My Easy Chair "Evaluation" thus far...

[Sully]

Reading up on the Patriots, they were one of 4 teams in the NFL to do all their own scouting, not using a service. They graded using their own criteria, and picked accordingly.
So, knowing that, I don't know why the first couple of picks surprised me so much. Pioli and Belichick didn't give a damn what the experts thought, they drafted guys that fit their very narrow profile. They wanted their guys, and got them wherever.

Now, clearly they should have traded down for a couple of these guys. But that assumes two things.
A) There was a partner to trade down with.
and
B) Their guy would still be available at that pick.

As Petro often says, it only takes one team to like a guy for him to be gone. And as evidenced by the Cleveland/Jets trade, trading down was either not an option, or not worth doing.

So nothing about this draft sparkles. Not like last year, where we were all euphoric after nearly every pick. However, I'm not saying we should all just blindly trust in Pioli, but we should realize he goes about this deal a lot differently that most other teams, and we should come to grips with that.


All that said, my evaluation really is no evaluation. The picks confuse me and baffle me. But I think this guy knows what he's doing. So a couple of years down the line, if these guys suck, and the team hasn't improved...I'll be right along with you dog-cussing this regime. I just can't bring myself to do it, yet. That's not a cry to not discuss opinions, just an attempt to bring us back to rationality with all this. We don't know...not one of us, whether this is going to be good or bad. We don't know how these guys will be used, and how they will be asked to contribute. We don't know if they are expected to be stars, or role players.

JMO

[the Talking Can]

and let's not forget, we already have an extra #2 in 2010....

and I'll bet we'll more picks by then...people who wanted us to hop around like thhe pats did need to be patient...you have to have ammo to do it....

a smidge of patience, if you would, on that note

[Direckshun]

This draft is incredibly easy to villify, lord knows it was at the Chiefs Draft party where I was at on 1 Arrowhead Drive. And it's because it had absolutely no flash.

[King_Chief_Fan]

Originally Posted by veist

I'm not disputing that, I said seemingly because they didn't take what I thought was good value OL picks either. They are paid to be better at this than me so maybe they knew something we didn't?

I think we all can bank that they know a lot more than any of us. Despite what some of us think

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Jesus, Mecca. They took 3 C's in the 1st.

Reaches were abound EVERYWHERE for OL in this draft.

Rookie OL have the easiest transitions to the NFL. Unlike WRs, TEs, and DL, where we picked abundantly.

Jamon Meredith, 5th
Tupou, 5th
Shipley, 7th
Allen, UDFA
Canfield, 7th
Luigs, 4th
Cadogan, UDFA

[stevieray]

the front office has changed, but the fans haven't, because they have nothing to go on..I think it's an exciting new era...you can't get to the destination without traveling the road..

road trip!

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Hey, it's hard to complain about three really good picks next year. Probably another top ten, plus our own 2nd and the Falcons'.

Pioli's lack of movement this year exemplifies the fact that he is just trying to find able bodies to get this team off the ground this year. You only move around a lot when you are a lot more picky than the Chiefs are this year.

DL, WR, and TE take the most time to develop in the NFL (other than QB...). That he's used half of this year's picks on those positions says a lot. You can add linebackers and OL later on because their transition is loads easier.

Excellent points, as always, Mr. Direckshun. In truth, we currently only have 4 or 5 spots that could be considered very solid. Cassel is still a question mark, as well.

We're looking at another 3 years before Pioli's plan (whatever it is) comes to fruition. Have I mentioned lately that I despise Herm Edwards?

FAX

[shammus]

I came away disappointed after the draft.

I have faith that Magee and Jackson will be worthy pickups at the top of our board. It is a little disappointing though that apparently guys like Dorsey, McBride and Hali - recent high draft picks - won't have a spot with the new defense. I wonder if we tried to trade any of these players?

Donald Washington in the 4th round surprised me. I thought that corner was the one position that we weren't so bad off at and figure Carr and Flowers still have room to grow with Daniels and Leggett providing solid depth. That one was sort of a head-scratcher.

Same with Colin Brown in the 5th. We waited until this point to address the oline and then skipped over Jamon Meredith in order to select someone who probably would have been available on Monday. Meredith of course, was taken a few picks later. Brown was definitely the biggest reach of the draft for us I think.

I liked the Lawrence and Williams picks in the 6th and seventh round. Lawrence addresses a need for a speed receiver nicely and if he can play as well in the pros as he looks on YouTube, he might be a real steal for us. Williams looks like a solid pickup in the seventh round and we definitely could use a RB project to either replace Kolby Smith or even LJ (if released) at some point next year.

The trade up in the 7th round was kind of an odd occurance. We had two whole days to make trades, not sure why we did it at such a meaningless point. We didn't give up much though, apparently just a 7th rd pick next year. I think at that point we still had a shot at AQ Shipley too, who I think might have been an upgrade over Niswanger.

So yeah, on the whole, I was disappointed. I thought the Oline was our biggest need and we largely neglected to improve in that area. We could have really used a linebacker or two also. Vrabel and Thomas might not be fulltime players next year so we could really use an infusion of youth in that position. Hopefully we can nab Ellerbe or Beckwith in the next couple of days.

