It is a beautiful thing to see the whole Broncos Nation flipped upside down with all this Jay Cutler drama going on, and the cause of it all is our man Matt Cassel.  Why did the Broncos want Cassel over Cutler so bad?  I know Josh McDaniels worked with Matt Cassel all last year, but I believe it goes deeper than that.  I mean Jay Cutler is a decent QB, so why were they willing to ship him away?  It is simple.  Matt Cassel > Jay Cutler.  Here is why.

2008 Stats

The stats don’t lie.  Our boy MC was better than Jay Cutler in pretty much every stat last year.  We are talking about basically a rookie in Matt Cassel, who hasn’t been a starter since high-school, doing better than a “established” starter in the NFL.

This is what intrigues and excites me the most.  Last year, all I ever heard anyone say about Tyler Thigpen was that ” oh, he’s basically a rookie and look how he’s doing, he’s got such potential,”  and rightly so.  I was one of those people.  Well, look how well Matt Cassel did last year and he was basically in the same boat as Thigpen, having never been a starter.

On the other hand, Jay Cutler showed great potential coming into the league, but what Josh McDaniels might be worried about is that Jay is leveling off and starting to show his true colors.  Don’t get me wrong, I will give credit when credit is due and JC is a good QB. But  I’m sure McDaniels took into account both players’ potential, and having seen MC first hand for an entire year he felt persuaded to go after Matt.

The bottom line is this:  If Jay Cutler was better than Matt Cassel or even as good,  then Josh McDaniels and the Broncos front office would not have gone after Cassel.  Less than six months to go until 2009 kickoff and, no, I cannot wait.  If the Donkeys ship Cutler away, that’s great for us.  If they keep him, it will just heat up the rivalry.  This year is going to be fun, folks.

(Go vote for who the Chiefs should take in our sister site Phin Phanatic’s interactive mock draft, as our Red and Gold is on the clock. Should be interesting! – Adam)

Well, all that aside, let’s look back at the numbers from the combine and see if we can’t find out which way S.P. is leaning towards…

Offensive Line and Tight Ends

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There has been a ton of speculation about the upcoming draft and who the Chiefs should pick, but free agency is coming up February 27 and we have money to spend! There are some good looking free agents out there that are about to hit the market. By having some good free agent pick-ups, the less we will need to rely on the draft. Let’s take a look at who’s out there.

Quarterback:
Patrick Ramsey, UFA, Denver Broncos
Charlie Batch, UFA, Pittsburgh Steelers
Kyle Boller, UFA, Baltimore Ravens
Matt Cassel, Franchised, New England Patriots
Rex Grossman, UFA, Chicago Bears
Byron Leftwich, UFA, Pittsburgh Steelers
J.P. Losman, UFA, Buffalo Bills
Kyle Orton, UFA, Chicago Bears
Kurt Warner, UFA, Arizona Cardinals
Jeff Garcia, UFA, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Charlie Frye UFA Seattle Seahawks
Brooks Bollinger UFA Dallas Cowboys
Chris Simms UFA Tennessee Titans
J.T. O’Sullivan UFA San Francisco 49ers
Matt Gutierrez UFA New England Patriots
Gibran Hamdan UFA Buffalo Bills
Luke McCown UFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brock Berlin RFA St Louis Rams
Shane Boyd RFA Houston Texans

Overview:

The quarterback position is a major need for us. Tyler Thigpen has shown a lot of flash but he is by no means proven. There are a couple of quality QBs out there. My favorite pick would be Matt Cassel. The Patriots have franchised Cassel but technically we can still grab him. He would come at a great cost but the Chiefs would have the QB position locked down for years. Is it worth it? I say yes. Other than Matt Cassel I could see the Chiefs going with a J.P. Losman or Chris Simms. Two young guys that have some talent and would create some great QB competition for us. Some “experts” say the Chiefs should go after Kurt Warner. This would be a bad move. Don’t get me wrong, Kurt was awesome last year but the last thing this team needs is a QB on his way out and that will probably only play for one more year. Then we would be in the same position next year as we are in now. The Chiefs need the man that is going to be our QB for years, right now.

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The Kansas City Chiefs are entering one of the most important drafts in franchise history.  After coming off a solid draft in 2008, the Chiefs must continue to build off of last year’s draft to generate a solid contending team for years to come.  The only way this can be done is to address the major needs of our beloved red and gold.   In this post, I will be ranking our major draft needs; 1 being a non-need and 10 being a desperate need.

Quarterback: -10

Sure Tyler Thigpen showed potential in 2008.  I don’t want to throw him under the bus or anything, but who knows what is going to happen when we get a new coach and if he will want to stick with this spread offense.  If our new coach does not want to go with the spread, can Tyler be an effective under-the-center type quarterback?  The Chiefs can not afford to wait if Tyler doesn’t pan out.  Damon Huard is more than likely gone and lord knows that we can’t rely on Brodie Croyle.  We must pick up a QB in this draft but none of the quarterbacks coming out of the draft seem to be worthy of a 3rd overall pick in my opinion.  I say we pick up a QB in the later rounds.  Here are some who should be available after the first round.

