5 Areas The Chiefs Must Address

The Kansas City Chiefs have many needs but I decided to take a look at 5 areas I think the Chiefs must improve this offseason to increase their win total next year.

1. Center

Whether it be via the draft or free agency, the Chiefs must replace Rudy Newswanger. While I like Rudy he simply isn’t good enough. He is very often driven into the backfield while pass blocking and he gets little to know push up front run blocking. The Chiefs need a big, nasty presence up front that can protect Cassel and open up running lanes up the middle for Charles.

2. Nose Tackle

Anyone who knows anything about the 3-4 defense will tell you that the most important position is the big man playing the nose. Ron Edwards has worked his tail off this year but he is not the answer moving forward. They need a big man who can help Jackson and Dorsey eat up blockers to make room for the linebackers to make plays.

3. Safety

The Mike Brown experiment has failed. The Chiefs need a Troy Polamalu type safety that can be a game changer for their defense. I like Page and think he will look even better playing along side a Pro Bowl level safety. A more reliable presence over the top should also help the Chiefs young corners take their games to the next level.

4. Left Tackle

I have been on the fence about this one for some time. I like Brandon Albert but he is giving up way to much pressure. If the Chiefs offense was more explosive and had more pieces in place, then I think it would be OK to give Albert more time to develop. As things stand, however, they can’t afford that luxury. I now am in the camp that the believes the Chiefs should take the best LT available with their first pick in the 2010 Draft. They need help up front and they need it now. They can move Albert to the other G position opposite Brian Waters or to RT, although I think O’Callahan has played well enough to keep the job. By picking up a center and a left tackle the Chiefs will be solid up front on offense. This should greatly help Jamaal Charles and Matt Cassel move the offense.

5. Linebacker

The Chiefs need to upgrade over the middle of the field. While I think Mays and Williams have done a nice job at times, they are not very good in pass coverage over the middle. KC needs a leader in the middle of the field that can rush the passer and intimidate in between the hash marks. Williams and Mays are smaller, faster LB’ers who can be useful in certain situations but the Chiefs need their very own Ray Lewis.

There are other areas of need but I think these 5 are the most glaring. I really wanted to put WR on here and I think the Chiefs will get more help at that position even if they do resign Chris Chambers. However, if the Chiefs find impact players at the 5 positions listed above they will be a drastically different team with a drastically better record this time next season.