Todd Haley, Core Players, & the “Right 53”
As the march towards Crennel seems to be wrapping up, Adam Teicher comes out with a piece in the Star today highlighting Haley’s belief in certain players on the team as “core players” for the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Core players”? Exactly how many core players can there be on a team that won four games?
Plenty, apparently. Here are the players mentioned as being key players:
- RB Jamaal Charles (Regarded as a no-brainer.)
- CB Brandon Flowers (Ditto.)
- OLB Tamba Hali (Double ditto.)
- QB Brodie Croyle (Haley: “he was able to help Matt on a day-to-day basis. In that group, it’s pretty critical that there’s a cohesiveness…”)
- WR Quentin Lawrence (“…the last couple of games, he made an impact for us…”)
- DE Glenn Dorsey (“…he was missing for most of that Buffalo game and the Cleveland game, which (not) coincidentally were games we struggled against the run.”)
- ILB Derrick Jonson (“He handled a difficult year very well…”)
- LT Brandon Albert (“I expect him to do nothing but get better.”)
This is no small deal; with Pioli and Haley, the philosophy from Day One has been to bring in the Right 53. That these players have been discussed as part of the team’s “core” bodes well for their job security in Kansas City.
Even though Teicher managed to pull more specifics out of Haley than usual, questions are still raised more often than they’re answered. Surely this means that Croyle and Johnson, free agents this offseason, will be pursued and resigned by the Chiefs. And surely this means that Lawrence, cut twice during the season, has worked himself out of the doghouse. But in what capacity? And when the salary cap becomes a consideration again, can we still afford to show DJ the money? Haley said Albert is a core player “in some fashion for us” — does that mean the Chiefs could be in the market for a new left tackle? And what impact does OC Charlie Weis have on Croyle’s job security — you do know that the best QB in the 2010 Draft is his protege?
What do you think, Addicts?