Grading The 2005 Draft
I mentioned in my last article that you really can’t grade a draft fairly a couple days after it is completed. You need to wait at least 2 years, better yet 3 to look back and see how well the Chiefs did in any particular draft. I believe Bob Gretz was or is doing this with the 2005 draft class, but to be honest with you, I don’t read many articles over at the old “official site” anymore, seems like propaganda most of the time and I would much rather read fans opinions instead of people getting paid by the team to write their opinion.
So below, I will start with the 2005 draft class, this was Dick Vermeil last draft I believe and as many Chiefs drafts under the Carl Peterson regime, the first pick or two are good if not great but then it all falls apart. I don’t know if that is because Carl and the coach he hired didn’t believe in playing younger players, allowing the time needed to develop or they just flat out missed on the pick.
Round 1, Pick 15-Derrick Johnson LB
Now I don’t care what you say, you didn’t think Derrick would fall to the Chiefs with the 15th pick this year and neither did I. I can remember watching this draft and Carolina and New Orleans were ahead of the Chiefs. When the Saints took Jamal Brown and thought for sure Carolina would jump all over Johnson, but instead they chose another LB/S in Thomas Davis. I couldn’t believe it.
Johnson has gotten consistently better every year he has played. I noticed two things watching him last year. 1. He really has developed the knack for reading the guard pulling and running through the hole before anyone has a chance to block him, making a stop in the backfield. This is a trait all good LB have in the NFL. Watch Junior Seau, even up to last year, when the guard pulls, Junior is right there in the vacated spot with a clear shot to the backfield. Derrick started doing the same thing last year with a good deal of consistency. 2. He needs to get more INT’s to become a truly elite LB. Donnie Edwards coming in last season I believe really did help DJ–much to the Chiefs delight. I think this upcoming season will be a pro bowl type season (barring injury of course) for Johnson. He will put it all together and deliver up monster numbers all the way across the board. Then we can just hope Carl doesn’t trade him or something crazy like that…right?
Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 46 Trade with Miami for Patrick Surtain
Not much to say, other than I believe Surtain didn’t live up to all the hype and drama that went along with this trade. As far as I’m concerned, since the Chiefs are rebuilding, why not kick him to the curb along with Law? Grade: C
Round 3, Pick 99-Dustin Colquitt P
Last year, every time Dustin would come out on the field and punt the ball, I would look at the guys watching the game with me and say, “there’s the Chiefs MVP”. You might laugh or shake your head at that statement, but it’s true. Dustin has helped the defense more than anybody else (except for maybe that guy the Chiefs traded away a couple weeks ago…what was his name?) with his ability to pin opposing teams deep. This was a great pick, even though many stated it was a waste of a pick- a punter, in the third round? I would like to hear what those people say now. Dustin’s punting average has increased every year, but his accuracy is his real strength.
Grade: A
Round 5, Pick 138-James “Boomer” Grigsby LB,
Chiefs’ fans fell in love with this pick the second his name was called out at the podium. I admit–I liked all I saw, heard and read about “Boomer”. Unfortunately, he lived up to none of it. He was awful, in fact, he was unable to cut it as a linebacker in the NFL, so the Chiefs tried moving him to FB which he managed to fail miserably at that as well. This is the first bust of the 2005 draft, and unfortunately for not only the players, but for Chiefs fans around the world, most of picks that remain are bust as well.
Grade: D
Round 5, Pick 147-Alphonso Hodge CB
Bust # 2–Mr. Hodge. It amazes me how people in the organization pump these guys up when they draft them. To hear the GM, or head coach talk about a pick, they want you, the fan, to believe that every pick they made should be a pro bowl player one day. I know they can’t come out a say “Well, chances are he won’t make the team, but he has a chance.” Oh, wait, Herm does do that now. My bad.
In closing, Hodge did nothing of merit for the Chiefs and is somewhere in the US doing something I’m sure. Maybe writing for a Chiefs blog somewhere? Who knows…oh wait upon further review he is currently an “All American Football League cornerback with Team Michigan”. Ahhhhhhhh OK.
Here Alphonso, catch this—F
Round 6, Pick 187-Will Svitek OT
Will has managed to stick around-somehow. I guess it’s due to the fact that the offensive line has just been awful. Will hasn’t done much except get burned and allow the Chiefs quarterback(s) get drilled and hurt. Thanks Will! Unbelievably Will didn’t play too bad at RT last season towards the end of the year, word is he will have every opportunity to claim the spot and make it his own this season. I guess for that reason and that reason only I have to give Will a C in the grade.
I will make these last three short and sweet.
