Chiefs Gretz: Bounty Of Picks

**Tribal Warfare** · 03-27-2010, 01:53 AM

Bounty Of Picks … Weekend Cup O’Chiefs
March 26, 2010 - Bob Gretz |

For any NFL team that takes the path of building through the draft, every April is a very important time for the future of the franchise.

No other team in the league faces a more critical 2010 NFL Draft than the Chiefs. It very well could be the most important selection meeting for Team Hunt since the earliest days of the AFL-NFL wars for talent.

This week, the league released the official selection order for this year’s draft. Shake out the back story behind the 255 draft choices and there are several noteworthy developments. Among them is this:

The Chiefs have eight of the top 144 selections. That’s one of the best potential hauls of any team in the league.

Cleveland is the only club that can top that with nine of the first 146 picks. As an example of how many gifts the Chiefs will enjoy this season, the Chicago Bears have just three picks in the first 180 and the Carolina Panthers have only three of the first 174 slots. Like the Chiefs and Browns, the Bears and Panthers did not make the playoffs last year.

Those eight choices for the Chiefs are all that they have in this year’s draft, as they are without sixth and seventh round selections. Both of those choices went to Miami, the sixth for offensive linemen Andy Alleman and Ikechuku Ndukwe and the seventh was dealt in last year’s draft to allow the Chiefs to select TE Jake O’Connell.

Selections in the sixth and seventh rounds are not prime drafting spots. Any time a team gets production out of the last 80 to 90 picks that’s considered gravy by most teams. That’s what makes the career of Patriots QB Tom Brady so remarkable, since he was grabbed with a sixth-round choice, the 199th player selected in the 2000 NFL Draft.

In the little picture of the 2010-11 seasons and the big picture of this next decade, the Chiefs need to hit home runs with these eight choices, especially given the fact they are all within the top 150 spots. They should be able to draft eight players who can contribute to winning. It’s hard to believe that all eight could become starters; that’s a batting average that would put Scott Pioli and his personal department in the Hall of Fame.

But this draft is critical for Pioli, head coach Todd Haley and team chairman Clark Hunt. It’s all tied to the economics of the game and the equation is quite simple: victories = $.

The > the victories means > $; with < winning comes < $.

The Chiefs are 10-38 in the last three seasons, they’ve not won a game in the post-season since January of 1994, attendance declined in the last three seasons, the local TV blackout streak ended, the team currently has less than 40,000 tickets spoken for by season ticket holders, sponsorship revenues are down significantly, so are the sale of suites and prime seating and an expensive renovation of Arrowhead Stadium is nearing completion.

Yes, the bulk of the improvements at the stadium will be paid by a Jackson County sales tax. But the Hunt family has thrown $150 million of their money into the deal as well. They can make that back with sponsorships, suites, premium seating, club payments, etc. But that revenue stream will only flow if the Chiefs field a winning team. Not a soul is going to buy a ticket for a Chiefs game simply to see wider concourses or more restrooms and concession stands.

That’s why it’s important for the worst three-year record in Chiefs history to not become the worst four-year record that the franchise has ever seen. The Hunt Family is a fairly patient group; far more than many owners in pro football. The changes the organization has undergone in the last two years have all been initiated by Clark Hunt and he’s going to be of the mind to allow new personnel and new ideas time to grow.

Yet the realities of the situation are obvious: the Chiefs need to start winning more games than they lose. To do that, they need a lot more talent than is currently in the building. The activity in free agency has been helpful in plugging some immediate holes.

But the future hinges on these eight selections that are now some four weeks away. Mistakes can’t be made. Every choice does not have to be a home run, but it can’t be a strikeout either. These eight must contribute now and certainly in their second, third and fourth seasons. If they are used to make trades, then the player acquired has to rise to the value level of what it cost to select him. It comes down to this: if you trade up, he’d better produce like Tony Gonzalez (‘97 trade up) and not like Ryan Sims (‘02 trade up.)

Essentially, Pioli hopes to never again be in a position where he has the fifth choice, three of the first 50 picks and five of the top 102 spots. He would rather be in the spot where the New Orleans Saints are for this season, with just one pick in the top 50 and four in the top 200 choices.

That’s what happens when you win Super Bowls. If the Chiefs are going to truly lift themselves from also ran to contender like the Saints did, then the 2010 Draft class must lead the way.

