Teicher: Chiefs rookies Allen, Stephenson get in line

[Coogs]

Chiefs rookies Allen, Stephenson get in line

The Chiefs would rather have draft picks Allen and Stephenson sit and learn this season.


By ADAM TEICHER

The Kansas City Star


Chiefs offensive linemen Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson were side-by-side at this weekend’s rookie camp, and the team hopes they will be that way for years to come


The Chiefs unveiled at their weekend rookie camp what could be the left side of their future offensive line. Jeff Allen, their second-round draft pick, was the left guard while Donald Stephenson, their third-round choice, was next to him at tackle.

It’s not a reach to believe both players could someday be starting in those spots for the Chiefs. The incumbents, left guard Ryan Lilja and left tackle Branden Albert, are heading into the final season of their contracts.

The Chiefs just hope that someday won’t come this year. They would like Allen and Stephenson ready to play in case of injury to a starter, but would rather for now they sit and learn.

“All things being equal,” coach Romeo Crennel said, “I’d rather have veterans everywhere.”

Even without Allen and Stephenson, the Chiefs will have a couple of new elements on their offensive line. Rodney Hudson, a second-round draft pick last year, will take over from Casey Wiegmann at center. Eric Winston was signed as a free agent to play right tackle.

Lilja, Albert and right guard Jon Asamoah were starters last year. The Chiefs appear in no mood to tinker any more with their offensive line.

“With that position group, the more they work together, the more they will jell,” Crennel said. “I think everybody knows that. The sooner you can get the guys that you have working together, the better chance they have to jell. They will jell because the nature of that group is that they like to hang out together, they like to do things together. But you’ve got to keep them together to make that happen.”

That’s particularly important for the Chiefs, who are getting younger on the offensive line. Among the five starters, Lilja is the oldest at 30 and the only one over 28. Hudson will be in his first year as a starter, just as Asamoah was last year.

Lilja, who once helped the Colts win a Super Bowl, qualifies as a veteran. But having joined the Chiefs only in 2010, he’s not a long-timer in the sense of Wiegmann or Brian Waters, who was released by the Chiefs last summer.

“We’ve got some of the core guys that have been here for a couple of years,” Albert said. “I’ve been here four-plus seasons, Ryan’s been here (two)-plus seasons. So it is kind of hard, but right now is the most important stage of developing our offensive line, the continuity and getting things together. We work together and as we move into (offseason practice) and minicamp and training camp, hopefully everything comes together with the new young guys that are coming in and the new free agents, that we all come together and get things going.”

For now, Allen and Stephenson figure in as depth, though soon it could be more than that.

“Basically come in, work hard, come in with the mind-set that you want to learn and get better every day,” Albert said when asked what advice he would have for his new teammates. “You’re going to have your struggles here and there and you’re going go through hard times, you’re going to hit a rookie wall but keep fighting and go to the right people for the right advice and keep striving to be the best player you can be.”

The rookie camp is just the start. The Chiefs aren’t in full pads and contact is minimal, so the Chiefs will have to wait until training camp to get a better gauge on how advanced their rookie linemen are.

“The good guys aren’t even here,” Crennel said. “When they start going against the good guys and have the pads on, we’ll see if they can hold their own. At that time, we’ll begin to have an indication.”

Allen played tackle in college at Illinois but will likely be a guard with the Chiefs.

“I felt comfortable but it’s a lot different than tackle,” said Allen, who missed Saturday’s practices to participate in graduation ceremonies at Illinois. He was scheduled to return today. “You’ve got to be less patient. It’s definitely a process. We all just got the playbooks yesterday. We were in the books last night. You’ve got to take the time to study so you can come out and play fast.

“The tempo was really fast and everyone is a really great player, so you know you have to pick it up a few notches.”

Stephenson was at home, and not just at tackle. He’s from the Kansas City area, having attended Central High and then Blue Springs before moving on to college at Oklahoma. He was a two-year starter at tackle for the Sooners.