Round 6, Pick 199-Khari Lang DE
Bust
Grade: F
Round 7, Pick 229-James Kililan QB
Bust
Grade: F
Round 7, Pick 238-Jermey Parquet OT
Bust
Grade F
So, going by how one would figure out their GPA in High School or College, with an “A” being worth 4 and an “F” being worth 0 let’s see how the Chiefs faired in the 2005 NFL draft shall we?
D-
No matter where you went to school…that ain’t good.
Next week, 2006.
Not a bad analaysis. 3 things glared out at me though.
1. You have to weight the grades for each round. I mean, if a 7th rounder doesn’t have playing time, is that really worth the same as a 1st rounder? I haven’t thought of a fair way to average that yet, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. If I do, I’ll post on here.
2. Dustin Colquitt should get an A+++++++. He was amazing and was consistently the most important Chief last season. He was the only reason that our defense had any chance at all to even have a chance as the offense consistently did nothing. Too bad he can’t play QB, kick, and coach too…. The Dustin Colquitt/Jean-Philippe Darche team will be remembered for a long time in KC… we need a wallpaper with those two… one that looks really, really dramatic (and tries to make those two look tough… I know it’ll be really really hard to do that…)! Any takers on that?
3. I don’t know if you can count Svitek a bust yet. I mean, the fact that he played decently last season when he was at RT, and he’s a 6th rounder, I think you can give him a B (or maybe B-, I could understand that). We don’t expect as much from a 6th as we do from a 1st. I just think that a 6th rounder contributing other than special teams deserves more than “average.”
May 12th, 2008 at 6:59 amOK. I think I’ve figured out a way to weight the grades. I took each grade and multiplied it’s value by 1/(round #). I summed this up. Then I looked at the highest possible total (assuming an A or a 4.0 in each round) with these weights. So for the 1st round, the highest GPA would be 4 (4*1/1). 2nd round would be a 2, (4*1/2). 3rd, highest would be 4/3 (1.3333) or (4*1/3) and so on.
Once I summed these up for all of our picks, I did this calculation:
(Total for actual picks)/(Total Highest Possible)*4
The “*4″ is to put it on a 4.0 scale.
This gave the Chiefs a final GPA of 2.41 or by my calculation a C+ range.
I think this gives a better idea because I would hope it’s more important to hit big with those 1st 3 round choices and miss on the later rounds. I think most people are fine with that… Let me know what you guys think.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:16 amI thought I put some more sugar in the DJ Kool-Aid; hes become an elite tackler, Hes figured out when to go low and when to go high and consistantly stop RB’s at the point of impact.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:50 amI would give the A+ for a pro bowl birth.
I didn’t label Svitek a bust…yet, I gave him a C.
You can get a starter out of the seventh round…Jarrad Page for instance. When I grade the 2006 draft Page will have to be given a fairly high draft grade. Allen, drafted in the fourth round would have been given an A+…My grades were based solely on what have they done since being drafted and where do they appear to be headed?
May 12th, 2008 at 8:38 amYeah, I mean, the C isn’t terrible, I agree. I was just saying for comparing to most 6th rounders, he should probably be higher, but just as a player (ignoring the round he was drafted in), the C is definitely right. I liked the overall analysis, just thought the weighting was needed for the overall “GPA.”
May 12th, 2008 at 8:51 amTo finalize the analysis (which is great, by the way), does anyone know how the ‘pundits’ graded the Chiefs draft the same year it was done?
May 12th, 2008 at 9:54 amLooking at the outcome of that draft, my first statment is: No wonder we sucked last year! We have no talent.
I would disagree on Derrick Johnson. I would give him a B-. Why? As a first round player he should be playing better. I see him “pop” every once in a while. I expected more “pop” from him. He still has a chance ot improve.
Dustin is great.
Everyone else blows.
You’re right Patrick Surtain should be let go. (See my fan week article..lol.)
There will be little “Vermiel” in this years’ team, and that is OK with me.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:36 amhay all look at this guy for kicker this year what you guy think make this a topic The best kicker in the world is in the AFL. Mark Lewis. Sports Illustrated did an article on him. He wasn’t drafted out of college, so he finished his degree while playing in the AFL. Kicking 40+ yards through tiny goalposts has made him so accurate, he said, “I think every kicker should kick in the AFL for two or three years. You kick through the narrow posts, it makes anybody better.”
He was kicking on a regular field and knocking down 70 yarders regularly, and some people he works with say there is no reason to believe he couldn’t hit 60 yarders in game conditions.
Vanderjagt and Bironas came from the AFL. Of course not all positions, but the kickers in that league are superb.
Sign him. No trades, nothing, but the best kicker in the world right now is Mark Lewis.