WHEN THE CHIEFS HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE

This is not the first time the Chiefs have had so many picks early in the NFL Draft. Since the AFL and NFL agreed to one draft starting with the 1966 selection meeting, the Chiefs have had four years where they had eight selections in the top 150 players. That was easier to do in the 1970s and even the 1980s because the league was not at 32 teams.

LOOKING AT THE LAY OF THE LAND IN THE 2010 NFL DRAFT

The Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots have the most selections in the ‘10 NFL Draft with 12 each. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are right behind with 11 choices.

Washington, Chicago and Baltimore have the fewest choices with five each. The Bears have no selection until No. 75, a third-round choice.

When it comes to the top of the draft order, Seattle has two of the first 14 choices. The Buccaneers have three of the first 42 selections, San Francisco has three of 49 and the Chiefs come in with three of the first 50. The Patriots have four of the first 53 picks.

The Bears and Carolina Panthers do not have first-round choices.

With plenty of time remaining for wheeling and dealing, already there have been 49 trades involving the 223 selections that can be dealt. The 32 compensatory choices cannot be traded. Draft choice No. 158 has changed hands four times, starting with the Cowboys, then Patriots, Broncos and now to Oakland; same with selection No. 231 that’s changed hands four times, including twice being held by New England.

PERSONNEL FILE/THE 2010 SEASON REACHES THREE WEEKS

* RAMS – Exclusive Rights Free Agent WR Jordan Kent re-signed.
* RAVENS – RFA RB Matt Lawrence signed tender offer.
* REDSKINS – RFA LB Chris Wilson signed tender offer.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY TO … MARCUS ALLEN

Once you hit a certain point, just about everything that rolls past reminds of how old you’ve become.

Such is the case on Friday with the birthday of Hall of Fame RB Marcus Allen. He turns 50 years old.

That doesn’t seem possible, but the man who won Super Bowl MVP honors while playing for the Raiders and then arrived in Kansas City to help the Chiefs to one of their most successful periods in franchise history. Allen played five seasons in red and gold and the Chiefs were 55-25 with six post-season games. That’s an overall winning percentage of .663.

While most of his career statistics came while wearing the silver and black of the Raiders, all the records and milestones of his career came while he was playing for the Chiefs.

It was March 26, 1960 in San Diego, California that Marcus LeMarr Allen stepped into the world.

teedubya · 03-27-2010, 02:15 AM

Marcus is 50. Shit.

**the Talking Can** · 03-27-2010, 03:16 AM

unusually teicher-esque effort from gretz

'Hamas' Jenkins · 03-27-2010, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

unusually teicher-esque effort from gretz

If you wanted to point to any writer and say "this is why American newspapers are failing", you'd point to Adam Teicher. I hope that dumbass lurks on here just so he knows how much of a shitload of **** people think that he is.

He needs to shove an umbrella up his ass and open it.

Fritz88 · 03-27-2010, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

If you wanted to point to any writer and say "this is why American newspapers are failing", you'd point to Adam Teicher. I hope that dumbass lurks on here just so he knows how much of a shitload of **** people think that he is.

He needs to shove an umbrella up his ass and open it.

Hog's Gone Fishin · 03-27-2010, 07:46 AM

I love it how EVERY single article thats posted here gets flamed immediately. It really is humurous

milkman · 03-27-2010, 07:52 AM

Didn't the Chiefs have at least 8 of the top 150 picks in '08?

**cabletech94** · 03-27-2010, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

Didn't the Chiefs have at least 8 of the top 150 picks in '08?

sadly, yes.

**pr_capone** · 03-27-2010, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

Didn't the Chiefs have at least 8 of the top 150 picks in '08?

Yes but this year we have 8 of the top 144. That 6 pick difference will make all the difference in the world.

philfree · 03-27-2010, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cabletech94

sadly, yes.

Weren't five of them starters at the end of last season? Dorsey, Albert, Flowers, Carr and Charles. If those guys improve that will have been a pretty solid draft.

PhilFree

Hog's Gone Fishin · 03-27-2010, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philfree

Weren't five of them starters at the end of last season? Dorsey, Albert, Flowers, Carr and Charles. If those guys improve that will have been a pretty solid draft.

