Some teams run the ball; some teams pass the ball; and som
e teams punt the ball…ah hem. In other words some teams like the Saints, Colts, Eagles and Patriots have an identity as a passing team, whereas teams like the Titans, Steelers, Jags, and Miami have established a running team identity. But do you see a correlation? The Titans, Steelers, Jags and Dolphins all sucked this year and the other passing teams did very well.
You want further proof that you have to be a passing team in order to win in the NFL? The top two RBs this season, Chris Johnson (Titans) 2006 rushing yards, and Steven Jackson (Rams) 1416 rushing yards, did not even make the playoffs despite stellar rushing statistics. In fact, the Titans won eight (8) games and St. Louis won only one (1) behind their league high rushers. Moreover, the two teams in the Superbowl, The Colts and Saints, were clearly passing type teams with elite QBs and very deep WR talent.
Jamal Charles may currently be our best weapon on offense, but we absolutely, positively should not build our offense around him. He played very tough this year, but he is no bruiser, and durability has to be a concern going forward. Jamal Charles has turned out to be quite the stud, (a poor man’s Chris Johnson, if you will) but he should be “icing on the cake” so to speak rather than the cake itself. You should look no further than to Tennessee’s league leading rusher and their mediocre record for proof.
Luckily for us, we have a head coach in Todd Haley who has a penchant for throwing the football. We also have a head coach who knows that the wide receiver talent is not currently on the team to do so. Coach Haley brought in many wide receivers during camp and even during the season because he knew the Chiefs receivers just plain sucked. The receiving “line-up” was being changed more than Larry Johnson’s diapers… ah hem. In the beginning of the season we were trying painstakingly hard to run the ball when we simply could not. It became even harder when the Chiefs attempted to throw and dropped pass after pass after pass.
Haley and Cassel stated numerous times during the season that the team had to establish some semblance of an identity. The team never did. It simply couldn’t. It could not because Haley wanted to be a passing team but did not have the talent for it (see Sean Ryan, Mark Bradley, Bobby Wade, Lance Long, Terrance Copper, Quinten Lawrence, etc.). You can bet that is going to change.
It used to be that in the NFL you would run to establish the pass. That is no longer true; you must pass to establish the run. Now comes Charlie Weis, an “offensive guru” so to speak, who loves to throw the ball just like Haley. (Weis can only make Matt Cassel better too). It’s a guarantee that Haley and Weis are going to require some serious receiver talent to run their offense. An offense which should be a pass heavy offense, sprinkling in “our little 195 pound” Jamal Charles in sporadic runs, sweeps, screens, and check downs. (Jamal Charles should be featured in our passing attack this year. I presume Charles was not involved heavily in the passing game this year due to his shoulder separation issues which he recently had surgery to hopefully resolve). I am sure that Scott Pioli’s ear will be bombarded with numerous receiver requests in early March (free agency) and late April (Draft) 2010, and it should be. A move must be made, and it will.
But what will the necessary moves be to become a passing team? I believe that we are just three players away. We need one strong lineman, another quality receiver and another quality TE.
As for the lineman, against my fellow bloggers preference, I suggest an OT with our first pick (Berry won’t be there). I know the arguments against it, but move Branden Albert to LG (his natural position), Brian Waters to Center, and our number five pick will be our new left tackle. Keep Ryan O’Callaghan at RT and Wade Smith at RG. (I think Wade Smith is completely underrated).
With our second pick we select a quality WR along the lines of Deshean Jackson, Austin Collie, or say a Golden Tate. Keep Dwayne Bowe as our number one, Chris Chambers as our number two (after signing him on the cheap), and Golden Tate as our number 3 WR. Tate is a former running back, who has decent, but not great speed. He has wonderful acceleration, agility and vision. He could be a Dante Hall type of player/third receiver. He could also be our KR/PR. Tate is currently projected to go in the first 40 picks. We could also go with a free agent (not preferred), say an Antonio Bryant (Tampa), or a Steve Breaston (Arizona).
As far as a TE upgrade, many of you know, I have always liked Brad Cottam. I have no idea why he was a very late bloomer this year. I still think he can be a quality TE, but we cannot put our eggs in one basket. We could select another TE in the later rounds (don’t prefer), or bring in free agent super fast Ben Watson (do prefer) to compete or complement Pope and Cottam. (Jake O’Connell did not impress me this year; in fact he down right pissed me off!). The rest of the draft picks should focus on defense (another topic altogether), with maybe one late round being spent on another guard or receiver.
So what do you think? Do you agree? Should we be a passing team? Can we be a passing team? Will these moves help us lose our current punting team identity?
