2011 Draft Special: Pick #21- Kansas City Chiefs

Oh boy, now we're in playoff team territory!

I give Kansas City all the props in the world for making it to the playoffs last season. They have a great core defense and Jamaal Charles, Matt Cassel, and Dwayne Bowe were just outstanding and I'm happy all three were Pro Bowlers. I'm also a big fan of their young tight end Tony Moeaki and I think they bailed on the Tony Gonzalez bandwagon just in time. But with all that being said, this division is still one for the Chargers to lose.

Not turning over the ball is a fantastic quality in a quarterback, but at some point you have to be able to lead you're team down the field to score a touchdown. Matt Cassel has the skill set to not turnover the ball which gives him a great TD/INT ratio but like the Baltimore/ Kansas City playoff game showed, to stop the Chiefs, you just have to stop the run. Screw the pass. I'm not sure if Cassel has that elite charge-down-the-field-to-score ability yet. Now I don't mean for that to be a huge knock on the guy but as we'll see later, this will become problematic when Cassel's talents aren't paired with the correct defense.

Both Cassel and Bowe benefited from an incredibly easy schedule in 2010. They played Denver twice (8th worst passing defense), Houston (worst passing defense), Seattle (7th worst), Tennessee (4th worst), Jacksonville (5th worst), San Francisco (9th worst), Arizona (10th worst), and St. Louis (14th worst). Seven out of the sixteen games the Chiefs played were against a bottom ten passing defense.

I have always liked the talent of Cassel and Bowe but these players need to prove to me that they can perform at a Pro Bowl level year after year. And frankly, with a tougher schedule next year (most likely), I don't think either player can rise to the challenge.

I'd like to point out at this juncture that Jamaal Charles has a career yards per carry of over 6.0. The guy is fantastic and was a third round draft pick. As much as I think the Chiefs overpaid for Thomas Jones, the Chiefs are still a runnings team and there's no reason that Charles can't get 20 carries a game while Jones gets an effective ten. This offensive model is perfectly acceptable but you need an elite caliber defense to sustain this offensive model to win playoffs games.

And Kansas City is far away from an elite defense.

According to Football Outsiders, the Chiefs had the 21st best defense (28th weighted defense), the 18th best pass defense, and the 26th best rush defense. Maybe trading away a 26 year old Jared Allen wasn't the greatest move in the world, huh? This team does has a very good (almost almost almost elite) corner in Brandon Flowers and a damn good rookie (in 2010) in safety Eric Berry. Linebacker Tambi Hall was ranked by Advanced NFL Stats as being the 18th best linebacker and Derrick Johnson as the 13th best in the game but this team has Mike Vrabel playing the LB position as well. (I mean this team *is* run by Scott Pioli and has a defensive coordinator in Romeo Crennel).

This team is still lacking that "blue chip" pass rusher. First round pick Glenn Dorsey hasn't panned out quite as well as this team had hoped, no linebacker in this 3-4 scheme as really stepped up as a pass rusher, and the entire defensive line as a whole is pretty bad. It's no surprise that both Mel Kiper's and Todd McShay's top five defensive ends are all projected first rounders. Maybe teams are finally getting smart on what they need to win football games.

Therefore, the Chiefs select Adrian Clayborn, defensive end from University of Iowa

Game Of Inches Mock Draft (so far):
1) Carolina Panthers- DT Nick Fairley (Auburn)
2) Denver Broncos- DE Da'Quan Bowers (Clemson)
3) Buffalo Bills- CB Patrick Peterson (LSU)
4) Cincinnati Bengals- WR A.J. Green (Georgia)
5) Arizona Cardinals- QB Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)
6) Cleveland Browns- OLB Von Miller (Texas A&M)
7) San Fransisco 49ers- CB Prince Amukamara (Nebraska)
8) Tennessee Titans- QB Cam Newton (Auburn)
9) Dallas Cowboys- DT Marcell Dareus (Alabama)
10) Washington Redskins- DE Robert Quinn (North Carolina)
11) Houston Texans- CB Jimmy Smith (Colorado)
12) Minnesota Vikings- OT Nate Solder (Colorado)
13) Detriot Lions- OLB Akeem Ayers (UCLA)
14) St. Louis Rams- WR Julio Jones (Alabama)
15) Miami Dolphins- DE/OLB Aldon Smith (Missouri)
16) Jacksonville Jaguars- DE J.J. Watt (Wisconsin)
17) New England Patriots- OT Tyron Smith (USC)
18) San Diego Chargers- G/C Mike Pouncey (Florida)
19) New York Giants- DT Corey Luiget (Illinois)
20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers- DE Cameron Jordan (California)

Chiefs Sign Thomas Jones, Why?

