I'm getting antsy, so here's 2011.

[Direckshun]

With a tougher schedule and a team still very young and in rebuild mode, the best we can hope for is that the Chiefs maintain a record of 8-8 or better, and progressed to the point where future runs are much more likely.

We resign Tamba Hali to a 4-year during the season (due to the lockout cap on contract years), $36m deal with 10m guaranteed. Carr is resigned to a 4-year deal for $16m deal with $4m guaranteed. We sign Shaun Smith for a 3-year deal, $10 million, $1m guaranteed.

We also resign Pope and Ron Edwards to insignificant deals designed to keep them around for a couple more years.

Vrabel retires to coach at OSU. Brian Waters gets cut, Asamoah steps in at LG. We sign Wiegmann to a one year deal to keep Hudson as a backup to all three interior line positions.

We let go Croyle, Cox, Castille, O'Callaghan, Niswanger, Mays, Daniels, and in a surprising twist, Jon McGraw.

Of the rookies, we have a couple holdouts, but everybody's signed and on the team that we drafted in April.

We sign the following free agents:

* RT Jeremy Trueblood, Bucs -- 3 years, $9 million
* QB Nate Davis -- 2 years, $2 million
* WR Steve Breaston, Cardinals -- 2 years, $5 million
* WR Sam Hurd, Cowboys -- 2 years, $3 million
* FS Corey Lynch, Bucaneers, -- 2 years, $3 million

And the following UDFAs:

* FS Anthony Walters, Delaware
* CB Ryan Jones, Northern Missouri State
* WR Jeff Maehl, Oregon
* SS Joe Lefeged, Rutgers
* C Tim Barnes, Missouri

After four preseason games, here's the roster:

QB: Cassel, Davis, Stanzi
RB: Charles, Jones, McCluster, Battle
FB: Bannon

WR: Bowe, Baldwin, Breaston, Hurd, Copper, Maehl
TE: Moeaki, Pope, O'Connell

LT: Albert, Richardson
LG: Asamoah, Hudson
C: Wiegmann, Hudson, Barnes
RG: Lilja, Hudson
RT: Trueblood, Richardson

DE: Dorsey, Bailey
NT: Smith, Edwards, Powe
DE: Jackson, Gilberry

OLB: Hali, Miller
ILB: Belcher, Johnson
ILB: Johnson, Williams
OLB: Studebaker, Houston

CB: Flowers, Carr, Arenas, Brown, Jones
S: Berry, Carr, Lynch, Lefeged, Walters

K: Succop
P: Colquitt
LS: Gafford
KR: McCluster, Arenas
PR: Arenas, McCluster

Week 1: vs. Bills W
Week 2: @Lions L
Week 3: @Chargers L
Week 4: vs. Vikings W
Week 5: @Colts W
Week 6: BYE
Week 7: @ Raiders L
Week 8: vs. Chargers (MNF) L
Week 9: vs. Dolphins W
Week 10: vs. Broncos W
Week 11: @Patriots (MNF) L
Week 12: vs. Steelers (SNF) L
Week 13: @Bears W
Week 14: @Jets L
Week 15: vs. Packers L
Week 16: vs. Raiders (Christmas Eve) W
Week 17: @Broncos W

We finish the season 8-8 (5-3 at home) against a tough schedule of veteran teams, but we get much better in the following ways:

• Our young rookie crop looks really promising. Baldwin records 65 receptions, 30 of them in the last five games of the year, including a 9-reception, 165 yard performance against the Raiders on Christmas Eve. Powe and Bailey will have played a bit in the last eight games of the season due to injuries (they were inactive the first eight). They both show well, but also look very lost at times. Houston had a really strong final three games of the year. Hudson comes in for imbalanced lines, and shows extremely well.
• The offensive line plays very well, and Charles/McCluster combine for 1,800 yards rushing.
• After Albert goes down with an ankle injury for two weeks, Barry Richardson looks pretty good as a patch at left tackle.
• Stanzi looked good in small bursts in preseason. Nate Davis... not so much.
• Cassel stays healthy all year, looks great in a select few games, and actually has a drive that wins us a game as an underdog. The team respects him as their unquestioned leader, although nobody gets in Thomas Jones' way.
• Our young secondary plays incredibly well as a unit.
• Crennel keeps churning out his magic as DC, but Haley's playcalling is at times brilliant (we'll have three 40+ point games), and at times dour (the Chargers will shut us out in Arrowhead).

And we will have the following issues:

• The following injuries will have been incurred: Edwards (out in week 8, misses rest of season), Jackson (out in week 3, comes back in limited action in week 11, Belcher (week 11, comes back week 16), Thomas Jones (week 5, comes back week 14), Bowe (week 12, comes back next week), Brandon Albert (week 7, comes back week 10)
• Jackson plays well in the first three games of the year, but goes out with injury AGAIN, giving Bailey and Gilberry the "in" they need to wrestle for the LDE position in 2012.
• Houston looked lost until the last three weeks of the year.
• Sheffield never looked good.
• Berry still struggles to cover tight ends.
• The Chargers outscore us in a combined 62 points in both games they play us.
• Trueblood struggles to protect Cassel too well at RT. They pull him for Richardson by Week 10.
• After the lockout, the Chiefs all look at Cassel as an unquestioned leader of the team. Cassel does his usual efficient work, racking up an impressive 30TD but throws 17INT.
• It is very clear we have no depth at ILB.
• When he's healthy and playing, Albert will once again struggle at LT.

