Chiefs @ 12

[Direckshun]

Assuming the Chiefs lose the coinflip with the Seahawks.

Here's how I imagine the first 11 picks go.

1. Indianapolis Colts: QB Andrew Luck, Stanford
2. Cleveland Browns (trade up): QB Robert Griffin, Baylor
3. Minnesota Vikings: OT Matt Kalil, USC
4. St. Louis Rams (trade down): WR Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
5. Tampa Bay Bucs: RB Trent Richardson, Alabama
6. Washington Redskins: CB Morris Claiborne, LSU
7. Jaguars: WR Alshon Jeffrey, South Carolina
8. Dolphins: DT Devin Still, Penn State
9. Panthers: CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama
10. Bills: OT Jonathan Martin, Stanford
11. Seahawks: DE Quentin Coples, North Carolina
12. Chiefs:

At this point, my big board in terms of the most talented players is:

1. OG David DeCastro, Stanford
2. CB Janoris Jenkins, North Alabama
3. ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College
4. OT Riley Reiff, Iowa
5. ILB Dont'a Hightower, Alabama
6. DE/OLB Nick Perry, USC
7. WR Michael Floyd, Notre Dame
8. DE/OLB Courtney Upshaw, Alabama
9. C Peter Konz, Wisconsin
10. CB Alonzo Dennard, Nebraska

As of now, which is waaaay too early in the game, here's the big board I have of the remaining talent.

I look over this list, and I gotta be honest. The only players that make sense are offensive line.

DeCastro, Reiff, and Konz.

I'm almost certain that, even if the Chiefs are able to trade down, their first rounder almost certainly will be offensive line.

Under these circumstances, I'd have to prefer the Chiefs go with the position with actual first round talent, and take a player you just know Pioli knows forwards and backwards, OT Riley Reiff for a position of clear need.

Of course, DeCastro is the best talent on the board, and aside from Jenkins and Kuechly, it's not even close. But the Chiefs are relatively set at guard with Lilja (who I believe Pioli is still fond of) and Asamoah. Plus, Pioli does value positional value, and he's not going to abandon that two years out of the past three. Normally right tackle isn't that valuable either, but Branden Albert is up for a new contract in 2013, and having an insurance policy in case Albert loses his mind and demands Willie Roaf money is critical.

I think this means the Chiefs draft Riley Reiff. The line for now looks pretty solid:

LT: Branden Albert, Riley Reiff
LG: Ryan Lilja, Darry Harris
C: Rodney Hudson, Darryl Harris
RG: Jon Asamoah, Darryl Harris
RT: Riley Reiff, Joe Maneri

[Jawshco]

Reiff makes sense, but I wouldn't take Kuechly out of the equation. DJ is a stud at ILB, but Belcher and Williams are both mediocre or worse. Having an LB corps of: Hali, Kuechly, DJ, Houston- would be pretty sweet.

I know... Reiff fills a bigger need, but I'd love to see us have the best back 8 in football.

[O.city]

I like Kuechly but Hightower could be there in the second round. You could have your RT for years and another ILB.

[Saccopoo]

DeCastro makes zero sense.

We drafted Asamoah in '10. Hudson in '11.

Both were All-American's at the guard position.

It's a little redundant to draft yet another guard, especially that high. And also considering that "they" rate Jon Martin as a top ten pick as well. One has to wonder if it's Luck that is elevating these guys to this level or does Stanford really have three guys that are top 15 pick worthy? (Reminds me of the year when all those guys on the North Carolina State defensive line got picked in the first couple of rounds because Mario Williams was there. Everybody just looked that much better because of him.)

I don't think that Rieff has any more potential at right tackle than a guy like Matt Reynolds or Bobbie Massie, so burning a first rounder on a guy that has his equal later in the draft is silly.

However, Konz is far and away the best center in this draft and one of the best center prospects of the past decade. Seeing as we have the potential for a Wiegmann retirement and two former All-Americans at the guard position on the roster, I think that Konz makes the most sense.

[O.city]

I'm fine with Konz.

