This isn’t your daddy’s K.C. Chiefs
By Laddie Morse
This isn’t your daddy’s K.C. Chiefs. I should know. I was around when this was your granddaddy’s team too. I recall the thrill of Lenny to Otis, who then high stepped it down the Super Bowl IV sideline before they even called it the Super Bowl.
More importantly, I remember all the ex-general managers like Jack Steadman, and Jim Schaaf, and Carl Peterson, and Scott Pioli which means… that I know how significant it is that John Dorsey is taking this team to a new high standard of consistency… and is a real reason to trumpet… this isn’t your daddy’s K.C. Chiefs,
Not anymore.
Not with “Don-Juan-Megatron Dorsey” leading the way. That’s right… I said it… Don Juan Megatron. “Don Juan,” you ask? Isn’t it obvious… because of his increasing inner-powers at romancing the cap stone. And “Megatron,” you query? It’s his super powers allowing him to transform the organization.
You know…water into wine… clay into flesh and bone… and basically raising this organization from the dead rotten stinking corpse it was, three short years ago when he inherited this 2-and-14 slab from Scott piddily-diddily Pioli.
+ In General Manager Carl Peterson’s last five years at the helm, 2004 through 2008, the team winning percentage was .400.
+ In the four year span that General Manager Scott Pioli led the franchise, 2009 through 2012, the Kansas City Chiefs winning percentage was .359.
+ During the Dorsey Generation of 2013, 2014 and 2015 the Chiefs winning percentage has reached .646.
Of course we can’t lay all the blame for the team’s success at the feet of John Dorsey because head coach Andy Reid and his coaching staff have done a bang up job. However, the point here is, look at what John Dorsey has given Andy Reid to work with.
This is likely the deepest team the Chiefs have had since… since… well, since this was your granddaddy’s team in the 1960s.
Although this is from your granddaddy’s generation, what John Dorsey has accomplished this week, the first week of free agency, should inspire Chiefs fans to rush out and learn, “Hail, Hail the Gang’s All Here.” From a certain perspective, all the players Dorse was able to keep this week were… and are… the real Chiefs. They all fit that Chiefs family and culture definition he and Andy Reid have been clamoring about.
Mind you, John Dorsey has made his share of mistakes, like signing Dwayne Bowe to a bloated contract or even signing Dunta Robinson to a contract at all. And, while our dear Mr. Dorsey hasn’t hit on all his fly-casts into the college draft pool, he and his crack staff of evaluators have been able to identify enough talent in the draft, as well as in free agency and then been able to keep the talent already on the team, that he’s had this team on an upward winning track for three years running.
As of this moment… and of course the situation room at Arrowhead could change this in an instant… but as of now, the 2016 offense will only have two changes, LG Ben Grubbs out, and RT Mitch Schwartz in (BTW… while listening to a Geoff Schwartz interview on Friday afternoon he mentioned that he’s open to a return to K.C.).
The starting numbers on defense look similar for now as well with Sean Smith out and an unknown replacement in. Plus, there may be a new face at Safety since Husain Abdullah hasn’t been re-signed and Tyvon Branch is now in Arizona.
I’m holding out hope that the Chiefs either locate a Safety to play along side of Eric Berry who has superior range and is solid in coverage, or they bring back Abdullah. While Ron Parker is good in coverage from the Safety position, his coverage skills when he lines up at corner aren’t the best and Daniel Sorensen isn’t much more than a solid backup with good special teams skills.
The important point is that there will be few changes to the Kansas City Chiefs starting lineups in 2016, which will once again bring some advanced progress because of familiarity, like we’ve never seen before. Especially because of the team’s already existing intimate knowledge with the complex offensive schemes Andy Reid runs on offense.
There’s hope for a quantum leap this year from physically gifted wide out Chris Conley as well as more progress from Albert Wilson. The same goes for running backs Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West because it takes the skill positions more time. Both center Mitch Morse and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif should show improvements.
Last off season analysts were touting similar stability advantages for the team as a whole. With even more advanced growth potentials presenting themselves again, so the sky truly appears to be the limit for this team. As Billy Joel once sang, “That hasn’t happened for the longest time.”
Probably never.
From a comparative perspective… maintaining the same quarterback for four years straight along with retaining 80% of the starters and coaches from one season to the next… who can say if that’s ever happened on a Kansas City Chiefs team?
Probably never.
Next: Who's Available in the Draft at Cornerback?