Kelce absolutely SHOULD get his chance, there are still high hopes about that guy... but those chances should be challenged and tempered by another 1-3rd round pick.

A formidable two TE set will be a magic elixir for Smith, they're PERFECT for his skill set.

I agree.

I'm about as vocal as they get on Kelce. I'm not enamored with a 3rd round pick that missed his entire rookie season.

Do I want to give up on him? No. I didn't want to pin all of our hopes on him in the first place. This offense - Alex - needs a Vernon Davis. We need to keep trying to get one until we're SURE we have one.

Eric Ebron might not go as high as people are projecting. People keep comparing him to Vernon Davis but he is nowhere near the physical monster that Davis was.

Vernon Davis ran a 4.38 40 yard dash at the combine while weighing in at 263 pounds of, what looked like, pure muscle. He jumped through the roof with a 40" vertical.

Eric Ebron ran a 4.60 40 yard dash at the combine while weighing in at 250 pounds. He only jumped 32".

That is a world of difference in speed and explosion between the two and it's why Vernon Davis was a top 10 pick and why Ebron won't be. That draft was considered weak in offensive receiving threats at the top.

Take last year for instance, when big pass catching TEs were all the rage, Tyler Eifert was a great prospect coming out of Notre Dame; he was pretty close to Ebron in speed/explosiveness but easily had better and more consistent hands and was a more polished receiving TE overall. Tons of people had him going in the top 15 and Eifert didn't get picked until the 21st pick in the draft. Eifert didn't have much impact for the Bengals as a rookie (mostly because they didn't know how to use him well and he didn't get very many snaps due to Gresham being on the field).

To top it off, this year's WR class is significantly stronger than last year's but there are still only a few potential #1 candidates to be had. WR needy teams that are likely to take a receiver in the 1st will opt to go with a WR because they'll be able to fill the TE role in the 2nd and 3rd rounds with solid prospects. A #1 WR will always be valued over a good TE when it comes down to it.

12. Giants - They are losing Nicks, who was previously considered their #1 WR. But they could go OL as well or revamp their DL.
13. Rams - With their 2nd 1st round pick, even though they already took Austin too high last year, they still need a #1 threat. Rams could opt for one of the top safeties at this spot over a WR.
15. Steelers - Though I'll argue that they need more defensive and OL help than they do WR. They could still opt to take a #1 target for Big Ben here but they truly need to revamp their defense and get back to their old ways.
18. Jets - Need lots of offensive help. They'll take the best remaining #1 WR here and hope for a receiving TE later in the draft.
21. Green Bay - They could use a good TE with Finley's injury but they need defensive help a whole lot more than they do offense.

If Ebron were a more consistent pass catcher he would likely be a top 20 pick in this draft, no question about that. However, this draft is too strong for Ebron, who has highly inconsistent hands and isn't dominant and consistent at high pointing the ball, to go in the top 20, IMO. It's probable that he may be there for our pick at 23.

FTR: Ebron had a 11.43% drop percentage. That's terrible for someone who is being lauded as the next great TE.

Amaro >>> Ebron, IMO

Amaro is the more polished receiver of the two, IMO. He also makes up for his smaller than ideal hand size with his concentration and aggressiveness as he fights for the ball. If you take Ebron over Amaro it's for the higher upside, Ebron just has better tools to work with and needs to improve his concentration. He can make jaw-dropping catches, he just needs to do it more consistently and needs to improve his ability to make plays over a defender because, even with his athleticism, it'll be tough for him to get separation through his speed and quickness alone at the next level. He's going to have to make all of the contested catches.

The real question is whether

1st rd TE + 3rd rd WR

is more valuable than

1st rd WR + 3rd rd TE

Actually, wouldn't it be more:

Top 5 WRs vs Ebron

Would you take Sammy Watkins over Ebron? Yes. Watkins is pretty much guaranteed to be a #1 WR in this league with his talent.

Would you take Mike Evans over Ebron? Yes. Evans is 2nd to only Jarvis Landry in making those contested catches and has good speed for a WR his size. He's no Calvin Johnson but he can be a Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Vincent Jackson, or Larry Fitzgerald (is he improves his route running a lot) type.

Would you take Odell Beckham Jr. Over Ebron? Yes. #1 WR potential with great speed and versatility as a special teamer.

Would you take Marquise Lee over Ebron? Depends which Lee you're getting; are you talking about 2012 Lee or the 2013 version? If it's the 2012 one, then yes. 2013, probably not.

Would you take Brandin Cooks over Ebron? Depends who you think is more valuable. Cooks can dominate the slot and provide Kendall Wright/Victor Cruz type production from there, but there are a lot of slot guys in the draft who can do the same thing. Ebron gives us the ability to run a lot of different things out of double TE sets if Kelce proves that he can stay healthy and perform as well as our coaches think he can. Alex Smith would love to have two giant receivers who could run, allows him to really check in and out of pass/run plays and keep the defense guessing. However, that leaves us with the prospect of having to depend on Avery/Jenkins and Bowe on the outsides again.

