Jake Long Article…Makes Me Wonder
There is an article on Yahoo! Sports about Jake Long and the depth at the tackle position this year in the NFL Draft. Some personnel types are predicting as many as 6 tackles being taken in the first round alone. “…best depth in 24 years…,” quips one such person.
Reading this makes me wonder a little; Would the Chiefs be better off drafting someone else other than Long and get an OT in the second round or trade down a little to pick up more picks and take a different tackle in the latter part of round one? I am waivering a bit on my belief the Chiefs should draft Jake Long hands down. I’m usually good at forming my opinion then defending it to the death, but this has me second guessing myself. I think this years draft is going to be pretty interesting to say the least.
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in 4 seasons as a Wolverine, Long committed 2 penalties and gave up 2 sacks…in over 2,500 plays. If he is there in Round 1, we grab him, no doubt in my mind. If he is not, then I think we should wait until Round 2 to get a tackle.
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:22 amJake Long - the two penalties were a hold as a Freshman and a flinch false start as a Senior. If he’s there, TAKE HIM. If not - AND McFadden is, is Carl laying the groundwork for a trade down with extra picks in the 2nd/3rd round? I don’t have much faith in Carl after all these years …..
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 am90 % of the predictions out there say that Jake falls to us… If thats the case, say hello to the Chiefs New Offensive tackle! Ive seen so much footage on Long. Ive seen every Michigan game snap ( Im a Michigan fan. duh. ) And it might be the dumbest thing to do if we were to pass on Jake Long… Now, ( talking possibilities ) IF Long isnt there, and McFadden IS, I PERSONALLY would love to take the kid… but we could trade down and grab Williams, Baker, or Cherlius, and I Say we take DRC w/ the 2nd 1st round pick (thanks to Dallas).
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 amAnd I REALLY think Dallas has their eye on us… Simply because they know what we wanna do. Its no secret Jake Long is the objective and if he doesnt fall to us, it may be McFadden. And If THATS the case… expect our phones to be ringing like an elementary school fire drill… with Dallas starting the fire.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 amIt’s tempting when you have many holes to fill to think about trading back and getting some good quality athletes at several positions. However, that strategy is generally short sighted. As yourself, what is our goal here? Is it to make the playoffs? or is it to win the super bowl? If you want to win the super bowl, you need elite players, not very good players at key positions. LT is one of those key postions. If you feel that Jake Long will be a pro bowl level player at LT and he is available when you draft, you take him in a heartbeat. Where it gets interesting is if Jake is gone and you are looking at Dorsey and Clady. Clady seems more suited to a zone blocking scheme, so I don’t know if we go there. My biggest goal in this draft is to come out with a franchise LT. We don’t draft this high very often, so it really needs to count.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:06 amYeah, any team picking in the top 10 has more than one pressing need, that’s for sure. My heart still wants Jake Long, but Herm’s penchant for defense and Dorsey, Ellis and Chris Long all hovering around…who knows.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:11 amIt’s official now, the Chiefs are picking 5th….Oakland 4th and Atlanta 3rd.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:12 amAnybody know what Oakland is looking for? Do any of their scenarios have them taking Long?
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 amOakland’s biggest needs are DT, OL, and WR.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:18 amDD…so its possbile Al could take Jake before us??? Seems they have a stronger need on offensive than on their defense???
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 amUnfortunately, Miami, Atlanta and Oakland all need help on the OL so Long could easily be gone by the time KC picks.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:22 amI’m honestly not too worried about Long being there when we pick and I think people shouldn’t get too ate up about it. This draft looks to be deep in quality OTs - so much so that I could live with waiting until round 2 to pick an OT (e.g., Nicks, Collins). No doubt redbeard and others see it differently but that’s my take.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 amlarry - don’t know if it’s any reassurance, but I think Miami and Oakland both have bigger needs at DT than OL. Atlanta is the team that I see most likely to take JL if they don’t go with Ryan or McFadden.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:33 amI dont think Jake Long OT will be there at #5 for us. The Dolphins and Rams all have serious problems at Tackle. I think he will be gone and we try to trade down, and if we can’t we take Clady (OT) at #5. I know it is a reach, but the sporting news has him as their number one Tackle. Let’s be honest, we need some lineman, not just one, two, but at least three new faces. Waters and Mcintosh are the only sure o-lineman to return.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 amAfter watching The NFL Network last night I’m fully sold on Long. Not because of all the obvious stuff, but because he was showing the viewers around the combine for the network, not only was he well spoken and completly comfortable doing it, he went to the front desk and claimed he was Vernon Gholston and asked for a 3:30 a.m. wake up call. (I believe Gholston is the only sack he gave up.) So I love the guy. On the serious side, Mike Mayock suggested he had trouble with speed rushers, and showed the clip of Gholston getting a sack, but it was one sack the whole game, that means he did his job the rest of the time. I think if he’s there he’s the guy, otherwise trade down and get a couple picks.