Still In Disbelief

First off, the cold/flu bug has invaded my house, I thought it was going to miss me, but I was wrong. If some/all of this makes little to no sense, then please accept my apologies.

I’m a little reluctant to write this weeks article-afraid something will happen the second I finish it. I like to write a rough draft early on in the week, jot down some thoughts and then as time permits I go back and add too or take away from my thoughts. I had this weeks article ready to go…and then all hell broke lose.

The first part was about whoever the next GM was going to be and what he was going to do, who he was going to get to coach, you know, the same guessing stuff that goes on when there isn’t any “real” news to break down or analyze. Then the announcement came that the Chiefs and Scott Pioli agreed to terms arranging for him to become the next general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. Let me just say that I am still in disbelief when I think the Chiefs actually got what many consider the best personnel executive in the NFL to come and run the franchise. I’m still in shock I think. Now I can look forward to this off season more than I have in the past 5 years-I CAN’T WAIT!

The last part of the my article, which I was very proud of by the way, was about how I thought the Chiefs should take a hard look at S Taylor Mays out of USC. I went on a little bit about the sheer physical presence he brings to the playing field, and then I went off on how horrid and useless Bernard “Bone Crusher” Pollard is/was. You know, how he takes awful angles can’t tackle, tries to knock people out with big hits only to knock himself down and let the rusher advance the ball until someone else gets there-the usual stuff.

Well, that was until Tuesday. I was down stairs and decided to get online for a second or two and look around to see if any news or rumors had broke in regard to the Chiefs GM search. My oh my. I couldn’t believe it, I was so happy and elated and in my search for more info and news, I came across a blurb about Taylor Mays was not coming out this year and would return to USC for his final year.

So come Wednesday, I figured there would be no “tweaking” of my article this week, there would have to be a major “scrapping”. So I started again, with a fresh slate-my first article since a GM has been employeed by the Chiefs whose name is not Carl Peterson. So anyway I am going to hit on the obvious questions many of you have raised and arguments that have resulted.

I am one of the people that think Herm should get another year. For all those out there that feel Herm should be let go, ask yourself this question; Would Herman Edwards managed the football team–personnel wise–differently if he was not given the blessing from Clark Hunt to rebuild this team from the ground up? If Clark said to Herm; “Hey, I need to see a consistent playoff team in two years.” Do you think Herm would have gutted the roster and started so many rookies and first year players? Absolutely not. Herm had a vision, Clark Hunt saw the vision with him and signed off on it. Period.

You can make the argument that in today’s NFL with free agency did it have to be done that way at all–I can see the argument there. But to try and blame this all on Herm is ridiculous and stupid. I bet if Pioli decides to let Edwards go, and next year rolls around and these young guys look so much better you will give all the credit to the new coach–right? In your eyes, Edwards will have nothing to do with the development of them. You can’t let a man start something then pull the rug out from under his feet.

I saw on NFL Total Access Wednesday night in Adam Schefter’s segment, Rich Eison asked him about the possibility of Mike Shanahan taking over as the Chiefs head coach. What do you guys think about that?

Now that Taylor Mays is not going to be in this year’s draft, I am running out of people to get excited about. Stafford? No. Curry? Not really. Crabtree? I don’t doubt his ability, I just hate to think the Chiefs would turn into the Lions of the AFC West and draft a WR in the first round all the time. The real question is what type of defense does Scott Pioli envision the Chiefs running? A 3-4 like the Patriots? Tampa 2? Traditional 4-3 or maybe some sort of hybrid like they run in Philly?

Sanchez is coming out much to the dismay of head coach Pete Carroll-I can’t say I blame Carrol. However, if Sanchez lands in the top 5 in this years draft, obviously he made the right choice, financially anyway. I don’t think Sanchez will be that great, he played well in the PAC 10, losing to the only other legitimate team in the conference. He started only one year because he couldn’t beat out Leinhart who rides the pine in Arizona or John David Booty who can’t beat out Tarvaris Jackson who by all accounts sucks. He had one great game against legit competition in the Rose Bowl versus Penn State. I’m sorry, I just don’t see it.

I especially don’t see it with the new man the Chiefs have in charge now. Tom Brady and Matt Cassel, both late round draft picks that obviously are more than capable of starting in the NFL. I don’t see Pioli– begining of building his team-drafting a QB with the #3 pick overall. My best guess is he will do all he can to trade down, most likely with a team wanting/coveting Crabtree.