“It’s faster,” Stephenson said. “I expected that. The mental part of it has increased. It’s the NFL. It’s going to be tougher. So I have to be tougher and I have to be smarter.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/12...#storylink=cpy

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by whoman69

He wasn't issued an internal clock.

Hence, why he's getting injured more and more due to taking unnecessary hits.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

And let's be honest - there isn't a guy in the football world that doesn't think DeCastro is immediately going to step in Day One and not dominate guys. He's is. He'll probably make his first Pro Bowl before Poe sees a game day starting spot.

In addition, you just hope Allen is able to convert to guard and play it at a high level. I mean, you just spent a high second rounder on a conversion project. It's taken Albert four full seasons as a starter to begin to play at an average level.

All I'm saying is that if you are planning on taking a starting guard with a high second round pick, just take the ****ing guy who is going to go to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season in the first and be done with it. And I don't care one iota about potential "elite" nose tackles. You can break the mold with Ted Washington and the guy was a perennial free agent.



As well, Poe looks nothing like Ngata. He's two inches shorter, with substantially shorter arms and lacks the lateral quickness of Ngata.

Would you quit typing. There may be people on this board dumb enough to think you know what you're talking about.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by scott free

310 is his listed weight.

http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-foo...an_josh00.html

I wouldn't put too much stock into the listed weight thing.

Chiefs still list Jovan Belcher at 226 lbs.

He was 247 at his Pro Day and played at 255 last year for the Chiefs.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by BossChief

Positional value is something you seem to not quite fully understand.

Guard is a bottom 5 position in terms of impact to games, NT is top 5. With the tools Poe has (acting like you or anyone else here knows what to look for in NTs better than Pioli or Crennel is just as foolish as saying Albert sucks...you couldn't have even watched a single game of Poes in college) he has a chance to change the entire defense front to back in a positive way.

I've gotta get some stuff done, but I'll knock the rest of that post out later today.

I've got a chance to win Mega Millions if I buy a ticket. Doesn't mean it's going to happen though and you are rolling the dice on a guy when he really hasn't done it before.

And NT in a 34 isn't a Top 5 positional value. It's why you don't see them being taken in the first round very often and why guys like Ta'amu, Chapman and Powe (all proven high level performers in BCS conferences) dropped to the mid/late rounds despite their elevated draft potential here on Chiefs Planet.

It's a two down, fat guy, space eater that doesn't have to do anything other than hold up the center and a guard. That's it. Especially in this system. The defensive ends are more important. The linebackers are more important. The safeties are more important. The cornerbacks are more important.

The nose tackles sole duty is to hold up the two guys on the offensive side of the ball with the lowest positional value, i.e., the center and guard.

Don't talk to me about positional value as it relates to a guard and try to sell that same shit to the same guy on the other side of the ball.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by Three7s

According to Sacc!

I love it when people go all out to bash draft picks before they play. Kind of reminds me of when people bashed Hali after he was drafted/moved to LB. It's pretty wise to stfu until they actually play.

I'm not bashing the guy, I'm bashing the front office for basically passing on the best guy in the draft at his position, by a considerable margin, in the first round and then taking a guy for that position in the next/second round who is going to be a conversion project for the position.

I hope like hell that Poe ends up being as good as his draft pick warrants. However, he's a project that is going to have to learn. Right now, I'm pretty sure he's third on the depth chart behind Powe and Gordon at nose. As well, I hope that Allen turns out to be all world at guard, especially considering that we could have had DeCastro a round earlier.

My view on this is we took a second team Conference USA 4-3 defensive tackle with our first pick and an honorable mention Big Ten offensive tackle with our second rounder and hoping that they convert to new positions versus taking two guys who were considered the best at their respective positions in the draft (DeCastro and Ta'amu/Chapman). Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

However, I hope it plays out well in the end.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by BossChief

You should really stop acting like you know anything about OL play.

I defy you to look at Albert's technique and effectiveness over the past three years and say that it's anything beyond average at best. I don't care about the PFF bullshit as the Chiefs constantly screen and dink and dunk and run more than they pass.