[SBK]

Our first pick, Jackson, reminds me a lot about Albert last year. When the idea started being floated that we were looking to take a converted G and turn him into a LT this place was pissed. When people started looking at him more, and once he took the field people loved the pick.

I tend to think Jackson will be that way. Seeing how the draft actually fell, the only guy I would have rather had at 3 wasn't even a remote option anymore.

[StcChief]

again 2-4 years will tell. Overall several areas addressed.

[buddha]

We'll see if Colin Brown was a massive reach or a guy that the staff knew was bigger than hell and a very hard worker. Would he be available in the later rounds? Who the hell knows? I will say this, he has faced all of the toughest defensive ends from the Big 12 and more than held his own.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by SBK

Our first pick, Jackson, reminds me a lot about Albert last year. When the idea started being floated that we were looking to take a converted G and turn him into a LT this place was pissed. When people started looking at him more, and once he took the field people loved the pick.

I tend to think Jackson will be that way. Seeing how the draft actually fell, the only guy I would have rather had at 3 wasn't even a remote option anymore.

Good point.

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

this draft is hard to love....nothing sexy, bitterness that we passed on Sanchez, bitterness that we couldn't trade down, no OL and then a wtf? LT in the 5th, no Ellerbe (lol)....

i totally understand how someone could hate it

but stubborn facts remain...if Cassel is what Halioli believes, and the two 3-4 DEs turn into solid players, then it turns out to be a pretty good draft..even with a puzzling second day....

Yeah, the whole draft and rebuilding strategy is predicated on Cassel being a franchise quarterback. Either he will be or he won't be. And everyone who is pissed off about the draft is mostly pissed because they think Cassel sucks.

Pioli has bet so much on Cassel, and Pioli has better information about his ability than do the Cassel-bashers.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

i think the draft is proof that Halioli saw the DL as a bigger problem than the OL....and, they just to bite the bullet and move towards a 3-4 all at once instead of dragging it out over a couple of years...hence the 1st and 3rd pick...

they signed vet LBs to carry us for a year and I'm sure that will be a priority next year along with OL....remember we will still have a lot of FA money to fix things with....

again, I get it that this draft is hate-able and I'm not telling anyone not to hate....but it would be false, imo, to suggest that they don't have a plan....one thing about this draft was the truth of their drafting guys who "love the game"....people wonder why we took magee over Jarret (Garret??) and I'd be they decided that magee has the better chance of being a good pro longer than the other guy.....

only time will tell of course....but there is a method here (at least in the first 3 picks...all guys with strong work ethics and dedication to the game), unlike Carl who truly threw darts at a board....

Adrian Jones was EASILY the weakest link on the line. It's hard to know how much of a detrimental effect he had on both McIntosh and Niswanger. Getting Goff was a huge upgrade, and it's possible that they think that might be enough until some more cuts go down...

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by shammus

I came away disappointed after the draft.

I have faith that Magee and Jackson will be worthy pickups at the top of our board. It is a little disappointing though that apparently guys like Dorsey, McBride and Hali - recent high draft picks - won't have a spot with the new defense. I wonder if we tried to trade any of these players?

Donald Washington in the 4th round surprised me. I thought that corner was the one position that we weren't so bad off at and figure Carr and Flowers still have room to grow with Daniels and Leggett providing solid depth. That one was sort of a head-scratcher.

Same with Colin Brown in the 5th. We waited until this point to address the oline and then skipped over Jamon Meredith in order to select someone who probably would have been available on Monday. Meredith of course, was taken a few picks later. Brown was definitely the biggest reach of the draft for us I think.

I liked the Lawrence and Williams picks in the 6th and seventh round. Lawrence addresses a need for a speed receiver nicely and if he can play as well in the pros as he looks on YouTube, he might be a real steal for us. Williams looks like a solid pickup in the seventh round and we definitely could use a RB project to either replace Kolby Smith or even LJ (if released) at some point next year.

The trade up in the 7th round was kind of an odd occurance. We had two whole days to make trades, not sure why we did it at such a meaningless point. We didn't give up much though, apparently just a 7th rd pick next year. I think at that point we still had a shot at AQ Shipley too, who I think might have been an upgrade over Niswanger.

So yeah, on the whole, I was disappointed. I thought the Oline was our biggest need and we largely neglected to improve in that area. We could have really used a linebacker or two also. Vrabel and Thomas might not be fulltime players next year so we could really use an infusion of youth in that position. Hopefully we can nab Ellerbe or Beckwith in the next couple of days.

i understand the first 3 picks, their motives and rationale seem pretty clear, and think they'll turn out to be good players....though i'm not sold on cassel, Halioli is...

i don't understand the rest of the picks really....seems a wierd mix of bpa and wtf-leftfield?....so i guess we'll find out early how good their instincts are....because it seems like we passed on a lot of safer (perception, of course) picks at positions of need (OL and LB)...

again, a hard draft to love...but it has "upside"...lol

[SBK]

These last two days have really cracked me up. I think Pioli's quote about taking the 'right' players, not necessarily the 'best' players is a strange thing to watch when put into practice.