• Graham Harrell, Texas Tech - In 2008 Harrell threw for 5,100 yards, 45 touchdowns and posted a quarterback rating of 160.04.  I know that he is definitely a product of a system but his stats are still outstanding.  Although he does not have the frame of most NFL QB’s, he has good fundamentals to become a solid NFL player.  Great arm, good accuracy, durable, shows poise in the pocket and has great football intelligence.  I see Graham Harrell more as a developmental type player but he definitely has potential.

• Josh Freeman, Kansas State - Standing at 6’5″, 238 pounds Freeman has great size for the NFL.  I personally think Josh Freeman is overrated but a lot of people like him and he is rated high on many peoples boards for QB’s in the 2009 draft, so I thought I would list him.  He has great size and a cannon arm but I question his decision making frequently, especially in clutch situations.

• Nate Davis, Ball State - I think Nate Davis would be a solid pick on the 2nd day of the draft.  He threw for 9,233 yards and 74 touchdowns in 3 years at Ball State.  He seems to be a more NFL ready quarterback and I think he wouldn’t take as long to develop as a Graham Harrell.  Davis has great smarts and plays well under pressure.  If we can get him on the second day of the draft I say we take him.

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(After what he did today, L.J. will no longer be seen in a Chiefs jersey in any new post on this site. Period. That’s a promise. – Adam)

Well, gang, Larry Johnson still wants out of Kansas City despite newly hired GM Scott Pioli.  Larry Johnson went into depth about how he feels about the city and the Chiefs in a 23-minute interview on KCSP 610 radio on Wednesday.

Johnson says:

“I’d rather just play somewhere else. This is a rebuilding team. I dont’ really think that I belong on this rebuilding team. It’s just the way the league works. I’ve done what I’ve done for Kansas City. I’m not getting no younger, and the team is getting younger. So I’m not sure I fit in the scheme of things. I never felt like I was in the scheme of things anyways. Everyone wants to do it the hard way, or you can do it the easy way.”

In the interview Larry goes on to talk about the fans of Kansas City saying that he gets boo’ed when out at sporting events or in the public.

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Well the monkey is finally off of our back now. Herman Edwards has departed and we are moving on. As anticipated, there has been a ton of speculation on who Herm Edwards’ successor will be. Shortly after the news came out that Herm was terminated (or Herminated), there were already reports that Mike Shanahan was close to inking a deal as the Chiefs next head coach. Then reports came out from a Chiefs spokesman that the deal was unlikely but Shanahan was at the top of our list. Friday was a very drama-filled day for any Chiefs fan but it’s time for further speculation on potential successors.

Mike Shanahan

Although right now it seems very unlikely it’s worth a good look.

• The obvious point, he has won 2 Super Bowls
• He is familiar with working with young teams
• Mike knows the AFC West division better than anyone and is somewhat familiar with the Chiefs after prepping for the Chiefs twice a year
• Has proven he can develop a young quarterback
• Experience

I think that our Chiefs should not hire Mike Shanahan.  Granted, he would bring credibility to our organization but history shows that it is very rare that a Super Bowl winning coach goes to another team and wins another one.  The Chiefs need a fresh mind to start over with our fresh young team which brings me to my next candidate.

(More on Shanahan: Wikipedia)

Todd Haley

Todd Haley seems to be the most plausible candidate for our vacancy.

• Scott Pioli and Todd Haley worked together with the Jets from 1997-99
• He took the Cardinals from 18th in total offense to 3rd in just two years
• Composes an explosive, balanced offense
• He would bring new ideas and schemes to our lacking offense which has plenty of potential (Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli would give him the freedom to do what he wants with our team)
• Todd helped take the Cardinals to the Super Bowl!!!

Todd Haley would be a good hire here in Kansas City.  A young talented guy with good ideas to match our young owner and young GM.

(More on Haley: Wikipedia)

Chan Gailey

Chan could be a decent head coach for the Chiefs.

• Obviously familiar with the Chiefs and their situation
• Has head coaching experience

I do not believe this would be a good hire for the Chiefs.  I think he can be a great offensive coordinator for us though.  The Chiefs lost 8 games by 7 points or less and most of that could be due to our poor defense.  Chan also put together an entire new offensive scheme in the middle of the season when Tyler Thigpen had to step in and the system wasn’t bad, especially for having to come up with it in a short amount of time.  I say if anything we keep him as our O-coordinator but definitely not as our head coach.

(More on Gailey: Wikipedia)

Paul Pasqualoni

Paul Pasqualoni’s name has been thrown into the mix of possible candidates for the next Kansas City head coach.

• Scott Pioli knows Pasqualoni well
• Was a major factor in transforming the 1-15 Dolphins to the 11-5 Dolphins
• Develops players very well (e.g. Donavon McNabb, Jason Witten)

Well these are the names I have heard floating around for our head coach vacancy.  All of these guys seem pretty well qualified but personally I think that Todd Haley would be our best bet out of this bunch.  Younger coaches seem to be somewhat of a trend in good teams as of lately, such as the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin.  I also think there are some other good coaches out there that we need to take a good look at as well.

(More on Pasqualoni: Wikipedia)

Who would you take out of this bunch?