I double dog dare you.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I'm not bashing the guy, I'm bashing the front office for basically passing on the best guy in the draft at his position, by a considerable margin, in the first round and then taking a guy for that position in the next/second round who is going to be a conversion project for the position.

I hope like hell that Poe ends up being as good as his draft pick warrants. However, he's a project that is going to have to learn. Right now, I'm pretty sure he's third on the depth chart behind Powe and Gordon at nose. As well, I hope that Allen turns out to be all world at guard, especially considering that we could have had DeCastro a round earlier.

My view on this is we took a second team Conference USA 4-3 defensive tackle with our first pick and an honorable mention Big Ten offensive tackle with our second rounder and hoping that they convert to new positions versus taking two guys who were considered the best at their respective positions in the draft (DeCastro and Ta'amu/Chapman). Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

However, I hope it plays out well in the end.

they were "considered the best at their respective positions" by who?

Answer: Saccapoo

I'm a big Chapman fan, but I'm not privy to his actual medical reports that show how playing a year with a torn ACL will effect his ability to recover fully from the injury after surgery.

Alameda is way overrated. He got neutralized by single blocks a lot and I never saw him as a guy you could even think about as "the best at his respective position"

Powe fell due to his disability and his lacking abilities to be "scheme diverse"

Poe rose up boards because of his extremely rare physical tools and by whatever the guys saw on film. We felt strongly enough about him that we passed on moving down in the draft because we didn't think he would still be there.

Basically, the people that are better than everyone else at assessing DL talent fell in love with him and that means more than some Internet knowitalls (that didn't watch a single game of Poes) not liking the pick.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by Coogs

This. No sense bursting a blood vessel in your brain in May. Let it play out and see what happens.

This place never ceases to amaze.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I'm not bashing the guy, I'm bashing the front office for basically passing on the best guy in the draft at his position, by a considerable margin, in the first round and then taking a guy for that position in the next/second round who is going to be a conversion project for the position.

I hope like hell that Poe ends up being as good as his draft pick warrants. However, he's a project that is going to have to learn. Right now, I'm pretty sure he's third on the depth chart behind Powe and Gordon at nose. As well, I hope that Allen turns out to be all world at guard, especially considering that we could have had DeCastro a round earlier.

My view on this is we took a second team Conference USA 4-3 defensive tackle with our first pick and an honorable mention Big Ten offensive tackle with our second rounder and hoping that they convert to new positions versus taking two guys who were considered the best at their respective positions in the draft (DeCastro and Ta'amu/Chapman). Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

However, I hope it plays out well in the end.

This is one of the stupidest posts ever written on drafting. Congratulations on that, I guess.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

COULD YA IMAGINE TEH LINE WITH OKUNG AND DE CASTRO!!!

[Okie_Apparition]

kcchiefs: RT @JoshLooney: Of #Chiefs 10 tryout players only QB David LeGree is on hand for Sundays final minicamp practice
Posted 1 hour ago

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I wouldn't put too much stock into the listed weight thing.

Chiefs still list Jovan Belcher at 226 lbs.

He was 247 at his Pro Day and played at 255 last year for the Chiefs.

link?

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

kcchiefs: RT @JoshLooney: Of #Chiefs 10 tryout players only QB David LeGree is on hand for Sundays final minicamp practice
Posted 1 hour ago

Well there you have it.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I've got a chance to win Mega Millions if I buy a ticket. Doesn't mean it's going to happen though and you are rolling the dice on a guy when he really hasn't done it before.

Mixing your metaphors is bad writing.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I still don't understand why, if they were drafting the future starting guard (Allen) as high as the second round in this past draft, don't you just take the best guard (far and away) in the first round (DeCastro) and be done with it versus trying to convert a guy from tackle to guard and use a second rounder doing it.

I don't get it. At least to me, it seems pretty ****ing stupid.

Because drafting a ****ing guard at #11 overall is the most ****ing stupid waste of a draft pick, and only a ****ing moron, like you you ****ing dipshit, can not understand that.

You, and your ilk are all a bunch of ****ing idiots who are ****ing clueless.

JFC, ****ing morons.