New-Look Chiefs Turning Attention to NFL Draft

[FringeNC]

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireSto...inglePage=true

The wholesale overhaul of the Kansas City Chiefs is nearly complete.

Andy Reid has been hired to replace Romeo Crennel as coach, and longtime Packers personnel man John Dorsey has replaced Scott ***** as general manager. Most of the assistant coaches are on board, and now the Chiefs can start turning their attention toward the rebuilding job.

That includes preparation for the NFL draft.

The Chiefs finished 2-14 last season, matching the worst record in their 53-year history. But the byproduct of all that on-field suffering is that they have the No. 1 pick for the first time, giving Kansas City a good place to start turning around the team.

"We're in a unique position," said Dorsey, who will work closely with Reid but have final say over personnel decisions. "We all know there is some pressure involved in that."

It is pressure unlike anything he's ever experienced.

Dorsey began his career as a scout for the Packers, and eventually rose to direct of college scouting and director of football operations. But his primary responsibility was assembling the draft board, and the final decision ultimately came down to the Packers' GM — Tom Braatz early in his career, Ron Wolf and Mike Sherman after that, and most recently Ted Thompson.

Now, when the final seconds are ticking away on April 25, all eyes in the Kansas City draft room will turn toward Dorsey for a decision that could shape the future of the franchise.

"Ultimately, we're just trying to win Super Bowls. That's what we're trying to do," said Dorsey, adding that he plans to use a similar blueprint to Green Bay.

"History and time has proven — and that's all I know — but this system works," Dorsey said Monday. "That's what I'm going to try to implement."

Examining the Packers' drafts over the past two decades yields a few ideas about how Dorsey will proceed: He'll likely choose the best player of available, regardless of position needs, but also understands the importance of drafting for depth at quarterback.

Many outsiders panned the choice of quarterback Aaron Rodgers when Brett Favre was firmly ensconced in Green Bay, and Rodgers has turned into a Super Bowl champion. Matt Flynn was picked in the seventh round and became a valuable commodity as a backup, while other guys such as Matt Hasselbeck and Aaron Brooks developed into starters elsewhere in the NFL.

"What we've always tried to do is develop a third guy," Dorsey said, "and develop him and see if he can be a 2 or a 1."

By contrast, the Chiefs have spent only one pick — a fifth-rounder — on a quarterback in the past six drafts, and the result has been disastrous play at the game's marquee position.

Matt Cassel is still under contract, even though he was benched last season. Brady Quinn played just as poorly, while Ricky Stanzi never saw the field during the regular season.

"Any time when you begin to build a franchise, let's be real, the quarterback is a very important part," Dorsey said. "As you note the last couple weeks in the playoffs, the quarterback position is a very important position to the long-term success of the organization."

Important enough to spend the No. 1 overall pick on it?

Not necessarily.

Dorsey and Reid both insisted they plan to draft the best player available, and that may not be a quarterback. West Virginia's Geno Smith is widely considered the best prospect at his position, but some draft analysts believe he's only worthy of a late first-round selection.

"My draft philosophy, you'd love to get good players. That's the primary thing," Reid said. "As the general manager comes in, that's what he's going to do. That's his responsibility."

It's not as if the Chiefs don't have other needs.

Left tackle Branden Albert and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe can both become free agents, and there are gaping holes along the defensive line, at linebacker and in the secondary. And it just so happens that some of the best available players fit those needs: Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner and George linebacker Jarvis Jones.

One thing that Dorsey made clear is that he won't reach for a player.

"Philosophically, you stay true to your board," he said. "You spend all those months staying true to your board, and all of a sudden you have to jump a player due to positional needs? I don't think you do that. Historically, we have proven you don't do that."

Dorsey plans to keep the Chiefs scouting department intact through the draft, but he's also bringing with him an entire season's worth of his own scouting work from Green Bay.

That will be augmented by work done at college all-star games, various pro days organized by schools, the annual scouting combine and from hour upon hour of highlight tapes.

"It's going to be a focus of our fans, the media and our personnel department here for the next three or so months," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said of the No. 1 pick. "It's very important we get that pick right."

———

[mcaj22]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

??

You missed my point is well. I don't care about the Bulaga pick as far as value is concerned. I don't think he was a reach. I never stated that....AT ALL. What i did state, however, is that the Bulaga pick demonstrates the Packers taking need into consideration when picking BPA.

Which brings me back to my original point that Dorsey is either BSing us or we are taking his words far too literal.

they had Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson, and you name it that can play CB and they still took Casey Hayward in the 2nd round of the draft this past season, who ended up playing his way into the starting lineup (cause of injury) and being far and away a smash hit pick, even with all the CB depth they had.

Why did they pick that one? Surely wasnt a need at the time. But he clearly was BPA on their board.

[ChiefPassesALot]

Originally Posted by The_Doctor10

Who hits on all of their picks? Andy found his share of studs, and his teams were always competitive.

Interesting. They were always competitive? After 2004, Andy took the team to the playoffs 4 times with only 3 wins. 1 in 2006 and 2 in 2008 only to fall to the ARIZONA CARDINALS.

