Late night bullshit: places I think the Chiefs must go in the draft.

[Direckshun]

Just thinking out loud here, humor me.

KC has eight picks in the draft.

3 high rounders (tier 1)
2 midrounders (tier 2)
3 low-rounders (tier 3)

I think this team's worst need is two-fold: nose tackle and secondary depth.

This season, the Chiefs will face an incumbent Carson Palmer twice, Philip Rivers twice, Peyton Manning twice, Matt Ryan, two overall #1 picks of the past two years in Cam Newton and Andrew Luck, Ben Rothlessberger and Drew Brees. That is a brutal line of quarterbacks.

Which of course means two things: we could be facing these QBs for months with Travis Daniels as a starting corner if either Routt or Flowers go down (Arenas is pretty much a pure nickel corner). Not to mention our precarious safety situation, in which we only have Berry and Lewis, only two players with any reliability. I'd like much more talent here.

The Chiefs of course need to find themselves a nose. They need to find themselves depth across the front seven, particularly at OLB and DE.

And the Chiefs need depth along the offensive line, which right now stands only at David Mims and Darryl Harris.

So following my own arbitrarily restrictive guidelines, how might I arrange this draft?

The one indispensible one, I'd think, would be the nose, which would almost have to be selected in the first three rounds. DE is a tough position to invest in, so I think that'd have to be a high round pick, too.

Offensive line depth should require something like two picks, maybe some tackle depth in the midrounds and some interior OL depth in the late rounds.

So that commits our three tiers to something like this:

Tier 1 (3 picks): NT, DE, ???
Tier 2 (2 picks): OT, ???
Tier 3 (3 picks): OG, ???, ???

I know this is all based purely on need, which is not how you draft. But I'm just playing with an exercise here.

That means you have a pick still free in the first tier, one in the second tier, and two in the third tier.

Here's the thing, I think we should have one secondary selection in all three tiers.

I know that only leaves one spot open for passrusher, and it's in the third tier, but there are some pretty interesting developmental guys in the lowrounds this year as passrushers, and we've already got 5 passrushers under contract.

Just thinking out loud here.

1. DE Michael Brockers, LSU
2. NT Alameda Ta'amu, Washington
3. S Brandon Taylor, LSU
4. CB Brandon Boykin, Georgia
5. OT Brandon Mosley, Auburn
6. S Winston Guy, Jr., Kentucky
7. OLB Kyle Wilbur, Wake Forest
7. OG Austen Pasztor, Virginia

The team:

QB: Cassel, Quinn, Stanzi
RB: Charles, Hillis, McCluster
FB: Bannon

WR: Bowe, Breaston, Baldwin, Copper, McCluster
TE: Moeaki, Boss, Maneri

LT: Albert, Mosley
LG: Lilja, Harris
C: Hudson, Harris
RG: Asamoah, Pasztor
RT: Winston, Mosley

DE: Dorsey, Bailey
NT: Ta'amu, Gordon, Powe
DE: Jackson, Brockers, Gordon

OLB: Hali, Sheffield
ILB: Belcher, Siler
ILB: Johnson, Siler
OLB: Houston, Studebaker, Wilbur

CB: Flowers, Routt, Arenas, Daniels, Brown, Boykin
S: Berry, Lewis, Taylor, Guy

[Saul Good]

1 starter

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

1 starter

In 2012. Sure.

But in 2013, you've got two with Brockers.

You've also got Taylor on the field roughly half of the snaps in subpackages, and potentially supplanting Lewis. And Boykin has starter potential down the road.

Two surefire starters and some starting upside on a team this talented... is doing well.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

In 2012. Sure.

But in 2013, you've got two with Brockers.

You've also got Taylor on the field roughly half of the snaps in subpackages, and potentially supplanting Lewis. And Boykin has starter potential down the road.

Two surefire starters and some starting upside on a team this talented... is doing well.

When you finish in last place and have the 11th pick in the draft and wind up with only a single year one starter and no QBOTF, you've had a bad draft.

There simply is no such thing as a last place team with no QB that is so talented that you shouldn't be able to draft more than 1 player who even projects to be a year one starter unless you grab a QB in the first round.

[bsp4444]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

When you finish in last place and have the 11th pick in the draft and wind up with only a single year one starter and no QBOTF, you've had a bad draft.

There simply is no such thing as a last place team with no QB that is so talented that you shouldn't be able to draft more than 1 player who even projects to be a year one starter unless you grab a QB in the first round.

Because you lost three starters to injury last year. That's why you can afford to add depth and build for the future. You very well can add one starter and be a much better team, so lighten up.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

When you finish in last place and have the 11th pick in the draft and wind up with only a single year one starter and no QBOTF, you've had a bad draft.