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:07 pmI agree with Double D — if Long is gone, let’s wait on drafting a tackle. And if we sign Max Starks we can definitely wait in round two. Merlinnj, I agree how many chances do you get to draft a franchise LT? But if you follow that logic, QB is a more important position and how often do you get the chance to draft a franchise QB?I knew all along we were going to pick fifth. That’s just our luck.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:49 pmNever pass a sure thing. And Long is a as sure a pick as I’ve ever seen. If he falls to us, say hello to our franchise left tackle for the next 10 or so years.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:52 pmAdam: I agree with you about drafting a franchise QB being very important. If there was one in this draft, that would be a valid conversation. What I would like to see out of this draft is a LT in round 1, and a CB and OG/C in rounds 2 and 3 in either order. I think you can find good OG’s and C’s later on in the draft. It’s so hard to find a good LT later in the draft.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:25 pmI think Long will be long gone, though. I think we should really start thinking about Matt Ryan or even one of the DTs. If Run DMC falls we might even be able to trade back. Our only real hope on Long (and Ryan and Dorsey) is that Chris Long goes in the top four.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 pmMerlin, let’s not count out Matt Ryan yet. He is going to test this week, throw in March at B.C. pro day, and has been very impressive in interviews so far. Let’s not count him out yet. Or Brohm, for that matter. He has been in the top five before, and he’s doing all the tests at the combine (except bench). He could rise again. I don’t listen to Herm when he says that B.S. about this crop of QBs. He’s just using smokescreens.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:42 pmAdam: I am not listening to Herm about the QB’s. You are so right when you talk about smokescreens. I don’t believe much coming out from any team. I am not sold on Ryan or Brohm. I don’t see them as franchise QB types. I do think Croyle can be a good QB. However, we have to protect him.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:51 pmI think its doubtful that Jake Long falls to us because the 4 teams picking before us have offensive lineman as a need, but if actually does then the Chiefs would be stupid not to pick him. O Line is by far our biggest need this year. And if Jake Long isnt there with the number 5 pick, then I think we should go ahead and draft either ryan clady or jeff otah, wichever has the best combine with the 5th pick.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 pmYes and I think by at least signing a few or at least one OL then we wont handcuff ourselves durign the draft. Then we can go out and use the #5 pick on the best player available.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 pmWell, Taylor, it might be more stupid to pass on a potential franchise QB. In my mind, there are more solid LTs out there than franchise QBs. Last time I checked, franchise QBs win Super Bowls just about every time. This is especially true when basically Derek Anderson is the only other QB out there, and there are lots of FA O-lineman and the best draft crop of OTs maybe ever.
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:34 pmAdam: you are changing scales in your comparision. I bet there are more solid players at position X versus franchise players at position Y with most positions. How many Super Bowls did Elway win before TD? There are plenty of QB’s that have won it without being a franchise QB, Trent Dilfer and Jeff Hostetler being examples.
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:12 pmYou know, for a pessimist, Im pretty opptimistic…. Sure teams 1-4 have a need at O Line. But they ALSO have needs at other positions too. Miami needs help at the DT position, cause obviously Mr. Holliday isnt cutting it. Even if they dont take Ellis or Dorsey… They’re gonna need someone to take over for Jason Taylor when he calls it quits…. #2. St.Louis also needs to vamp up their D line. With either a DT or DE (Chris Long). Plus, Im not all that sure that Orlando Pace is quite finished… #3. Atlanta… THEY NEED A FREAKIN’ QUARTERBACK!! PERIOD. Mike Vick aint coming back for a while, and might not ever come back to the Falcons… #4. The Chokeland Raiders… They moved Gallery from LT to LG and they had a but more success and with Derrick Burgess MIA in the pass rush and Warren Sapp retiring, they’re gonna need one of those three Defensive linemen. If not, you know Al likes those flashy guys… Run DMC MAY be a Raider…. as much I’d hate that.. Now, here we are… #5. (My favorite # by the way)… There is our boy, waiting and willing to be the man for the next decade.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:02 pmRoc: I think you are basically hitting on our dream scenario. Essentially, I am hoping that the draft breaks down as: 1] C.Long 2] Dorsey 3] Ryan 4] DMC leaving Jake Long for us. It could happen and is logical. We have to hope that no one above us sees Jake as a much better value than their other options. Any of those teams could use him as others have pointed out in this thread. Impact D-Lineman are hard to find. The Giants recent success may put a higher emphasis on this. I am ok with the obove scenario and Ellis or Gloston leaping into the top 4. Whatever it takes to leave Jake for us.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:48 pmdraft CLADY
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:40 pmI have seen a couple "professionals" state that Matt Ryan might not even be drafted in the first round. If Jake Long is gone, then the Chiefs will try like hell to trade back where they can pick another LT. Clady isn’t going to be picked with the 5th pick, at least I hope not. This is the time for all the rumors and leaks from teams to the media about who they are thinking about taking. Basically, we can believe nothing we hear from here until the Chiefs actually select someone. We all have our opinions of who the Chiefs should take, but, we all could be waaaaaay off base.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 amI personally think Jeff Otah will be a better LT then Clady in the NFl he is a beaast and is amazing at run blocking sure he needs a little work but hell i’d take him
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:23 pmcladdy wont need the work…as otah will.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:42 pm