Chiefs Draft Prospects: Greg McElroy
We continue taking a look at various prospects the Kansas City Chiefs might be interested in drafting by moving to former Alabama QB Greg McElroy.
We have been going through a seven round mock draft provided to us by NFL Mocks over the past couple of weeks. We’ve been taking an individual look at each of the players Mocks had the Chiefs selecting. In the 5th round of the mock draft, NFL Mocks suggested the Chiefs take a QB.
Here is what they had to say:
"Brodie Croyle is awful. He started one game for the injured Matt Cassel and he put in a pitiful performance. Greg McElroy reminds me a lot of Matt Cassel. He’s a very intelligent QB who deciphers defenses and reacts very well. He doesn’t have great physical tools, but Greg was a leader at Alabama and I think he could be a starter somewhere down the line."
Let’s take a closer look at McElroy and try to decide if he would be a good fit in KC.
I took a look at various scouting reports on McElroy and I think he could be a decent fit to replace Brodie Croyle especially because he demonstrates trait that the Chiefs love.
For starters McElroy is smart with the football. He has 39 career TD’s vs. only 10 interceptions and could probably come in and be a decent game manager if called upon.
McElroy also played in an Alabama offense that relied heavily on the run and featured Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. As a result, McElroy wasn’t expected to carry the offense and developed a pretty good short passing game. The Chiefs are a run fist offense so McElroy would likely be a good fit in Todd Haley’s system.
Another aspect of McElroy that makes him a possible target for the Chiefs is that he has the intangibles. Actually, from here on out, I’m not longer going to use the term intangibles on this website. From now on, in honor of the man who has enough intangibles to keep him on the field despite his rapidly declining play, I am going to create a new word; Vrabels.
Greg McElroy demonstrates spectacular vrabels. He showed his toughness by playing in the National Championship game with two cracked ribs and he is also extremely smart. McElroy is a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with a 3.85 GPA. While I can’t confirm it, I’ve heard reports out of Indianapolis that McElroy scored a 48 out of 50 on the Wonderlic exam at the NFL Scouting Combine. If that is true it is pretty impressive considering the players have only 12 minutes to take the test. McElroy certainly has all the vrabels the Chiefs look for and fits the profile of a Pioli/Haley guy perfectly.
The QB does have some weaknesses but none that I think would keep the Chiefs from drafting him. He has some footwork issues to work out and he lacks the incredible arm strength of KC’s current backup QB Brodie Croyle. Due to this lack of arm strength, McElroy struggles throwing outside the hashes. Then again, while Croyle has the arm strength to throw the deep ball, the other team tends to catch it more often than the receivers so really it’s a wash. Also, Croyle is made of class and McElroy is made of vrabels.
McElroy was not able to throw at the Scouting Combine because of a broken bone in his hand that he suffered at the Senior Bowl. The QB did however, boost his stock a bit with a fine performance during the week of practices at the Senior Bowl.
NFL Draft Scout currently lists McElroy as the 10th best QB in the draft and projects him to be taken in the 5th round.
The Chiefs have a couple of 5th round picks this year and unless they think they have another Kendrick Lewis on their hands, I think taking McElroy would be a smart move. He may not be the most athletic QB out there but the Chiefs won’t be drafting him to start. The kid is a winner, he takes care of the football and he would likely be comfortable in the Chiefs’ offensive system. As Mocks said, Croyle is terrible and there is no way I want to ever see Tyler Palko on the field in a game that matters. McElroy would be an improvement over both backup QB’s already on KC’s roster and he processes more upside.
QB is the most important position on the team and right now the Chiefs are another Mat Cassel appendectomy away from disaster. I’m not saying McElroy would be able to come in and lead the Chiefs to the playoffs or anything but I can’t say that he wouldn’t alright either.
I CAN say that about Brodie Croyle and Tyler Palko.
Plus McElroy has vrabels. Lots and lots of vrabels.
What do you think Addicts? Would you want the Chiefs to take a chance on Greg McElroy?