PhilFree

Damn, If we could land 5 starters every year we'd have a whole team in 4 years.

milkman · 03-27-2010, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pr_capone

Yes but this year we have 8 of the top 144. That 6 pick difference will make all the difference in the world.

Actually, my question was rhetorical, to point out how Gretz omits info to try to sell his bull.

And those 8 picks in '08 were in the first 136.

el borracho · 03-27-2010, 09:31 AM

Who was the last guy drafted by the Chiefs to make the Pro Bowl?

**Rain Man** · 03-27-2010, 09:33 AM

The NFL Draft: The player picker-upper.

**Rain Man** · 03-27-2010, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by el borracho

Who was the last guy drafted by the Chiefs to make the Pro Bowl?

I had to look it up, but it would be Jared Allen in 2004. Wonder what ever happened to that guy?

03-27-2010, 01:53 AM
Tribal Warfare The Boom Boom Room Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $902813	Gretz: Bounty Of Picks Bounty Of Picks … Weekend Cup O’Chiefs March 26, 2010 - Bob Gretz \| For any NFL team that takes the path of building through the draft, every April is a very important time for the future of the franchise. No other team in the league faces a more critical 2010 NFL Draft than the Chiefs. It very well could be the most important selection meeting for Team Hunt since the earliest days of the AFL-NFL wars for talent. This week, the league released the official selection order for this year’s draft. Shake out the back story behind the 255 draft choices and there are several noteworthy developments. Among them is this: The Chiefs have eight of the top 144 selections. That’s one of the best potential hauls of any team in the league. Cleveland is the only club that can top that with nine of the first 146 picks. As an example of how many gifts the Chiefs will enjoy this season, the Chicago Bears have just three picks in the first 180 and the Carolina Panthers have only three of the first 174 slots. Like the Chiefs and Browns, the Bears and Panthers did not make the playoffs last year. Those eight choices for the Chiefs are all that they have in this year’s draft, as they are without sixth and seventh round selections. Both of those choices went to Miami, the sixth for offensive linemen Andy Alleman and Ikechuku Ndukwe and the seventh was dealt in last year’s draft to allow the Chiefs to select TE Jake O’Connell. Selections in the sixth and seventh rounds are not prime drafting spots. Any time a team gets production out of the last 80 to 90 picks that’s considered gravy by most teams. That’s what makes the career of Patriots QB Tom Brady so remarkable, since he was grabbed with a sixth-round choice, the 199th player selected in the 2000 NFL Draft. In the little picture of the 2010-11 seasons and the big picture of this next decade, the Chiefs need to hit home runs with these eight choices, especially given the fact they are all within the top 150 spots. They should be able to draft eight players who can contribute to winning. It’s hard to believe that all eight could become starters; that’s a batting average that would put Scott Pioli and his personal department in the Hall of Fame. But this draft is critical for Pioli, head coach Todd Haley and team chairman Clark Hunt. It’s all tied to the economics of the game and the equation is quite simple: victories = $. The > the victories means > $; with < winning comes < $. The Chiefs are 10-38 in the last three seasons, they’ve not won a game in the post-season since January of 1994, attendance declined in the last three seasons, the local TV blackout streak ended, the team currently has less than 40,000 tickets spoken for by season ticket holders, sponsorship revenues are down significantly, so are the sale of suites and prime seating and an expensive renovation of Arrowhead Stadium is nearing completion. Yes, the bulk of the improvements at the stadium will be paid by a Jackson County sales tax. But the Hunt family has thrown $150 million of their money into the deal as well. They can make that back with sponsorships, suites, premium seating, club payments, etc. But that revenue stream will only flow if the Chiefs field a winning team. Not a soul is going to buy a ticket for a Chiefs game simply to see wider concourses or more restrooms and concession stands. That’s why it’s important for the worst three-year record in Chiefs history to not become the worst four-year record that the franchise has ever seen. The Hunt Family is a fairly patient group; far more than many owners in pro football. The changes the organization has undergone in the last two years have all been initiated by Clark Hunt and he’s going to be of the mind to allow new personnel and new ideas time to grow. Yet the realities of the situation are obvious: the Chiefs need to start winning more games than they lose. To do that, they need a lot more talent than is currently in the building. The activity in free agency has been helpful in plugging some immediate holes. But the future hinges on these eight selections that are now some four weeks away. Mistakes can’t be made. Every