Andy was coaching with Jim Johnson and Ray Rhodes' players when he was performing well through the 2004 season. After those players started to leave, and Jim Johnson passed, Andy's poor drafting really started to show and without a real defensive coordinator to coverup his short comings, the team suffered.

[IAmABabySeal]

Originally Posted by RustShack

Stay true to your board. It's true you should, but Geno Smith should also be #1 on our draft board.

Joeckel, Warmak, Werner, Rhodes, Banks, Mingo, Star, Patterson, Moore and Richardson are all better "prospects"...at QB I'd take Nassib, Wilson, Bray, Scott and Dysert I would gladly take over him.

[mcaj22]

people actually like the Nassib shitter?

i find that hard to believe. that guy is a turd

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by ChiefPassesALot

Interesting. They were always competitive? After 2004, Andy took the team to the playoffs 4 times with only 3 wins. 1 in 2006 and 2 in 2008 only to fall to the ARIZONA CARDINALS.

Andy was coaching with Jim Johnson and Ray Rhodes' players when he was performing well through the 2004 season. After those players started to leave, and Jim Johnson passed, Andy's poor drafting really started to show and without a real defensive coordinator to coverup his short comings, the team suffered.

Was Reid GM is Philly? Is he GM now? I'm very confident that our draft board is going to look a lot more like GB's than Philly's.

[Red Dawg]

Its real simple. They will watch every play of Geno in college. They will go to all his workouts and interview him to death. They will talk for hours and hours to his coaches about him and his work ethic and personality. When the draft comes I am sure they will pick him. He is the best player in the draft. Qb is the only position worth the number one overall pick. Clark has told them that Qb is a must now primarily because the fan base is sick of not having a signal caller to hang our hat on. Both Andy and Dorsey know for sure that you cant win without a really good one.

[ChiefPassesALot]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Was Reid GM is Philly? Is he GM now? I'm very confident that our draft board is going to look a lot more like GB's than Philly's.

Don't be fooled. Reid had full control in Philly, and Pioli would still be there if Reid didn't have his hand up the GM's ass like a puppet.

[ChiefSuspect]

Andy Reid once traded his 1st round pick to the rival Cowboys because he had his sights set on Kevin Kolb.

He also hasn't drafted a good defensive player since Trent Cole in 2005.

That's all you need to know about Reid's drafting.

[IAmABabySeal]

Originally Posted by Tuckdaddy

Its real simple. They will watch every play of Geno in college. They will go to all his workouts and interview him to death. They will talk for hours and hours to his coaches about him and his work ethic and personality. When the draft comes I am sure they will pick him. He is the best player in the draft. Qb is the only position worth the number one overall pick. Clark has told them that Qb is a must now primarily because the fan base is sick of not having a signal caller to hang our hat on. Both Andy and Dorsey know for sure that you cant win without a really good one.

He's far from the best player in the draft...Star, Joeckel and Warmak infinitely better.

[ChiefSuspect]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Was Reid GM is Philly? Is he GM now? I'm very confident that our draft board is going to look a lot more like GB's than Philly's.

He had full personnel control in Philly for the past 10 years.

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

they had Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson, and you name it that can play CB and they still took Casey Hayward in the 2nd round of the draft this past season, who ended up playing his way into the starting lineup (cause of injury) and being far and away a smash hit pick, even with all the CB depth they had.

Why did they pick that one? Surely wasnt a need at the time. But he clearly was BPA on their board.

Oh, are you talking about that 2.30 DB? Basically a 3rd Rounder?

Interesting. Because they seemed to use their 1st round Pick to fill a huge void opposite Clay Mathews. You don't think for a second that need played a role in that?

[ChiefPassesALot]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

thing about Andy Reid is he also actually can HIT just as much as he misses. Where as Scooter ***** just ****ing completely whiffs 99 percent of the time.

So every Andy Reid list you have of crappy players you can also make a list of good ones.

in 2012 alone

Fletcher Cox
Mychael Kendricks
Nick Foles
Brandon Boykin
Dennis Kelly
Bryce Brown

.

except that Howie Roseman was responsible for all offseason moves leading up to this season. Therefore, NOT Reid's picks. It was determined that too many mistakes were being made by Banner/Reid.

[Chief Roundup]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

they had Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson, and you name it that can play CB and they still took Casey Hayward in the 2nd round of the draft this past season, who ended up playing his way into the starting lineup (cause of injury) and being far and away a smash hit pick, even with all the CB depth they had.

Why did they pick that one? Surely wasnt a need at the time. But he clearly was BPA on their board.

Don't know the rest of the DB's off the top of my head but Woodson was moved to safety last season.
But the overall point is correct.

[IAmABabySeal]

what do you guys think about Denard Robinson or Collin Klein?

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by IAmTheWalrus

Joeckel, Warmak, Werner, Rhodes, Banks, Mingo, Star, Patterson, Moore and Richardson are all better "prospects"...at QB I'd take Nassib, Wilson, Bray, Scott and Dysert I would gladly take over him.

GTFO.

You're taking up valuable message board space.