5 Areas The Chiefs Can Stand Pat

Home » Chiefs » 5 Areas The Chiefs Can Stand Pat

In another in my “5 Things” series I take a look at 5 positions I feel the Chiefs can roll with moving in to next season.

1. Quarterback

The Chiefs may not yet know Matt Cassel’s full potential but they can certainly stick with him for a couple of more seasons. Cassel has shown incredible toughness this year. He has not had it easy. As QB’s like Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan have shown us, it is much easier to make the transition as a young and inexperienced QB when you are on a team with some talent. Cassel has shown he can play well, not just as a Patriot but as a Chief as well. He has some growing to do, but I feel confident he will continue to progress if the Chiefs can surround him with more support. A lesser QB would have crumbled under the conditions Cassel faced this season, yet he stood tall and continued to fight back through adversity and some poor performances. You want your QB to be a reflection of the identify of your entire team. If Cassel’s toughness and resiliency is a sign of the identify the Chiefs are developing, I think they are in good hands.

2. Running Back

Jamaal Charles has proven himself and the Chiefs need to roll with him moving forward. Jackie Battle and Dantrel Savage are good enough to spell him and come in for spot duty. Battle is a bigger back who could be useful in short yardage situations and Savage is a small, fast back, similar to Charles who would be ideal to run the plays the coaches design for Jamaal. There are plenty of other needs here. The Chiefs should be fine at RB with this group and some improved blocking up front.

3. Corner Back

I really like Brandon Carr and Brandon Flowers. I think Flowers is on the cusp of putting up Pro Bowl type numbers and it could happen in his 3rd season. Carr does a very good job, especially because he tends to get thrown on more because he is playing opposite Flowers. If the Chiefs get a quality Safety look for their secondary to be very hard to throw on next season.

4. Outside Linebacker

The Chiefs have struck gold my moving Tamba Hali from DE to OLB. He has already surpassed his career total for sacks in a season with one game to go. Previously, his best season was 7 sacks while playing opposite Jared Allen. After having a disappointing season on the defensive line last year, Hali has revived his career, performing quite well as the Chiefs only serious pass rushing threat.

On the other side of the field, the Chiefs have to be really excited about the potential of Andy Studebaker. While it is hard to anoint him the starter, given the limited action he has had spelling Mike Vrabel, you have to like what you’ve seen. If Studebaker can get the job done, he will enable the Chiefs to focus on the MLB positions.

5. Kicker

It is hard to think of Kicker as something the Chiefs can hang their hat on but to that way of thinking I simply say, Justin Medlock. Ryan Succup has been a breath of fresh air in the Chiefs kicking game. He has a big leg and can get the ball into the endzone on kickoffs. The Chiefs kicking game has suffered quite a bit since Herm Edwards got rid of Lawrence Tynes. It may not seem like much now but I assure you, as the Chiefs improve, you will be very thankful for Ryan Succup.

gump

I would prefer to pick up a CB and move Carr to the Nickel, he does get picked on and it doesn't really matter why. A rock em sock em safety will improve the secondary exponentially. Totally agree on the kicker, how many of NE's championships can be placed squarely in the shoulders of Vineterri?

OLB is okay, could use more speed there, but ILB needs help bad.

Need to pick up a back in the later rounds, just insurance for Charles, no one else has done anything in the backfield all season.

And YES for the love of Pete, people get off of Cassel's back. He may never be Brett Favre or Peyton Manning, but who else is. He will be just fine when other pieces are in place and they get to play together. Imagine if the play book was used through OTS's, camp, Pre-season, and then on into the regular season with the same guys actually doing it every week.

share flag

spam
offensive
disagree
off topic

Chiefs58

I say these things because I cant bear another few years like these past 2. Im about to lose my mind. Id do or say anything for them to get better.

merlin

Pat:

I agree with you that we can get by with our CB group. However, I do think that we need to bring in a RB to compliment Charles.

Patrick Allen

The Chiefs need the upgrades in other areas. At this point they should not waste resources on positions they are doing ok with now. Cornerback is fine, trust me. Cassel does not need anyone to challenge him. He needs better teammates. We don't want to deal with QB controversy crap like in Cleveland.

The Chiefs will need depth at the positions I mentioned above but the point of the article was that they could get by with those positions next year. They are good enough to upgrade at other areas.

slackjaw

Chief 58 , is spot-on . I would not rely on Battle and Savage as they have a very bad track record as far as health goes...

I believe we can use a thumper RB to compliment Charles and upgrading our nickel back. So, I guess I would get rid of the RB slot and substitute Punter. Nickel is not a huge priority, but we could use someone else stepping up there.

Of course, I say ANY position then say we're ok at punter and kicker.

I do as much back checking Peter King.

Stand pat. Jesus man, we cant afford to stand pat at ANY position. Bring someone to challenge Cassel. We need options at RB behind Charles that can stay healthy. Our CBs are spotty. We need better linebackers. The ONLY spots we are solid at are kicker and punter.

Lawrence George Esq.

I pretty much agree with this. Good point about Carr...he proly does get picked on because the other Brandon is on the other side. As per Cassel, people need to chill the f--- out on the guy. I'm amazed he's survived the season. Astounded. Get this kid an improved o-line and (I think) one more quality reciever and watch out, he's going to be dangerous.