Thoughts From The Armchair
Afternoon, Addicts! It’s a pretty exciting time to be a Chiefs fan right now. Free agency is about to begin, the NFL draft is getting ever closer, and the Chiefs are making national news as a possible landing place for one of the greatest QBs in the history of football. There’s so much going on that it’s hard to write one of these pieces just one day in advance because so much can change so quickly.
As I write this on Sunday evening I know there’s a chance we could hear that Dwayne Bowe has been franchised or Peyton Manning has been released before this post even hits the website. So instead of writing on one specific topic and risk having it rendered irrelevant by the time it goes public, I thought I’d throw out some thoughts on several different topics and see if anything sticks. Think of it as my own feeble attempt at a Chiefs related “Monday Morning Quarterback.”
And away we go………..
• Peyton Manning – Okay, I’ve tried REALLY hard not to get Manning Fever, but I’ve failed. I’m now at the point where if the Chiefs don’t sign Manning I’m going to be really disappointed. I know I’m setting myself up for a huge let down, but I can’t help it. I keep telling myself that even with Matt Cassel at QB, they can be a playoff team if they improve the offensive line and find a good nose tackle (more on that in a minute). I honestly believe that. That having been said, there’s a big difference between being a playoff team and being a team that has a legit shot to win a Super Bowl, and that’s exactly what the Chiefs will be if they land Manning. I have to move on to something else now because if I think about Manning as a Chief for too long I just get too excited. It’s not healthy.
• Robert Griffin III – This may seem like I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth after I just got done saying I’m getting myself worked up about signing Peyton Manning, but now I’m going to play the role of party pooper. If you’re still holding out hope that KC might be the team that moves up to #2 in the draft to land the amazing talent that is RG3, I’ve got bad news for you. It’s never going to happen. I know the comments from the combine made it sound like both Crennel and Pioli were head-over-heels for the guy, and that may be true. Here’s the problem, it’s not about if the Chiefs would like to move up and get him, it’s about them being willing to outbid the other teams that want him. The top two teams (Cleveland and Washington) that supposedly want him are both drafting before KC, which means if they offer the same picks (let’s say, two firsts, a second, and a third) the Rams will take the team that drafts earlier because they will have better picks. That means the Chiefs would have to offer significantly more than Cleveland (who has a truck load of extra picks from the Julio Jones trade) and Washington (who has an owner that is known for spending out of control when he wants something). That’s just NOT going to happen. Sorry, RG3 fans!
• Dontari Poe – Here’s another guy that is getting huge press coming out of the combine. The guy is 350 pounds, benched a combine best 44 reps, and then ran a 4.8 forty-yard dash. I’ll admit, that’s REALLY impressive. That having been said, I don’t want the Chiefs to draft Poe with the 11th pick. Here’s the thing, you would think that a 350 pound man that can put up 44 reps in the bench press would have just dominated Conference USA. So where is the footage of Poe tossing around non-BCS offensive linemen like rag dolls? If there is any out there, I haven’t found it. The guy didn’t even make first team all conference! That means the coaches he played against didn’t even think he was one of the two best DTs in a non-BCS conference. So it seems to me that the idea of this guy walking in and being ready to anchor a NFL 3-4 defense as a rookie feels like a big bust waiting to happen. No question that the guy has freakish upside and could end up making teams that pass on him regret it, but if the Chiefs want someone to start right away they should look at one of the several good free agent NTs about to hit the market.
• Right Tackle – Okay, so I’ve already said that I don’t think the Chiefs will move up to get RG3 and that they shouldn’t take Dontari Poe. So what should they do? I’m glad that you asked (or at least have humored me enough to keep reading). To me taking an offensive tackle just makes too much sense. The three biggest positions of need (in my opinion) our QB, RT, and NT. QB isn’t going to happen in the draft, as I’ve already said (and no, I don’t think Tannehill is an option). NT has some great options in free agency and the only first round option in the draft is Poe and I’ve already listed my doubts about him. That leaves RT. Offensive tackle in one of the weakest positions in free agency this year. That means that any team that needs a tackle will be overpaying for just the couple of mediocre starting tackles available. To me that all adds up to taking an OT at number 11 this year. I just hope that either Reiff or Martin is there when they pick because Mike Adams flopped at the combine.
• Tampering Problems? – Okay, so head coach Romeo Crennel got into a little bit of hot water when he said the “he would be crazy not to consider” Peyton Manning if he was available. Now in order for the Chiefs to get in trouble, I believe a team would have to file tampering charges against them and I can’t see the Colts doing that given all the drama they’re going through with Peyton to begin with. However, I found it very interesting that when I went to the Chiefs website to see who the latest FA feature in their “30 FAs in 30 Days” series was only to find that there was none. Not only was there not a new player featured on Sunday, but the entire series was completely gone from the website. You can’t find a single one of the old features. My guess is that after the Crennel/Manning slip of the tongue that somebody decided that the Chiefs official website featuring write-ups on players that weren’t actually free agents yet was a little too close to the tampering line. Whether that was the Chiefs’ call or something that came down from the league office is anybody’s guess. I did find it interesting though.
Well, I think that’s it for this week. Here’s to hoping that we get some exciting news this week (if we haven’t already by the time this posts). As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!