touchdown passes for the Arizona Cardinals. Projecting the success of wide receivers from the college game to the NFL is almost as unpredictable as quarterbacks, and the Chiefs, believing in the investments they’d made in their current receivers, including Bowe, who signed a five-year $56 million contract in 2013, Donnie Avery, A.J. Jenkins, Junior Hemingway, Frankie Hammond Jr., and failed Canadian Football League signee Weston Dressler, tried filling other needs in the draft. “I think that with what we have,” general manager John Dorsey said at the end of the 2014 draft, “we’re going to be very competitive at that position. The players we got here (in the draft), I’m very happy with.” Barring a trade, the Chiefs will be selecting in the middle of the 2015 draft. It’s uncertain whether touted receivers such as Alabama’s Amari Cooper, Louisville’s DeVante Parker or West Virginia’s Kevin White, will be available to them. But there’s little doubt that acquiring a wide receiver or two will be a top priority. “Bowe is a solid receiver who can be made better if they can find someone who can take the top off the defense and be that kind of go-to-guy,” Beuerlein said. “They don’t have that wide receiver to scare anybody at this point. “You’re going to have to invest a high draft choice to get that player they’ve desperately needed for a lot of years.” Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl...#storylink=cpy
Posts: 92,316

12-12-2014, 06:19 PM	#31
Marcellus Diablo Negro Join Date: Sep 2003 Casino cash: $-327338	I'm as big a Smith supporter as almost anyone and fact is he has played like shit the last 3 weeks. Not good enough period. I don't know whats up, I don't think its his norm, but simply put its been bad at times when we needed him to pick up the team a little. Reid needs to pull his head from his ass as well and figure out whats up. Its squarely on those 2 guys right now.
Posts: 74,286

12-12-2014, 06:51 PM	#37
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $-537094	It is hard to develop QB's and WR's when you don't make it a priority to draft them high in the draft when you have the opportunity. Is it possible to get great QB's/WR's later in the draft? Absolutely, but the odds are against you. For the Chiefs to go 30+ years without drafting a QB in the first round and only taking 3 WR's in the first round during the past 25 years or so makes it difficult to land franchise-changing players at both positions.
Posts: 49,747

12-12-2014, 07:49 PM	#40
58kcfan89 Veteran Join Date: Mar 2009 Casino cash: $9673187	I guess my biggest issue right now isn't that the WRs are trash or that the OL sucks or any of the other dozens of problems this team has. It's what appears to be a lack of a long-term plan for this franchise. This roster as it's currently constructed isn't winning a Super Bowl. Yet instead of blowing it up when Dorsey & Reid were hired, we traded for (ANOTHER) QB and tried to make a run of it with a few makeshift signings and waiver wire guys to pair with our Pro Bowlers. Now, about to go into our 3rd offseason with this regime, we still have huge holes to fill all over the roster. We need an entirely new WR corps, at least 3 new OL, at least 1 MLB, help all over the secondary (I know what the stats say, but does anyone really trust this secondary?) and depth all over the place. That's to say nothing about the quarterback.... I guess right now I'm not seeing how this team turns into a legit title contender in the next few years. We've got a ton of holes to fill and I have little faith in this front office to draft a difference-maker. Kelce and D. Thomas are nice pieces but no one's won a SB building an offense around a RB, TE, a gadget player and a conservative as shit QB, which appears to be the current plan. The Smith extension still baffles me. Why were we in such a hurry to extend a guy before the season started knowing that this might be a down year with a poor supporting cast? I've resigned myself to the knowledge that this franchise will never draft a franchise QB, but do they have to be so obvious about it? The Bowe signing, as well. I get that we were backed into a corner that offseason at WR, but did we really need to give him that much money? (I'm not even taking the Houston contract situation into account.) This offseason is huge. There's still a ton of holes on this roster and I don't have a ton of faith in our front office to fill them based on what they've done to this point. I'm willing to give Dorsey & Reid a little more time, but I'm far from impressed to this point. There's always 2024, right?
Posts: 2,252

12-12-2014, 09:23 PM	#43
notorious Supporter Join Date: May 2005 Location: Who knows? Casino cash: $-764116	Daniel Snyder isn't cheap, he just spends his money like a dumbass.
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12-12-2014, 09:40 PM	#44
Chiefs Pantalones GO CHIEFS!!!!!! Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $6888717	"Chiefs’ failure to develop quarterbacks and wide receivers explains current drought" Tell the world something we don't know, captain obvious. The next article will tell us the sky is blue. __________________ Don't be fooled by my username, I'm white.
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