Pro Bowlers: Charles, Bowe, Dorsey, Hali, Berry

All Pro: Berry

Cassel throws for 3,500 yards, 30 TDs, 17 INTs. Up and down, alllllll year. He racks up a bunch of those statistics in the last five games of the year as Baldwin catches fire, and as the run game wears out.

Charles racks up 1,100 on the ground, McCluster racks up 800. Both look sterling, but TJ goes down with injury for most of the season and both backs get worn out by Week 13. TJ finishes with 250 yards rushing, Battle with 62 yards.

Top receivers: Bowe is healthy all year, and brings in 82 receptions for 1,300 yards and 9 TDs, and misses an All Pro mention by a hair. Baldwin brings in 65 receptions and 6 TDs. Moeaki, 67 with 8 TDs. Breaston, 51 and 2 TDs. All other receivers get the scraps.

Defense racks up a ton of sacks and a lot of pressure, especially as Edwards and Jackson go down with injury, creating opportunities for Shaun Smith (who is reborn as a true NT) and Bailey (who only records 1 sack, in Week 16, but gets after it with such tenacity, he creates sacks for everyone else). Hali gets twelve, and a combined twelve more come from Studebaker (7) and Houston (5, all in the last three games). The DL does better... Edwards gets one sack before going down with injury. Dorsey brings in four, but the star is Wallace Gilberry who does his thing in limited snaps and racks up 9. The secondary is responsible for 7 sacks all year, with Berry getting 4, Arenas 2 and Carr sniffs out a naked bootleg. Jackson gets 0.

Leading tacklers: DJ gets 130, Berry has an outstanding year with 95. Belcher also gets 90+, Flowers 70-some and Dorsey adds 50 to lead the DL.

Berry leads the team with 6 INT, including a masterful 3 INT performance against the Jets in a losing effort. Flowers gets four of his own, but teams largely throw at Carr (2 INTs) and whatever nickel and dime corners we put on the field.

Notes about the upcoming offseason:

Wiegmann retires, and the Chiefs plug in Hudson as their incumbent 2012 starter at center.

The Chiefs will be in the hunt for two new starting caliber offensive tackles. If Matt Light is free, he may be brought in for a patch at LT, but the Chiefs will be on the hunt to trade up for a tackle they love in the 2012 draft.

The Chiefs also have an Achilles heel all season: they can't score in the Red Zone. Thomas Jones will go out with an injury for almost the entire year, and while McCluster and Charles look brilliant all year, there is no goalline back.

They will need some linebacker depth, and interior offensive line depth.

Baldwin and Houston will have come on very strong towards the end of the year. Baldwin will look brilliant in the last five games, Houston will look like he's "getting it" by Week 15.

It's clear after one season that Miller and Bannon are busts. Jalil Brown and Arenas look good as secondary depth, but only in bits and pieces. Brown's actually looked good, but QBs keep picking on Arenas.

Nate Davis had to play a quarter of football against the Patriots while Cassel was recovering from a hit. He played so horribly he was inactivated for the rest of the season.

The Chargers reach the Super Bowl against the Packers and lose, 35-28.

The Chiefs are heavily rumored to like OT Riley Rieff of Iowa for their 1st round pick, which will be in the teens, and RB Trent Richardson out of Alabama.

Any questions?

[frankotank]

holy shit! think about that much?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by frankotank

holy shit! think about that much?

After reading it, I'm going to say "no".

[Hammock Parties]

McCluster racks up 800

Dumbest thing you have ever posted.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

McCluster racks up 800

you're insane

[Hammock Parties]

The Chiefs also have an Achilles heel all season: they can't score in the Red Zone.

Two giant WRs and a giant TE and we can't score in the red zone...sure.

[Hammock Parties]

Direckshun's posts are 90 percent awesome stuff and 10 percent utter lunacy.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Red 5

Dumbest thing you have ever posted.

You clearly haven't been to DC.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Red 5

Two giant WRs and a giant TE and we can't score in the red zone...sure.

I should have qualified. I was talking specifically about the run game.

Thought it was implied, but there it is.

[durtyrute]

Wow that was alot. I like it. but I think 9-7 with the only difference being a win at Detroit.

[KCrockaholic]

I could not give that much time to making up random stats of what I think is going to happen over the course of the entire season. I like some of the thoughts. But knowing there's a 5% chance that ANY of this is correct, it's not worth the time. JMO.

[MoreLemonPledge]

We will, at worst, split with the Chargers. They are a declining team (especially their defense) whose window is all but shut. I don't know why you're so high on them.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by MoreLemonPledge

We will, at worst, split with the Chargers. They are a declining team (especially their defense) whose window is all but shut. I don't know why you're so high on them.

#1 offense
#1 defense

Name me a single player on that team that will be worse in 2011 than they were in 2010.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Red 5

Direckshun's posts are 90 percent awesome stuff and 10 percent utter lunacy.

You're turning into a one-note horn.

[Hammock Parties]

What highlight films will I create next offseason, Direckshun, oh seer of the future?