choice does not have to be a home run, but it can’t be a strikeout either. These eight must contribute now and certainly in their second, third and fourth seasons. If they are used to make trades, then the player acquired has to rise to the value level of what it cost to select him. It comes down to this: if you trade up, he’d better produce like Tony Gonzalez (‘97 trade up) and not like Ryan Sims (‘02 trade up.) Essentially, Pioli hopes to never again be in a position where he has the fifth choice, three of the first 50 picks and five of the top 102 spots. He would rather be in the spot where the New Orleans Saints are for this season, with just one pick in the top 50 and four in the top 200 choices. That’s what happens when you win Super Bowls. If the Chiefs are going to truly lift themselves from also ran to contender like the Saints did, then the 2010 Draft class must lead the way. WHEN THE CHIEFS HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE This is not the first time the Chiefs have had so many picks early in the NFL Draft. Since the AFL and NFL agreed to one draft starting with the 1966 selection meeting, the Chiefs have had four years where they had eight selections in the top 150 players. That was easier to do in the 1970s and even the 1980s because the league was not at 32 teams. LOOKING AT THE LAY OF THE LAND IN THE 2010 NFL DRAFT The Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots have the most selections in the ‘10 NFL Draft with 12 each. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are right behind with 11 choices. Washington, Chicago and Baltimore have the fewest choices with five each. The Bears have no selection until No. 75, a third-round choice. When it comes to the top of the draft order, Seattle has two of the first 14 choices. The Buccaneers have three of the first 42 selections, San Francisco has three of 49 and the Chiefs come in with three of the first 50. The Patriots have four of the first 53 picks. The Bears and Carolina Panthers do not have first-round choices. With plenty of time remaining for wheeling and dealing, already there have been 49 trades involving the 223 selections that can be dealt. The 32 compensatory choices cannot be traded. Draft choice No. 158 has changed hands four times, starting with the Cowboys, then Patriots, Broncos and now to Oakland; same with selection No. 231 that’s changed hands four times, including twice being held by New England. *PERSONNEL FILE/THE 2010 SEASON REACHES THREE WEEKS* * RAMS – Exclusive Rights Free Agent WR Jordan Kent re-signed. * RAVENS – RFA RB Matt Lawrence signed tender offer. * REDSKINS – RFA LB Chris Wilson signed tender offer. SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY TO … MARCUS ALLEN Once you hit a certain point, just about everything that rolls past reminds of how old you’ve become. Such is the case on Friday with the birthday of Hall of Fame RB Marcus Allen. He turns 50 years old. That doesn’t seem possible, but the man who won Super Bowl MVP honors while playing for the Raiders and then arrived in Kansas City to help the Chiefs to one of their most successful periods in franchise history. Allen played five seasons in red and gold and the Chiefs were 55-25 with six post-season games. That’s an overall winning percentage of .663. While most of his career statistics came while wearing the silver and black of the Raiders, all the records and milestones of his career came while he was playing for the Chiefs. It was March 26, 1960 in San Diego, California that Marcus LeMarr Allen stepped into the world.
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03-27-2010, 02:15 AM	#2
teedubya Most Valuable Poster Join Date: Oct 2003 Casino cash: $9480002	Marcus is 50. Shit.
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03-27-2010, 03:16 AM	#3
the Talking Can Supporter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: street Casino cash: $10022208	unusually teicher-esque effort from gretz __________________ Clark Hunt: "Thank god for the Dominican pool boy"
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03-27-2010, 07:46 AM	#6
Hog's Gone Fishin Fish are scared of me Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $1690477	I love it how EVERY single article thats posted here gets flamed immediately. It really is humurous
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03-27-2010, 07:52 AM	#7
milkman Dumbass! Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Leading the Marty bashing Casino cash: $10029395	Didn't the Chiefs have at least 8 of the top 150 picks in '08? __________________
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03-27-2010, 09:31 AM	#13
el borracho In Pat We Trust Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Albuquerque, NM Casino cash: $6369148	Who was the last guy drafted by the Chiefs to make the Pro Bowl?
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03-27-2010, 09:33 AM	#14
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3308491 VARSITY	The NFL Draft: The player picker-upper. __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
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