Chiefs GM Scott Pioli On 4th Round Draft Pick Jalil Brown

One of the more unpopular draft picks the Kansas City Chiefs made on the third day of the 2011 NFL Draft was their selection of Colorado CB Jalil Brown.

It is easy to understand why some folks would see CB as a position the Chiefs are pretty well set at. They already have Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr and Javier Arenas. Still, I believe you can never have enough good corners and while the Chiefs have three solid players, they do lack in the depth department.

Depth was primary guess for why the Chiefs took Brown. I remember as soon as the pick was announced that I immediately began looking forward to what GM Scott Pioli would say about the pick. After the action concluded this evening, Pioli sat down with some local reporters and talked a bit about Brown.

"“He’s got good size, good speed. He’s played corner and safety in the past. He’s had some…he’s got some position flexibility. He’s also a player that we felt as we did our homework with coach Hoffman and some of the other scouts, a player that we felt could not only come in and help us at a role at the corner position, but also come in and be a corner that plays a lot of core special teams and be one of the better…we identified him as being one of the better special teams players difference makers in this draft.”"

Now as we go though these Pioli quotes, make sure that you remember that the Chiefs GM is a master manipulator. He is excellent in pumping out team propaganda and buzz words that Chiefs Nation loves to eat up with a giant sized spoon. This year at AA, we are going to try to do a cautious job of trying to separate what we actually think and what Pioli wants us to think. We feel that this is the only way we can look at this team and this draft in as objectively a way as is possible for a bunch of rabid Chiefs fans. Trust your gut and trust your eyes more than what Pioli tells you.

That being said, I don’t think Pioli is trying to pull the wool over our eyes here. I believe that he really does believe Brown will be a solid special teams performer and that that is primarily why the team drafted him.

AA analyst Double D has pointed out in many a column that the Chiefs’ special teams left much to be desired in 2010. It appears that Pioli recognized that as well and was making moves in this draft to bolster the teams athleticism and special teams play. And if you don’t think special teams is important, just ask the San Diego Chargers how neglecting their special teams worked out for them in 2010.

When Brown was picked, many of the Addict readers in the live chat were upset that the Chiefs went with a CB instead of taking NT Jerrell Powe. The Chiefs ended up getting Powe later in the 6th round and now they have depth at corner as well as a guy they believe to be a core special teams player.