Sign him quick.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:03 amoh and svitek number 71 lol this the bigest sorryest o line men out there his no good he sucks cut him cut him cut him all last year he let some one in ever game and let the qb get killed that why the qb looket so scaerd they new they where going to get hit b/c most of all him i can do better then that guy right now out of shape
May 12th, 2008 at 11:06 amGood idea David…I’ll have to look for some articles of what Mel, Peter King and anyone else had to say about the Chiefs Draft of 2005 a day or two after it was over…
May 12th, 2008 at 11:14 amI think you should definitely base your grades off of what you can realistically expect from each round. Here is what I would say:
Round 1: Good starter on your team, plays every down within a year or so.
Round 2: Solid starter within 2 years, making contributions immediately.
Round 3: Superb back-up/borderline starter. Gets on the field to contribute regularly.
Round 4: Solid back-up/special teams contributer.
Round 5: Depth guy.
Round 6: Depth.
Round 7: Prospects, maybe make the team.
I don’t think you can expect more than that from any round. So, if they had a draft like that I would give it a C. Base gradings from there.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:15 amWasn’t DJ fairly good at intercepting the ball in college? Yet I think that DJ finally got his first two INT’s of his pro career last season…when he was playing weak side like he did in college. I have been advocating moving DJ to the weak side for 2 years now, and I hope they finally do it.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:15 ambtw, lay off svitek. He’s still learing the position. He was a Dlineman in college. This is exactly what the drafted him for. Type of guy who has the physical tools, but is learning on the hardest stage possible. He was a only a 6th round pick.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:17 amOK first of all, this is a good article. I really enjoyed reading it and I agree with just about everything, including the part about Dustin Colquitt.
Colquitt makes me really nervous because he’s so good. I feel like he’s one of the elite punters in the NFL, and it may not be long before other teams start noticing. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope we can hold onto him for the remainder of his career.
Derrick Johnson has yet to show greatness in the NFL, but he has always been solid. I’m really hoping this is his breakout year.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:47 amWOW. I didn’t realize he was drafted as a d-lineman. That really does explain a lot. Also, I’ve always heard that he would be a RT, and he didn’t do too shabby at the position last year.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am@ rob:
I like the idea about the AFL kickers. It’s something I’ve thought about in the past as well. However, the AFL is not the NFL, and the kickers may not be all they’re cracked up to be.
Case in point: Rob Bironas of the Tennessee Titans. The first game I ever watched him in, the comentators were talking about his AFL experience and the accuracy it requires. Next thing you know, he misses an extra point. Sort of killed that whole idea for me.
However, if this Mark Lewis character is as good as you say, I’d welcome him with open arms. He has to be better than the options we have now.
I knew getting rid of Lawrence Tynes was a hug mistake
May 12th, 2008 at 12:01 pmI think that surtain played pretty well til last year and he plyed okay last year so i give him a B- I think Johnson is an A- only if he makes the pro bowl this year and Svitek still could start this year at one of the line spots doubtful but he could so to get a good back up inm the 6th round is not bad….I have to give this draft a C- they missed on Hodge and Grigsby but i think they got 3 other pretty good players and taking someone in the 7th is a crapshoot anyway so i say C-
May 12th, 2008 at 1:18 pmi just want to say that the day before the draft i told my brother in law that we would draft DJ believe it or not thats the truth
May 12th, 2008 at 5:30 pmalso bcool didnt we sign colquitt to an extension THIS OFFSEASON, and i really dont think DJ is that far behind his big deal is coming
May 12th, 2008 at 5:34 pmTHIS YEAR WILL BE THE JOHNSON@JOHNSON SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 12th, 2008 at 5:34 pmI was not aware of the extension but that is definitely great news, thank you!
And I certainly hope you’re right about DJ. He’s such a hard hitter, and very athletic. I want him to be the face of our defense so much. Looking forward to this season!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:15 pmIf Herm uses DJ as a Weakside LB then he might be one of the top 5 LBs in the NFL; however, Herm uses him at the Strongside Linebacker taking away Derrick’s ability to use his athleticism and speed to get to the ball.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:56 pmIt is unfair to call a 7th rounder that doesn’t work out a bust and grade the Chiefs as failures for those picks. The same goes if you are grading 6th round picks that do not make it. This draft was not a bad draft for the Chiefs. We got DJ and Colquitt, plus the trade for Surtain. Not great, but we did get two good pieces out of it. Now, if Svitek turns into a good player, it would be a decent draft. The problem with the Vermeil drafts is that we did not hit enough on later round picks.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:58 pmMerlinnj, that’s why I think they should be weighted. I would say that the draft is pretty average. We got a few players who play a lot. Nothing else. That’s pretty average (and maybe a little higher if Svitek gets more playing time.)
May 13th, 2008 at 7:35 amwhen is the grading of the 2006 draft coming???????????
May 13th, 2008 at 12:56 pm