Some quick notes on this because I'm tired, but am addicted to posting

- Last year, Jamaal Charles was 11th in the league in yards (1,120) and first in the league in YPC (5.9) all while having under 200 attempts (190) and only having two fumbles. The dude is awesome and only 23 years old. Hell TBO is older than Charles (not meant to be a stab at TBO, just proving a point at how young Charles is).
- Last year, Charles ranked 4th in DYAR and 2nd in DVOA according to FO. (for a better understanding of DYAR and DVOA, click here)
- Thomas Jones benefited from one of, if not the best, offensive lines in football. Last year the whole left side were starting Pro Bowlers.
- There's no reason to have a two running back set when you;re starter is a stud. Yes, I'm even against Jonathan Stewart (as awesome as he is), cutting into DeAngelo Williams playing time.
- FO says Jones will be Charles' back up (rightfully so), but why sign a guy to a two year deal to that much money just to play back up. With Chester Taylor, he should be taking carries away from Forte because Forte kind of sucks. No one should be taking carries away from Charles
-Therefore (signals overall conclusion), this was an awful signing for the Chiefs.

SIDENOTE: I'm shocked that this post is the first label GOI has ever had for "Thomas Jones"

Chiefs Announce Bill Bellichick As Head Coach Replacing Todd Haley

The Chiefs GM is the former Pats VP Scott Pioli. The Chiefs offensive coordinator is former Pats O-Coordinator Charlie Weis. The Chiefs defensive coordinator is Romeo Crennel- the Pats former D- Coordinator. They're QB is Matt Cassel- the Pats starter for 15 games last season. They also have former Pats LB Mike Vrabel.

The Matt Cassel Trade

Yesterday, the Chiefs new GM, former Patriots VP, traded away their 2009 2nd round, 34th overall draft pick. What did they get in return, QB Matt Cassell and LB Mike Vrabel.

The Chiefs side: A great benefit of going 2-14 is that you get an amazing draft position. The Chiefs 2nd pick is extremely valuable because that draftee is going to be a high quality player and there's no reason to think this said player can't compete at a high level for many years to come. The Chiefs are a young team and this draft pick would fit right in with the team. Instead, now the Chiefs get a young QB whom I'm not convinced will play at a high level consistently like he did late year and a 12 year LB on the decline.

Matt Cassel: This kid was great last year. He really was on of the top ten QBs of 2008. But the thing was, he played for the New England Patriots. He had Randy Moss and Wes Welker has receivers and had just a fantastic offensive line. Plenty of time and great receivers make any QB look better than they actually are. Now Cassel moves to Kansas City where his receivers are Mark Bradley (former Bear BTW) and Dwayne Bowe. Don't get me wrong, their fine receivers, but they're nowhere close to the level of Moss and Welker. Cassel will now also see a decrease in the amount of time he has to throw the ball which will decrease his production. And here's the thing, the Chiefs have a fine young QB they can develop in Tyler Thigpen. This kid improved throughout the year and if used correctly, would have had better numbers in 2008. Just watching Thigpen, you can see KC had a QB for the future

Mike Vrabel: Don't get me wrong, I love Vrabel. As a Pats fan, I love what he's done for the organization. I just don't see him helping out the Chiefs all that much. It seems he's much better suited for New England than he is in Kansas City. Plus he's OLD. At least with Cassel there's theoretical upside, with Vrabel I just don't see this 12 year vet doing a whole lot

The Patriots side: I think the Patriots got the better end out of this deal. Yes, they give up a key guy in Mike Vrabel, but as I said before, he's old. And if the Pats are willing to part with him, I just don't see him doing a whole lot now. And the Pats didn't need Cassel at all. Next season they'll have Tom Brady, the best(or second best depending on who you talk to) QB in the NFL right now. If he's healthy, he'll be a stud and no reason to have Cassel on the roster. Now I think it was really stupid to franchise Cassel because it ate up cap room, but I guess the Pats were planning on trading him. And they did. Now if Brady does get injured again, then the Pats now lose that valuable back up. But the Patriots system is so good, I'm sure which ever QB the Pats sign as their back up (how funny would that be if that guy was Rex Grossman!), that player will be just as effective as Cassell was- at cheaper too.

Plus the Patriots get a great draft pick in return. As I mentioned earlier, that 34th pick overall is very high and the Pats can now get a young stud of their choosing in return.

Winner: New England Patriots. The Pats gave up a QB they didn't need, a LB who probably won't be THAT effective and gained ton of cap room to sign players they did need (like Vince Wilfork) and gained a young player that will be extremely effective because the Pats know how to draft well. Meanwhile, the Chiefs gained a QB who probably won't produce that the organization would want him to, a LB that won't be THAT effective, and lost a ton of cap room and the chance to pick a great young player.