[Chiefs=Champions]

Yer i would reluctantly take Konz there. Would rather trade up for a qb, or trade down for value but eh, probably not going to happen..

[RealSNR]

If we drafted Konz, we'd have a ****ing killer interior line. Hudson goes to LG, Konz at C, and Lilja either sits on the bench or goes home. Either way, it would mark the end of two broke dicks in the center meat of our line trying to get push against 300 lb 3-4 defensive linemen on 3rd/4th and short. If we took Rieff, that RT position is nice to shore up, but we would still have a problem in the middle. Hudson would get moved to C, but Lilja is still sitting there needing to be replaced.

LT- Albert
LG- Hudson (where he belongs)
C- Konz
RG- Asamoah
RT- Richardson/Replacement

vs

LT- Albert
LG- Lilja (ick)
C- Hudson (I'd prefer Konz over Hudson)
RG- Asamoah
RT- Rieff/other tackle

That first option looks a lot sexier to me. Option #1 is versatile, powerful, young, and would rape faces a lot harder than Option #2. Lilja's a huge weak spot, and Konz is a really special player at center, moreso than Hudson would be, I think.

[NJChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by SNR

If we drafted Konz, we'd have a ****ing killer interior line. Hudson goes to LG, Konz at C, and Lilja either sits on the bench or goes home. Either way, it would mark the end of two broke dicks in the center meat of our line trying to get push against 300 lb 3-4 defensive linemen on 3rd/4th and short. If we took Rieff, that RT position is nice to shore up, but we would still have a problem in the middle. Hudson would get moved to C, but Lilja is still sitting there needing to be replaced.

LT- Albert
LG- Hudson (where he belongs)
C- Konz
RG- Asamoah
RT- Richardson/Replacement

vs

LT- Albert
LG- Lilja (ick)
C- Hudson (I'd prefer Konz over Hudson)
RG- Asamoah
RT- Rieff/other tackle

That first option looks a lot sexier to me. Option #1 is versatile, powerful, young, and would rape faces a lot harder than Option #2. Lilja's a huge weak spot, and Konz is a really special player at center, moreso than Hudson would be, I think.

I think you are being a little nice to option one by not saying much about Richardson yet calling Lilja a huge weakness. Even though its true, Richardson is easily as big if not a bigger weakness. You can get also get a replacement for Lilja in FA if you draft Rieff.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by NJChiefsFan

I think you are being a little nice to option one by not saying much about Richardson yet calling Lilja a huge weakness. Even though its true, Richardson is easily as big if not a bigger weakness. You can get also get a replacement for Lilja in FA if you draft Reiff.

What I like about the first proposed line is the entire left side up until RT is one solid mass of skull-****ing rapery. That is one badass offensive line. Konz really is the crown jewel (along with Asamoah), but also putting Hudson at LG leaves us with upgrades at LG (Hudson over a free agent or Lilja), AND C (Konz over Hudson).

Drafting Reiff or Martin would be fantastic, sure, but my only issue with that is Konz is a kind of value that you won't find in a RT at the spot we're picking in. For instance, if Kalil, Martin AND Reiff are all gone by 11, then what? What if it's just Kalil and Martin (the most likely scenario). I think the Chiefs will be so ****ing stacked and set to go with the Hudson/Konz lineup, that it really won't matter what we have at RT. Hell, you saw how the protection on the right side improved when we put Orton in under center. Really, the only thing I'd be worried about is run-blocking to the right if we kept Hudson.

And that's where I think people are underselling Konz big time. A tackle like Reiff is pretty good for running the ball. A Center like Konz, however, is GOD MODE for running the ball, especially when you have the existing pieces already in place like the Chiefs do.

[RealSNR]

To summarize:

Assuming we don't draft a QB:

1. Konz is a really special player. Hudson is special too, but he's also a bit of an unknown. The last thing we want is for him to be a Niswanger at center (unlikely, but it's possible since he's inexperienced at the position). Konz is so special that I think the upgrade from Hudson to Konz is almost as good as an upgrade from Richardson to a Reiff or Martin (assuming one of those guys are there).

