POND_OF_RED
10-19-2007, 01:47 AM
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Wide receiver Jeff Webb made the most of his playing time against the Bengals, catching seven passes for 78 yards. Herm Edwards’ son Marcus is in his first season working in the Chiefs’ scouting department and his new career is off to a promising start.
Marcus Edwards led the Chiefs, even if indirectly, to wide receiver Jeff Webb. Edwards, also a receiver, was a teammate of Webb’s at San Diego State.
Herm Edwards would watch his son play, in person when his schedule would allow but mostly on video. He would see Webb play at the same time and got to know Webb on his visits to San Diego.
It’s little wonder, then, that the Chiefs drafted Webb last year in the sixth round. He played a significant amount for the first time in last week’s win over Cincinnati and caught seven passes for 78 yards.
“This was kind of a breakout game for Jeff,” Herm Edwards said. “He was available when we got ready to throw the football. Damon (Huard) felt comfortable throwing him the ball and the defense was keying on (Dwayne) Bowe and Tony (Gonzalez) and he was quietly having a good day.
“That’s good for him, good for our football team and good for his confidence.”
More impressive than the raw numbers is how Webb achieved them. He made a one-handed catch on third down along the sideline and caught two other third-down passes. Three of his catches gave the Chiefs a fresh set of downs.
He quickly gained Huard’s trust.
“The more plays he makes, the more confidence I get in him,” Huard said. “He’s made some great catches on the sideline. They rotated their coverage (toward Gonzalez and Bowe) and that left him with some one-on-one matchups.”
The black mark on Webb’s game was his fumble after a short catch in the third quarter. The Bengals recovered and converted into a field goal.
“What he can’t do is dwell on it,” receivers coach Charlie Joiner said. “He can’t let this affect how he plays the game. I like his attitude. I like the way he plays the game. He’s intense and he plays it fast.”
The fumble aside, Webb is quickly playing himself into the Chiefs’ long-range plans. If he and Bowe continue to develop as they have over the first six games, the Chiefs could get away without spending a high draft pick on a wide receiver even if they part with Eddie Kennison, who will be 35 in January, and they don’t re-sign Samie Parker, a potential unrestricted free agent after the season.
The Chiefs might prefer to have someone faster than Webb as a counterpart to Bowe. But three of Webb’s 13 catches this year have gone for 20 yards or more, so he’s provided some big gains, too.
“He’s another young player that we drafted a year ago who is in the mix of playing and that’s what we said that we were going to do,” Herm Edwards said. “We were going to build this team through the draft and let our young players play. It’s always easier to let them play on defense, but now we’ve got two young receivers that are all of a sudden playing. That helps you when you can get guys like that to contribute to your football team.
“He would have had a great day had he not fumbled the ball. He had a good day catching the ball on the sideline and it’s kind of ironic because he stepped out of bounds on those in the preseason and he’s grown up since then. Now he looks like he’s been there all of his life getting both feet in on the sideline.
The Chiefs might have latched on to Webb even had he not been friends with the coach’s son. But it probably didn’t hurt.
“He used to come talk to our team,” Webb said. “He was always working during the season but when he had his bye week, he used to come to San Diego State. I’ve known him for a while.
“I hope they drafted me because I’m a good player and not because I’m friends with Marcus or because I knew Herm. But Herm definitely knew more about me than any other coach.”
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/323660.html
The Kansas City Star
Wide receiver Jeff Webb made the most of his playing time against the Bengals, catching seven passes for 78 yards. Herm Edwards’ son Marcus is in his first season working in the Chiefs’ scouting department and his new career is off to a promising start.
Marcus Edwards led the Chiefs, even if indirectly, to wide receiver Jeff Webb. Edwards, also a receiver, was a teammate of Webb’s at San Diego State.
Herm Edwards would watch his son play, in person when his schedule would allow but mostly on video. He would see Webb play at the same time and got to know Webb on his visits to San Diego.
It’s little wonder, then, that the Chiefs drafted Webb last year in the sixth round. He played a significant amount for the first time in last week’s win over Cincinnati and caught seven passes for 78 yards.
“This was kind of a breakout game for Jeff,” Herm Edwards said. “He was available when we got ready to throw the football. Damon (Huard) felt comfortable throwing him the ball and the defense was keying on (Dwayne) Bowe and Tony (Gonzalez) and he was quietly having a good day.
“That’s good for him, good for our football team and good for his confidence.”
More impressive than the raw numbers is how Webb achieved them. He made a one-handed catch on third down along the sideline and caught two other third-down passes. Three of his catches gave the Chiefs a fresh set of downs.
He quickly gained Huard’s trust.
“The more plays he makes, the more confidence I get in him,” Huard said. “He’s made some great catches on the sideline. They rotated their coverage (toward Gonzalez and Bowe) and that left him with some one-on-one matchups.”
The black mark on Webb’s game was his fumble after a short catch in the third quarter. The Bengals recovered and converted into a field goal.
“What he can’t do is dwell on it,” receivers coach Charlie Joiner said. “He can’t let this affect how he plays the game. I like his attitude. I like the way he plays the game. He’s intense and he plays it fast.”
The fumble aside, Webb is quickly playing himself into the Chiefs’ long-range plans. If he and Bowe continue to develop as they have over the first six games, the Chiefs could get away without spending a high draft pick on a wide receiver even if they part with Eddie Kennison, who will be 35 in January, and they don’t re-sign Samie Parker, a potential unrestricted free agent after the season.
The Chiefs might prefer to have someone faster than Webb as a counterpart to Bowe. But three of Webb’s 13 catches this year have gone for 20 yards or more, so he’s provided some big gains, too.
“He’s another young player that we drafted a year ago who is in the mix of playing and that’s what we said that we were going to do,” Herm Edwards said. “We were going to build this team through the draft and let our young players play. It’s always easier to let them play on defense, but now we’ve got two young receivers that are all of a sudden playing. That helps you when you can get guys like that to contribute to your football team.
“He would have had a great day had he not fumbled the ball. He had a good day catching the ball on the sideline and it’s kind of ironic because he stepped out of bounds on those in the preseason and he’s grown up since then. Now he looks like he’s been there all of his life getting both feet in on the sideline.
The Chiefs might have latched on to Webb even had he not been friends with the coach’s son. But it probably didn’t hurt.
“He used to come talk to our team,” Webb said. “He was always working during the season but when he had his bye week, he used to come to San Diego State. I’ve known him for a while.
“I hope they drafted me because I’m a good player and not because I’m friends with Marcus or because I knew Herm. But Herm definitely knew more about me than any other coach.”
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/323660.html