['Hamas' Jenkins]

I have no problem with Orton starting for this team next year, but that's really the only year he should start for this team if it wants to do much of anything with the talent it has in place. Rookie QBs should, generally, sit, but they also need reps. Year one should just help them acclimate to the league, practice schedules, routines, film study, adjusting to the speed of the game through running the scout team, and occasional play in games that are decided.

Here's what we do know:

The odds are overwhelmingly, and I can't stress this enough, overwhelmingly in favor of Hali, Carr, Flowers, etc all being wasted if the QB is Orton anyway. The odds of a team winning the way the NFL is currently constructed with Kyle Orton types as its QBs are infinitesimally low. It was already low five years ago, it's nearly nonexistent now.

The Chiefs winning many of the games that they did this season hurt the franchise in the long run, but at this point, that cost is sunk. What we also know is that this is a team that has a lot of available cap room and one glaring weakness. It also has problems with depth.

Depth can be addressed wisely and, at times, economically through sound FA acquisitions. What you cannot acquire through FA in almost every instance is a quarterback that can win you a Super Bowl, unless said QB is coming off of some kind of injury thought to be career threatening (Brees, Warner, Montana), and even if you acquire said QB, the clock is usually at 11:30 for their career anyway.

Given that the draft is predictive in nature the best you can do is make sound scouting reports, do your due diligence, and then play the odds.

Trading a whole draft for a QB is absolutely worth the risk, because without that QB, you aren't going anywhere anyway.

Let's just assume that Pioli did go all "Ditka" in the 2009 draft, acquiring Stafford in the process. Is the team in better or worse shape? Or what if he realized Cassel wasn't the answer after the playoffs and did the same thing for Cam Newton.

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of where we are, there are never surefire franchise QBs at any point. All have inherent risks. If they bust, the team is set back, but it's only set back relative to where it would be if they had a franchise quarterback, because in this league, without one, you might as well be playing hockey without a goalie.