2. Where it gets interesting is asking what the Chiefs could do with a nice upgrade at RT versus nice upgrades at LG AND C. In one situation the Chiefs fill a hole. But in this situation, the Chiefs are building an offensive line of pure and utter domination. We've already got that kind of squad at linebacker and corner, and acquiring that kind of really special one-of-a-kind dominance at offensive line would be HUGE. In that case, I'll take the super-athletic 1-4 spots over the pretty good 1, 4, and 5 spots.

3. Yeah, we can get a cheap fill in at guard for Lilja if he's too much of a broke dick. But we can also get an easy upgrade from Richardson if we either follow Sac's mock and take Reynolds, or if we pursue a free agent like we would at guard. Either way, I'm totally comfortable having one mediocre to halfway decent RT if it means spending our draft pick on turning the rest of the offensive line into a slaughter house.

[NJChiefsFan]

Well that is a better arguement than the first post, thats for sure. I can be sold on that. I would like to take a look at the FA RT's. Too bad we didn't get a look at Mims. I guess he is probably still a little ways away.

[Chris Meck]

Lilja's done. Finished. He gets no push, ever, against anyone. He and Wiegmann are done.

I'd hate to be stuck drafting o'line at 11 or 12 but we may have no choice. Best case scenario would be to trade back but that may not be possible.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Lilja's done. Finished. He gets no push, ever, against anyone. He and Wiegmann are done.

And that's why with the Konz pick, we're not only solving both of these huge holes on the roster, but we're turning those holes into an elite unit on this team. Hell, look at all the depth we would have at the interior! Hudson would back up center, Lilja/Harris would back up the guards, Richardson/Mims would back up the tackles, Richardson could back up at guard, Albert could back up at guard. God, we'd be set at the offensive line for at LEAST 4 or 5 seasons.

If people have a problem with taking a center that high, we'll just trade down. Either way, if we're not going to fill the biggest hole on the team (QB) then we should use a pick on a guy like Konz who will not only shore up the line but make it dominant.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by SNR

And that's why with the Konz pick, we're not only solving both of these huge holes on the roster, but we're turning those holes into an elite unit on this team. Hell, look at all the depth we would have at the interior! Hudson would back up center, Lilja/Harris would back up the guards, Richardson/Mims would back up the tackles, Richardson could back up at guard, Albert could back up at guard. God, we'd be set at the offensive line for at LEAST 4 or 5 seasons.

If people have a problem with taking a center that high, we'll just trade down. Either way, if we're not going to fill the biggest hole on the team (QB) then we should use a pick on a guy like Konz who will not only shore up the line but make it dominant.

We could also solve both problems by drafting someone like DeCatro or even Zeitler in round 2-3, who was another part of the massive interior line in Wisconsin.

Lets not forget that Hudson was graded as a NFL C and was drafted to be the C. So no matter which position we take, be it G or C, both positions are filled with new players.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by jd1020

We could also solve both problems by drafting someone like DeCatro or even Zeitler in round 2-3, who was another part of the massive interior line in Wisconsin.

Lets not forget that Hudson was graded as a NFL C and was drafted to be the C. So no matter which position we take, be it G or C, both positions are filled with new players.

That's also a good plan. I'm just saying that Konz would be a better pick than a RT in the first round.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by SNR

That's also a good plan. I'm just saying that Konz would be a better pick than a RT in the first round.

If we were to trade down in the first and pick up a 3rd or something. I would be looking at something like...

1) Dontari Poe, NT
2) Chris Polk, RB - even though I'm not a fan of RB so early, it fits better to grab RB here
3A) Nate Potter, OT
3B) Kevin Zeitler, G
4) Michael Egnew, TE
5) Jerry Franklin, ILB
6) Kellen Moore, QB
7) Kelcie McCray, SS

EDIT: We could also use our 2nd on Coby Fleener and draft Robert Turbin/Vick Ballard/Tauren Poole in the 4th.