I love two TE sets, but The chiefs would be better off converting an oversized WR to TE (like Walker) than trying to turn a TE in this draft into something that he's not.

This draft is deep in WRs and CBs..and there is no 2nd round pick. I don't see a TE being selected earlier than the 4th.

Can anyone name a single successful tight end that was converted from receiver? Honestly asking.

Define successful?

The only one that I'm aware of is Tim Wright in Tampa Bay.

I already did...Delanie Walker.

Really? We're saying that's successful?

For a 6th round WR conversion to a starting TE? Yeah, I'd say that is successful. He has decent hands and is a solid blocker.

Also do you remember Eric Johnson? He was pretty good too.

SHANNON SHARPE.

Oh..I forgot he played WR in college. That's right.

Interesting fact, all 3 guys we've mentioned were 6th or 7th round picks.

Side note: Has anyone heard anything about the Demetrius Harris kid recently? How is he developing?

I don't think we will get a good grasp of that until OTA's at the earliest. When they needed to bring up another TE from the practice squad it was Dominique Jones, not Harris. Then they signed Richard Gordon to replace Jones when he went on the NFI list. Both those 2 are better blockers and I would guess that area is what is going to take Harris awhile is getting used to blocking. He seemed to run some good routes and get seperation while having decent hands. Time will tell

I'm hoping Kelce turns out to be a stud, and we simply had the misfortune of an unfortunate injury at the start of his rookie campaign.

That said, I would fully be on board with them going after another TE or receiver, to allow them to run more double TE sets.

It could prove to be a lethal package to operate the offense out of, as we could run Jamal out of it as well as pass in a number of ways & with multiple targets- play-action, screens, x'ing routes, hot reads, etc.

It'd be great to get a guy that could line up at the traditional TE spot, but also has enough speed to be able to split out at times. Much like NO's does with Graham, and part of the reason I think the Saints didn't franchise him was because it was already talked about the fact he would appeal to the league about being designated as a TE based on how he is used by them in the hopes of being designated a WR- which would definitely be a lot more if he was paid the average of the top 5 highest paid WRs in the league.

I do think having a true weapon roaming in the middle of the field is where you'll maximize Alex taking advantage of his talents.



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I really wish we had drafted Ladarius Green...

Elude=escape, avoid.

Allude=hint at, draw attention to.

I think that if Amaro is the guy you're targeting that you can get him later than 23 if there's a player that another team covets that they'd trade up for.

Possibly. Sure would be nice to have a 2nd rounder.

Ya, but again, a 2nd is worth not having to think of Cassel having been our starting QB this last season, or him being it ever again. Sadly, it's the price of a dumbass GM- Pioli tax.

Not really. I don't trade 2nd round picks for warm fuzzies.

Here are the TE that I would be comfortable with the chiefs drafting:
Ebron, Eric
Fiedorowicz, C.J.
Leonard, A.C.
Lyerla, Colt

Here are TE I want more info on (pro day):
Blanchflower, Rob
Duncan, Joe Don
Jacobs, Nic
Seferian-Jenkins, Austin
Tialavea, D.J.

Colt Lyerla, **** no.

why not? he has big time ability, and should be available for a late round pick. High reward and low risk.

If he keeps his nose straight (pun intended) he could be in line for a big time contract after his cheap rookie contract. That should be plenty incentive. Maybe Andy Reid can use his experiences to provide leadership and guidance to a troubled and talented young man.

We don't need developmental bullshit.

We need an impact player at TE right now.

than you probably want someone in free agency and not the draft. Its going to take awhile for a rookie to get up to speed to the NFL game as well as learning Andy Reid's large and complex playbook.

Ebron and Amaro could provide immediate impact in spots and be fully ready to go by year 2.

Besides, lets not sit here and pretend that Lyerla's only problems are developmental.

There's no reason to be interested in a guy like that at all.

1. thats an assumption.
2. you never defined what "impact" exactly is.
3. Amaro was used more as a slot wr than a TE. He has a big learning curve.
4. Here is a list of the receiving #s for rookie TE Low draft pick TE made a "bigger impact" than the early draft picks.

1. you are the only one in this conversation using the term "developmental." Please re-read your posts and my posts.

2. I have already alluded to his drug problem (cocaine) and said I expect him to be a late draft pick.

he is very athletic and a good receiving TE. If you only judge a person by prior drug history and not on the individual himself, than the chiefs would have missed out on Justin houston. Current chiefs such as Hali and Bowe have also had run-ins with the law from use of illegal drugs.