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Great article makes sense because haley ran the spread n arizona and cassel is better in the spread.
I think right now our best player is Jamaal Charles.
You build around your best player. A passing game will help Charles be more effective, as will another back to shoulder the work load but make no mistake, you can build your team around a running back.
I am not saying the Chiefs should give Charles 30 carries a game but they should design things to get the most production out of their biggest offensive weapon. If that means passing more, I am all for it.
Pat:
I don’t disagree. Opposing defenses should be lulled to sleep by short throws to Bowe and our 3wr, a couple of throws deep to Chambers, etc. then a run or throw to Charles when they are not looking.
Constantly giving the ball, pass or throw, to Charles is not good business. He is not built for it.
One thing is for sure, we can’t be one dimensional.
It (passing) works for the Colts, Pats, Eagles, Cardnials, Saints, though? They are pretty damn one dimensional.
That is my argument, this is a pass heavy league. The sucessful teams are almost completely one dimensional.
60/40 is a good mix.
I am hoping we don’t go WR until round three or later. we have to fix the offensive line and defensive front seven first.
I think when Sunday evening comes, the teams that won are the teams that ran the ball. And we have one of the best running backs in the league in my opinion.
I like the idea of trading our 2ed second rounder for branden marshall. Hes a good wr that paired with bowe could make our offense. Very powerful with charles bowe and marshall. Not to mention marshall would like to face the donkeys and crush em! What do u think?
567:
Marshall is a true talent, can’t compalain about that, but the Donks would never send him to an AFC West Foe ever!
PFT is reporting an “unnamed” team is working out Stallworth this week. Sounds like the Chiefs to me.
mostly, i agree. i differ on dropsy bowe though. we cannot count on him, period. he has had 3 years to shine and is worse ever year. i was interested to see that the broncos were looking at qb’s, and that would be our only shot for a trade in division, if they wanted clausen or bradford there. our 5 for their 10 and marshall. i think if we draft dez bryant it will pay off, as we need playmakers and the kid does that. cassell is very good at checking off reads and delivering the ball to the right player, but how can the guy keep throwing to guys who drop the ball?
dubl maybe he wants to be traded?
Dubldug:
Bowe has dropped some passes but don’t give up on him yet. He is still a very talented receiver. He needs to work on YAC though.
Cassel to me makes the right decisions, he at times appears to have accuracy problems, most of which I believe is poor route running by the WRs/being out of sync with the receivers.
One thing is for sure Cassell has to prove his worth this year or we will be looking elsewhere soon.
Post up about Stallworth now on the main page.
improve his yac? he has to catch the ball before …yac. i stick with my call trade him.
Im not buying that Berry wont be there but O kung will. The Best LT is going to go in the top 4 picks. After O Kung is gone, Who could the Chiefs pick? Davis is a worse fit in the ZBS than Russell O Kung and O Kung isnt even a great fit. That would mean the Chiefs would be taking Bruce Cambell (The best fit for a ZBS in this draft). I doubt they reach like that again. The Chiefs are going to take someone none of us are talking about just like last year. Get ready for it.
I appreciate the article.
What I agree with:
We will probably be a “passing” team.
We need to improve the O-line.
We need better WRs.
My Thoughts:
In your argument that running teams aren’t successful you chose not to mention Jets and Ravens who were 1st and 5th in Rushing offense this season and went to the playoffs.
The passing teams you mention happen to have HOF QBs,(with the possible exception of McNabb). Which is something we most likely don’t have. Then again, the #1 passing offense in the league did so behind the arm of Matt Schaub (who didn’t make it to the playoffs).
I guess my point is that in order to win you just need to find the right system, coaches, and players. Run and pass in a combo that works because in the end, it isn’t the labels of “running team” or “passing team” that matter. It is the labels of “winning team” or “losing team.”
Also, I agree with Merlin. Right now I’m thinking the Chiefs might pick up 2 WRs in the 5th round. Riley Cooper and Andre Roberts. I also wouldn’t mind if we invited Kerry Meier in as an undrafted.
Douglas, you could very well be right, Okung and Berry could/should be gone.
Wow, picking someone noone is talking about….hmmm.. sounds disappointing….just like last season….
Ehud, excellent points.
I should have dug a bit deeper.
I will say this, both the Ravens and the Jets would have been very dangerous had they had a passing attack. The real reason that they both eeked their way into the playoffs was that they had stellar defenses.
You point is well taken though.
just wanted to point out that this mock draft predicts the exact thing I did:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/schrager-mock-draft-2-021010
Okung in First Round
and Golden Tate in Second Round