Chiefs Should Look To Dane Sanzenbacher For WR Depth
Now that the Chiefs have added Jonathan Baldwin to be Robin to Dwayne Bowe’s Batman, the need to start looking seriously at adding depth at the WR position.
While they have some intriguing prospects in Jeremy Horne and Verran Tucker, they are one injury from being back int he same boat as they were in 2010. Sure, they drafted Dexter McCluster in 2010 be he never really took of as a receiver. Sure, he got slowed by a high ankle sprain in his rookie season but the Chiefs would be very foolish to put all their eggs in McCluster very small but explosive basket.
That is why I think they should take a hard look at undrafted free agent Dane Sanzenbacher out of Ohio State.
On the surface, Sanzenbacher doesn’t appear all that impressive and that may be why he went undrafted. He is small at 5-11, 180. He isn’t particularly fast. He only ran a 4.59 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine. He isn’t even a leaper with only a 33.5 vertical.
So why should the Chiefs look at Sanzenbacher?
Find out after the jump.
Well I am from Ohio and I’ve grown up a big Buckeyes fan. I watched Sanzenbacher throughout his career and while I have an obvious bias here, I think this kid has a real shot to succeed as a pro in the right offense.
Sanzenbacher is tough as nails and consistently went across the middle and took big hits. Often he was airborne, forced to go up and snag Terrel Pryor’s often high and erratic throws. Despite his lack of speed, Sanzenbacher always seemed to find a hole or seem in the defense and get open. He was particularly impressive at finding the endzone in 2010, reeling in 10 TD passes.
The best attributes Sanzenbacher brings is his route running and his hands. The kid never drops anything and while he may not bust off a lot of run after catch yards or pull in a lot of deep balls, he is consistently open and consistently came up in the clutch for the Buckeyes. He had 52 receptions for 889 yards in 2010 in an offense that relies more on it’s QB’s legs than his arm.
Sanzenbacher played well against tough competition. He six catches for 94 yards in the team’s only loss of the season at Wisconsin and pulled in three catches for 59 yards and a touchdown against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.
Sanzenbacher is a notoriously hard worker and is great in the community. I seem him as a viable option as a slot receiver, which the Chiefs really don’t have. He may never be an every down player but the Chiefs could use somebody with reliable hands who is tough enough to go over the middle. With Baldwin stretching the filed and Bowe drawing a ton of attention, a guy like Sanzenbacher who can run crisp routs and doesn’t drop the ball could find favorable matchups to help bail Matt Cassel out of sticky situations. Throw in Tony Moeaki at TE and Jamaal Charles terrorizing defenses out of the backfield and I think you have a pretty talented and dangerous offense.
What do you think Addicts? Is Sanzenbacher a guy the Chiefs should pursue?