The Best And Worst Of The Last Decade Of Chiefs Draft Picks

Kansas City Chiefs fans are getting more and more into “draft mode” with each passing week. Here at Arrowhead Addict we’ve got several writers who are giving you great insight into what players might be a good fit for the Chiefs. As much as I’d like to jump in on that conversation, I’ll admit I just haven’t done enough homework on the subject to date and wouldn’t be able to add much to the conversation. So in order to get in on the draft talk I decided to take a look back at the past instead of looking forward to the future.

On Saturday I overheard a radio segment with good old Mel Kiper Jr. where he broke down some of the best and worst picks in the history of the top 10 picks of the draft. It got me thinking about the Chiefs (Todd Blackledge was mentioned as one of the worst by the way) and our recent draft history. So I decided to do something similar. I’m going to look at the last decade of Chiefs drafts (2001-2010) and select who I think were the best and worst picks in each round. As I started checking out the picks I soon found that there would be a lot more competition for the worst picks then there was for the best. As you look over the players on this list you’ll see just how good and how bad draft picks can be.

Find out who I picked after the break.

I’ll start with round seven and work my way up to the first.

7th Round
Best Pick: Jarrad Page – S – UCLA – 2006
Worst Pick: Maurice Rodriguez – ? – Fresno State – 2002

For the best pick I went with Page over Ryan Succop. If Succop winds up being the Chiefs kicker for the next decade and makes a pro bowl or two I would change my vote. However, Page was a solid starter for several seasons and any time you get an every down starter in the 7th round you are doing pretty well. I didn’t know how I was going to pick a “worst pick” in the 7th round since most of the players fail. I was leaning towards Mike Merritt because of the whole pot bust thing, but then I stumbled upon the Chiefs 2002 7th round pick Rodriguez. If you look at NFL.com’s official draft list for that year they don’t even have a position for Rodriguez. No height or weight listed either. A quick Google search will let you know he was an OLB, but when the NFL’s official sight doesn’t even bother to figure out what position you play you are a pretty irrelevant pick.

6th Round
Best Pick: Barry Richardson – T – Clemson – 2008
Worst Pick: Kevin Robinson – WR – Utah State – 2008

That’s right Barry Richardson is our best 6th round pick of this decade. The only other player worth mentioning is Jimmy Wilkerson who might of beat out Richardson if he had stayed with the pass rush deprived Chiefs instead of going to Tampa Bay. Once again it’s hard to pick a “worst” 6th round pick, but I went with Robinson over other flops because the Chiefs used the pick on him not to play WR, but specifically so he could be a return man. The problem with that was he wasn’t any good at it. It’s hard to find a spot on a roster for a kick return specialist who can’t return kicks.

5th Round
Best Pick: Brandon Carr – CB – Grand Valley State – 2008, Scott Fujita – LB – Cal – 2002
Worst Pick: Justin Medlock – K – UCLA – 2007

I couldn’t decide between Carr and Fujita. Neither were/are amazing players but both are good quality NFL starters. If Fujita had spent his entire career with the Chiefs he’d probably get the nod. On the same token, if Carr has a long career with the Chiefs as a starter he’ll probably pass Fujita. As for Medlock, most kickers (even the good ones) go undrafted so when you use a 5th round draft pick on one he’s suppose to be your kicker for the next 5-10 years. Medlock couldn’t even beat out Connor Barth.

4th Round
Best Pick: Jared Allen – DE – Idaho State – 2004
Worst Pick: Herm Edwards – Coach – 2006

I don’t really need to explain the Allen pick, so I won’t. I was losing sleep over who should be the worst 4th round pick between Will Franklin, Craphonso Thorpe, and Omar Easy until I remembered that the Chiefs traded away their 4th rounder in 2006 to get Herm Edwards. Ouch!

3rd Round
Best Pick: Jamaal Charles – RB – Texas – 2008
Worst Pick: Snoop Minnis – WR – Florida State – 2001

Again, I probably don’t need to say anything about JC, he’s the man. Tony Moeaki looks good and Dustin Colquitt is a great punter, but Charles is a super star. Snoop gets the nod for worst pick over other “gems” like Eric Downing, Julian Battle, and Alex Magee. Snoop not only was a bad player, he couldn’t learn the playbook and had character issues, a triple threat!

2nd Round
Best Pick: Brandon Flowers – CB – Virginia Tech – 2008
Worst Pick: Junior Siavii – DT – Oregon – 2004

Flowers is a great pick but it would have been nice if someone from the last decade had given him a little bit of a run for his money. After Flowers the best players are probably Bernard Pollard and Kawika Mitchell, both of whom start but are not exactly great. Maybe one of the 2010 picks will step up, but right now it’s Flowers in a landslide. I had to give the worst pick to Siavii because he was essentially our 1st round pick that year. We traded out of the first round despite being desperate for defensive help in the prime years of Dick Vermeil’s offense. In the handful of spots we traded down we missed out on Karlos Dansby and Igor Olshansky, both of which have had much better careers then Siavii.

1st Round
Best Pick: Tamba Hali – DE – Penn State – 2006
Worst Pick: Ryan Sims – DT – North Carolina – 2002

It’s nice that you can make an argument for several players for the best pick spot. Eric Berry looks like he will be great, Dwayne Bowe broke the Chiefs rookie receiving record and now has made the Pro Bowl, Larry Johnson is a horrible human being but was a Pro Bowl running back for a couple of years. Ultimately I picked Hali because he has not only played at a Pro Bowl level, but he has carried KC’s pass rush on his back since Allen left town. On the flip side, I know some of you will want Tyson Jackson as the worst pick, but I gave the edge to Sims for three reasons. First, it may not be likely, but Jackson could still improve. Second, Sims went in the same draft ahead of John Henderson and Albert Haynesworth who both were Pro Bowlers. Third, the Dick Vermeil led Chiefs teams were in desperate need of a stopper on defense. One Pro Bowl caliber stopper on defense might have been all that offense needed to make a real run at a title.

So there you go Addicts, my list of best and worst picks of each round over the last decade. Did I get it right? Did I forget anybody? Are some of these picks just too painful to talk about? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Until then…

Thanks again for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!