ROFL

As if marijuana is anything at all like cocaine.

they are both federally illegal in the U.S.
one is a schedule 1 drug while the other is schedule II in the U.S.

as if you are able to justify your opinions with anything other than emoticons. ROFL

They have completely different metabolic and psychoactive effects and the people that use them have completely different behavior profiles.

I use emoticons because there aren't any crayons here. I have to keep it simple for you.

yes, but your statement shown below is still clearly wrong.


you are speaking in absolutes. that is incorrect.

Although there have been players with cocaine problems who were unsuccessful in the NFL, there have been others who have been very successful such as Dan Marino.

you are nieve if you think that their is not drug use (other than marijuana) in the NFL.

please go ahead and use crayons on your screen.

Amaro looked freaking horrible at the combine. Just flat bad. Couldn't catch anything and really didn't look good on his breaks.

I'm more than satisfied going ahead with Kelce versus drafting a potentially worse alternative in Amaro when there is a hell of a lot more need at WR, OL, DL, DB.

One bad workout doesn't erase the entirety of his college body of work.

I remember when people said "he got creamed at the Senior Bowl" about Tamba Hali.

Potentially LIGHT YEARS better, too. Don't forget that.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/n...-day-takeaways
Ebron's case of the dropsies.

Tony Gonzales dropped pretty much everything his rookie year. I hope Ebron can get it together...

It doesn't have to be Amaro, but I for one will be extremely disappointed and shocked if we don't grab a TE between 1 and 4, especially if we somehow end up with DeSean Jackson... counting on Kelce is a straight up roll of the dice.

TE is too important in this offense, and to Smith, to leave to chance IMO.

I don't think a tight end rotation of Fasano, Kelce and McGrath is leaving it to chance.

Consider that McGrath effectively played only one year of college football at a school smaller than most average high schools and was quite effective in getting open, catching the ball and turning up-field against NFL defenders in what was his rookie season. That speaks of a whole hell of a lot of upside yet to come.

And Fasano is a very solid all-around NFL tight end.

If Kelce is cleared medically, I have absolutely no qualms about fielding that trio as our TE group and think that using a draft pick on a tight end is tantamount to throwing it in the trash bin. Especially after using a very high third on Kelce in last years draft.

Now, if Kelce still has medical issues, then, by all means, I hope that they select a tight end.

Sorry dude, but that current trio sucks balls...

Kelce is a complete unknown, he may NEVER fully recover from the microfracture, those are notoriously hard to fix.

McGrath, so far, is the only proven decent player of the three... he's no great shakes but showed signs of being a viable #2 with decent all around skills.

Fasano though? dude has been an absolute bust for us and sucked during his last year in Miami as well... 8.1ypc is AWFUL, its just awful, and he didn't do much better than that during his brief healthy periods here, we could cut him today and I wouldn't blink an eye.

Dump him and get a young playmaker in the draft, THATS a trio I could live with.

And even if Kelce DOES fully recover, we still don't know if the guy is any freaking good... like I said, HUGE gamble.

Fasano and McGrath are both #2 TE. Kelce is an unknown.

and his second yr too.

here is really, really good read about it (just do a search of the article for keyword drops and start there)
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/40927752/

If Ebron falls to us, we should cut Fasano and take the dead money hit...it clears just under a million in cap space this year, but 5/yr the next two years.

Ebron
Kelce
McGrath

Me likey

There is not a chance in hell that they are going to leave the TE position to three guys that have a total of one year of NFL playing experience.

agreed.

With any other coaching staff, I'd agree.

Anthony Fasano is ****ing garbage...

I'm in on ebron

Atleast one AFC personnel exec says this years TE's blow donkey dong...

http://nfl.si.com/2014/03/31/eric-eb...-draft-rumors/

I'd take Jake Murphy or Marcel Jensen as much as I would Ebron or Amaro.

I don't think the top tier guys are "elite" level dudes.

I agree with his statement that none of these guys are better than Eifert was last year. He went 21 in a relatively weak draft class.

Put it this way, if one of the top 4 WRs were available (Watkins, Evans, Beckham, Cooks) I would probably take them over Ebron. I think our FO would too.

Only Sacc would consider a guy who's managed just 2 complete seasons and 1 year with more than 500 yards a "very solid all-around NFL tight end."

Slightly new info.

those are great numbers.

That being said, only the team will know how big a need it the TE position is. Right now QBs and receivers can "play catch" together without the coaches watching. If Kelce is able to run, cut, and catch than Alex Smith will let them know. If Kelce is recovered than the team has him along with Fasano, McGrath, and a developmental guy in Demetrius Harris. Under that scenario I would be comfortable bringing in a developmental guy like Blake Annen or Colt Lyerla along.

On the otherhand, if Kelce cant recover from microfracture surgery, than TE becomes a big need.