Getz nails Chiefs problems .......

[ROYC75]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2007/01/12/gretz_a_fork_in_the_road/

GRETZ: A Fork In The Road
Jan 12, 2007, 6:29:01 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

As an organization, the Chiefs are standing at a fork in the road. The tenor of the off-season depends on how those in charge answer the following question:

Are the Chiefs a team coming off a trip to the playoffs, or are they the team that finished five games behind San Diego in the AFC West?

Both statements are true, but they mean very, very different things and very, very different paths to take for the immediate future. If the organization wants to hang its hat on making the playoffs, then there would be the normal amount of roster turnover in this coming off-season.

But if the hierarchy of the Chiefs decides the real indicator of where the Chiefs sit right now is five games behind the Chargers, then much more drastic measures may be called for in this off-season.

Actually, the Chiefs are more than five games behind. Take a look:

http://www.kcchiefs.com/media/images/CF11CB4FA64A4279AD687DA6BC246FDA.GIF?0.10968738164786307

In two of the last three seasons, the Chiefs finished five games behind the division winning Chargers. They were three games behind the Broncos when Denver won the AFC West in 2005. Since they won the division title in 2003, the Chiefs have been chasing the Broncos and Chargers.

When it comes to San Diego, they are falling behind. If neither team changed their starting lineup for the 2007 season, the Chargers would have 11 starters 26 years or younger: LT Marcus McNeil, LG Kris Dielman, C Nick Hardwick, RT Shane Olivea, QB Philip Rivers, LDE Luis Castillo, RDE Igor Olshansky, OLBs Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman, RCB Drayton Florence and SS Terrence Kiel.

The Chiefs would have five starters 26 or younger on opening day ‘07: WR Samie Parker, FB Kris Wilson, LDE Tamba Hali, RDE Jared Allen and OLB Derrick Johnson.

Take a look at those names and positions. Four of the Chargers five starters on the offensive line are in their mid-20s. Four of the front seven on defense are in their mid-20s. Plus, Rivers will be just 25 next season. Chiefs have three of their front seven on defense in that age group.

Now, let’s look at the other end of the spectrum. The Chargers have 3 starters who would be 32 or older for the 2007 opener: FB Lorenzo Neal and inside linebackers Randall Godfrey and Donnie Edwards. However, it’s very unlikely Edwards will return as the Chargers have been trying to trade him for the past year. He will not get a new contract from San Diego.

The Chiefs will have five starters 32 or older: C Casey Wiegmann, RG Will Shields, WR Eddie Kennison, QB Trent Green and LCB Ty Law. Shields may retire and Law is due a big bonus payment in March that the Chiefs must decide if they are going to pay. If they don’t, he’ll go back into free agency.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: for the ‘07 opener the Chargers will have 11 of 22 starters 26 or younger. The Chiefs will have 11 of 22 starters 30 or older.

With the salary cap increases and the fact that San Diego is such a young team, they will not be headed for any major money problems for sometime. Injuries and mismanagement can bring them back to the pack, but they will have a chance to keep this team together for the better part of what remains of the decade.

Thus the fork in the road the Chiefs face. Do they continue to try to patch together their roster, spending money in unrestricted free agency to fill in holes and try to scrape into the playoffs? Or, do they accept the fact they’ve fallen behind the division leader and decide to go young? The first way is how they’ve done it for the last few years. The second way would be a new adventure for the organization, one that might require a step backwards to take two forward.

Right now, the most important thing the Chiefs must do is decide who they are as a football team. Are they a team that made the playoffs? Or, are they a team that needs to make changes so they can catch the Chargers?

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

[crazycoffey]

sounds about right, I say make the big decision, we've done the "few adjustments" thing, not happening yet..... HINT HINT CARL

[siberian khatru]

Obviously, go young.

So far, it sounds like that's what they're going to do. But we'll see.

[BigRedChief]

sounds about right, I say make the big decision, we've done the "few adjustments" thing, not happening yet..... HINT HINT CARLRight. how did we get old?
On our current roster we have 3 starters or were starters at one time from the 1998 - 2002 drafts.
5 friggin years of drafts and the best we do is
Dante Hall
Greg Wesley
Ryan Sims

Can there be a more pathetic stretch of drafting than that?

[ROYC75]

Younger, faster, stronger ....... then fillin after that with FA.

BTA, we still have Herm.........

[ROYC75]

That 3 year period is a very alarming stat..........

[BigRedChief]

That 3 year period is a very alarming stat..........
uhhhhh 5 years

[StcChief]

I still believe Herm cleans house in the next few weeks.

Law will/should be back. our throw a CBOF in??