There simply is no such thing as a last place team with no QB that is so talented that you shouldn't be able to draft more than 1 player who even projects to be a year one starter unless you grab a QB in the first round.

Don't overreact.

The Chiefs finished last place in the AFC West by one game, against a tough schedule with their starting QB, franchise RB, TE, and safety all out.

We started Palko for a month, including two games over Kyle Orton.

Change any of these factors, and the Chiefs win the AFC West, and probably a few more games.

What did the Chiefs miss for a good part of last year?

A non-atrocious QB.
A threat at RB.
A right tackle.
Good safety play.
Talent at tight end.
Any non-Hali passrush.

All these problems have been fixed. Cassel's coming back, Charles is back, Winston is signed, Berry is back, Moeaki is back with Boss in the wings, and Houston finally caught on.

The only two real holes this team has is QB and NT.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Don't overreact.

The Chiefs finished last place in the AFC West by one game, against a tough schedule with their starting QB, franchise RB, TE, and safety all out.

We started Palko for a month, including two games over Kyle Orton.

Change any of these factors, and the Chiefs win the AFC West, and probably a few more games.

What did the Chiefs miss for a good part of last year?

A non-atrocious QB.
A threat at RB.
A right tackle.
Good safety play.
Talent at tight end.
Any non-Hali passrush.

All these problems have been fixed. Cassel's coming back, Charles is back, Winston is signed, Berry is back, Moeaki is back with Boss in the wings, and Houston finally caught on.

The only two real holes this team has is QB and NT.

Our interior OL was terrible. Hudson will take care of one of the two gaping holes. I really think we need a C. I know that Hudson can theoretically play there, but I'd like to see Lilja out of the starting lineup and a new C starting week one.

I'm all for drafting for depth, but this isn't a team that's got a lot of weapons. We're solid almost everywhere, but we really aren't great anywhere. We've got no QB, and we've got 1 guy who gets to the QB. Drafting for depth in the first round is a terrible idea when you've got the #11 pick.

[whoman69]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

When you finish in last place and have the 11th pick in the draft and wind up with only a single year one starter and no QBOTF, you've had a bad draft.

There simply is no such thing as a last place team with no QB that is so talented that you shouldn't be able to draft more than 1 player who even projects to be a year one starter unless you grab a QB in the first round.

This team is a last place team because of the QB. I like this draft very much and there are several players in there who down the road could step in and start. I don't see any QBotF that I would trust to be a franchise any more than what Stanzi is. If you draft a QB, they either have to cut Stanzi or the new guy doesn't make the roster. No way we come into a year again with a backup who hasn't taken a single snap in the NFL.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by whoman69

This team is a last place team because of the QB. I like this draft very much and there are several players in there who down the road could step in and start.

It was also in last place because (arguably...) the best player on offense and the best player on defense were both lost for the year very early on. That's two starting spots right there that will be upgraded without the draft. And you can add the new right tackle to that. People talk a lot about the roster like it's strewn with holes, but I just don't see it. On the d-line you have the nose, on the o-line you have center, receiver is solid, running back is solid, tight end is solid, cornerback is solid, OLB is solid, ILB could use some depth but that's not an 11th pick thing, safety is solid. And then there's QB.

[KCrockaholic]

I'd like the Boykin pick. He's versatile.

[ILChief]

No to Brockers. WTF

[BigMeatballDave]

ANOTHER DT from LSU in the 1st?

Seriously?

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Dave

ANOTHER DT from LSU in the 1st?

Seriously?

Considering he is a more 3-4 appropriate version of Glenn Dorsey, and we're letting Dorsey go after this year....

[RealSNR]

Brockers is good, but he's a bit overkill for that position in my opinion. I will be disappointed if we draft him without trading down. I'd prefer just to pass on him altogether since he's not likely to make it past the first half of this draft.

A guy like Jared Crick with our 3rd rounder would be ideal. Extremely versatile line player who can push Dorsey and/or Jackson, which is really what we need. He's got a very high floor with the potential to start in the NFL for 10+ years.

Look at JJ Watt for the Texans and tell me that's not just what this Chiefs defensive line needs. Crick is totally that player.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by SNR

Brockers is good, but he's a bit overkill for that position in my opinion. I will be disappointed if we draft him without trading down. I'd prefer just to pass on him altogether since he's not likely to make it past the first half of this draft.

A guy like Jared Crick with our 3rd rounder would be ideal. Extremely versatile line player who can push Dorsey and/or Jackson, which is really what we need. He's got a very high floor with the potential to start in the NFL for 10+ years.

Look at JJ Watt for the Texans and tell me that's not just what this Chiefs defensive line needs. Crick is totally that player.

Who're you interested in at #11 overall?

Or, let's say, the low teens?