John Dorsey Declined Options To Move Back In The Draft

Prior to the draft there was one thing on many people’s minds: The Chiefs needed more picks.

Depleted by the Alex Smith trade and lacking compensation picks for lost free agents, the Chiefs were armed with only six draft picks in a draft that was supposed to be one of the deepest in recent memory. Given the Chiefs biggest roster need was depth it made sense for the Chiefs to trade back in the first round to add picks and improve the quality of their roster depth.

It turns out that Dorsey thought Dee Ford was more valuable than the extra picks. In a story from Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated’s MMQB, Dorsey says he had options to move back in the first round but did not take them.

"Dorsey also didn’t want to lose Ford, who was one of the few proven pass rushers in a weak draft at that position. Dorsey admitted he didn’t have enough ammunition to go up and get a Khalil Mack (fifth overall to Oakland). He also declined options to move back.“When you weigh the compensation against the value of the player, I thought the player would be the better pick,” he said. “And we had heard some rumors that people were trying to move up to get Dee Ford too, so I didn’t want to move back too far.”"

This says three things: 1) Dorsey really likes the potential of Ford as a pass rusher and 2) Dorsey doesn’t feel like he needs draft picks in order to add depth to a roster and 3) Dorsey really liked Khalil Mack, does that mean he had Ford and Mack rated over Jadeveon Clowney? Much of Dorsey’s draft plan has been a slap in the face to the common perception of his team. Chiefs need a wide receiver in the deepest wide receiver draft in years? Dorsey draft zero wide receivers. Chiefs need depth and more draft picks? Dorsey declines trade offers for more draft picks.

At this stage I’m giving Dorsey the benefit of the doubt. He transformed a 2-win roster into an 11-win roster with the help of Andy Reid in a matter of one offseason. However it is quite clear that Dorsey has a completely different perspective of the needs of this roster than we do.