[dirk digler]

Go young it is the only way

[crazycoffey]

I still believe Herm cleans house in the next few weeks.

Law will/should be back. our throw a CBOF in??

I like law, I really do, but I don't know about alot of money, Herm has a good talent eye for D backs, even if you don't like Herm, you have to agree he's done remarkable well his NFL career on picking out Dback talent.

Maybe Law going is a better move, he made some mistakes this year. I like his experience and leadership, but....

[Skip Towne]

Sheee-it!!

[TN_Chief]

...we still have Herm...Jesus, I read that and had a seziure.

[crazycoffey]

Right. how did we get old?
On our current roster we have 3 starters or were starters at one time from the 1998 - 2002 drafts.
5 friggin years of drafts and the best we do is
Dante Hall
Greg Wesley
Ryan Sims

Can there be a more pathetic stretch of drafting than that?

yeah, but ryan is the big bust there, he was a high pick the others were more steals from the draft that out performed there expectations, Dante did anyway, not this year, but he did.

[crazycoffey]

oh, wait I read your statement wrong, sorry

[siberian khatru]

I wouldn't pay Law the bonus.

Let him become a FA. See what the market is. See if we could re-sign him cheaper.

I say this because it is my belief that we are at least two years from seriously competing for anything significant. We have so many holes to fill, so many aging players, that it will take two offseasons, minimum, to fix.

Law's not going to help us in 2008. We won't really need him in 2007 at that premium price. If he's too expensive, I'd rather upgrade the DL (and maybe LBs) and sign a mid-level CB to hold the fort for a year or two while we develop a younger CB for 2008 and beyond.

[Hydrae]

When the Chargers traded down in the draft and wound up with LT and Brees in the first 33 picks of the draft, I knew they were the team of the future in this division. So far I have not been wrong.

The key here, the DRAFT!!! If we continue to miss with our draft picks, we will have to try to put together a team from FA. There just is no other option at that point. So, we NEED TO FIX THE DRAFTING ISSUES!!! Otherwise we poor Chiefs fans will still be waiting for a playoff win 10 years from now.

[el borracho]

Man, this is depressing. We're old and we suck.

[FAX]

Man, this is depressing. We're old and we suck.

Pretty much, Mr. el borracho.

By the way, Gretz is simply supporting Herm's position that "it's okay" and we have to build to win the division and that's why we're going to suck for years on end.

Gretz would pose nude for the official 2008 Herm Edwards Wacky Butt Cheeks On Parade Calendar.

FAX

[Deberg_1990]

Or, do they accept the fact they’ve fallen behind the division leader and decide to go young? The first way is how they’ve done it for the last few years. The second way would be a new adventure for the organization, one that might require a step backwards to take two forward.


Good read. Ive been wanting the Chiefs to do this for years. Unfortunately, its not the Carl Peterson way.....unless he suddenly has had a change of heart after 18 years???

[ChiefsCountry]

Good read. Ive been wanting the Chiefs to do this for years. Unfortunately, its not the Carl Peterson way.....unless he suddenly has had a change of heart after 18 years???

Carl follows the plan of his head coach. Vermeil and Marty didnt play rookies plain and simple. JWhit's article this morning made that pretty clear with Donnie Edwards situation with DV.

[htismaqe]

Carl has always given personnel decisions to the coach and situations where he's overruled them have been few and far between.

[ChiefsCountry]

Carl has always given personnel decisions to the coach and situations where he's overruled them have been few and far between.

See Johnson, Larry. :)

Actually sometimes I wonder if Peterson should take a more role in it instead of the coaches ironically.

[B_Ambuehl]

This article is bullshit. People worry too much about age when they should be worrying about putting talent out on the field. The reason teams have so many young players is because they can't develop young players in their program into starters who can play worth a shit.

The positions that the chiefs are oldest at they're old for a damn good reason...because they have damn good football players at those positions. This team needs a right guard ASAP since Shields is probably retiring.....they need a developmental center who can take over in a couple of years, a developmental starting WR who can take over in a couple of years, 2 developmental CBs who can take over in the next 3-4 years, and a developmental QB....and that's really about f***ing it.

The D-line is set for 8-10 years (assuming Allen gets re-signed). Any new D-tackles will be young. The linebackers are pretty much set for 8-10 years. The safeties are set for 10 years. The o-line could be a problem. QB could be a problem. Finding WR's should never a problem in today's market. Ditto for serviceable tailback.

So basically the next 2-3 years this team needs to find good offensive lineman, d-tackles, cornerbacks, and a WR. There have been football teams that have rebuilt a lot more positions then that in a year or 2.