The Morning Fix: Chiefs News From Around The Web

9Carolina

DT Dontari Poe, Memphis

Loads of potential here for team in need of interior-line help.

10Buffalo

T Riley Reiff, Iowa

Bills need left tackle. Chiefs would take a look if he’s still there at No. 11.

11Chiefs

LB Luke Kuechly, Boston College

Would be immediate defensive boost. Very athletic.

“Justin has a lot of potential,” Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said. “He’s still learning this game. As I look back to when he became a starter to the end of the year, I think his game improved. As he got used to seeing different blocking schemes, I think he got better and he’ll continue to get better. This year, he’ll have an offseason, which will be good for him. I expect to see a good improvement in him in 2012.”

The Chiefs also drafted Houston in the third round last year. He likely would have been drafted in the first round but allegedly tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine.

“He’s 270 pounds, and he can run,” inside linebacker Derrick Johnson said. “Tamba even looks at him and he wishes he was that big and could run like that.”

Today’s Kansas City is divided. That’s what losing will do. There are Chiefs fans and Royals fans — sure, there’s plenty of shared attention — but until both franchise’s youth movements begin to show meaningful progress, a city starved for a winner will remain up for grabs.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, this was a Chiefs town. Throughout the ’80s, when the Royals were consistent winners and claimed their only World Series title, they were identified as the city’s favorite. The Chiefs retook bragging rights through the ’90s, but then losing on both sides of the Truman Sports Complex left hearts broken and loyalty fading.

Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel said he was pleased with the way his team addressed needs in free agency, giving Kansas City the ability to go in several directions come draft time. When asked at the annual NFL meeting what the Chiefs might focus on in the draft, Crennel said, “You can never have enough speed on your team, enough pass rushers on your team. We’re always looking for corners, we’re always looking for pass rushers, we’re always looking for speed receivers.”