Niswanger started at center for the Chiefs during the disastrous 2009 season. His play left much to be desired. He was often driven off the ball and had a habit of snapping the ball over QB Matt Cassel’s head.

The arrival of Rodney Hudson in the 2011 draft, along with the re-signing of veteran Casey Wiegmann made Niswanger expendable.

Niswanger will join former Chiefs defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham who now holds the same position in the Motor City.

If Arrowhead is “Patriots West,” then it looks like Detroit is quickly becoming “Arrowhead East.” Though I am not sure that is a compliment.

Earlier today Merlin took a look at the nose tackle class in this year’s NFL Draft.  I have no idea who from his list will be drafted, but I do know that it is up to the center to nullify the nose tackle.  In fact, one of the keys to a fully functioning 3-4 defense is the idea that the nose tackle occupies at least 2 offensive linemen.  This means, that if the center can take on the nose tackle 1-on-1, then the 3-4 defense loses some of its effectiveness.  Kansas City Chiefs fans should be familiar with this since our NT can’t consistently force a double team.

Along with the NT class, the center class should also be of interest to the Chiefs since their current center, Casey Wiegmann, is currently 50-50 on retiring.  Even if he wasn’t retiring center should still be a priority for the Chiefs because while Wiegmann was serviceable, he was showing his age last season.  Also, as a smaller center (6’2” 285 lbs.) he was not holding up well versus the nose tackles he faced.  That being said, he was an upgrade from previous year’s center Rudy Niswanger.  Now that we’ve established the idea that the Chiefs need a center, here are some likely candidates to be drafted:
(more…)

Source: Yardbarker.com

Josh Looney is reporting that Ryan O’Callahan, Brodie Croyle and Rudy Niswanger have all signed their restricted free agent tenders.

That leaves Jared Page and Corey Mays who have yet to sign.

Today was the last say RFA’s could sign an offer sheet with another team. After today, RFA’s will belong solely to their current team and they either must sign a new contract or hope to be traded if they want to leave town.

It is not uncommon for RFA’s to be unsigned at this time of year. Looney notes that June 15th is a day to pay attention to, as players who fail to sign by that date could see their tendered offers reduced.

I expect Page and Mays will be sign before then if they can’t work out new deals.

The Cheerleaders get an A+. Source: Yardbarker.com

The initial rush of free agency has long since passed and things have been pretty quiet in Kansas City. We haven’t had any news of any free agents visiting the Chiefs in some time and while it is always possible GM Scott Pioli may still have a few moves planned, it appears as though the Chiefs are through adding talent until after the Draft.

That being the case I thought it would be fun to hand out my grades on what the Chiefs have done thus far to better the team.

Ryan Lilja: A+

In my opinion, this is the best move the Chiefs have made thus far. Lilja is a huge upgrade at over any other guard on the roster, save Brian Waters. Lilja is a true starter which is something the Chiefs need more of as they have backups starting at multiple positions.

(more…)

Yesterday, I brought you my blueprint on how to fix the defense. It required one to two free agent pickups and the use of the teams 1st round pick and their 1st pick in the 2nd round. You can see the full blue print here. In fact, if you haven’t read the defense post, do that first so this post makes more sense.

There are many ways the Chiefs can fix this football team. My blue prints could be dead wrong but I am giving it a go anyway! If you agree, or disagree, we want to here about it in the comments. The debate is what makes AA great. Hey, that rhymed. I should patent that. So lame…

I’ll follow the same format as yesterday. I will identify which players I think the Chiefs should keep, what the team’s positions of need are and how to fill them.

The blue print to offensive success is after the jump.

(more…)

In the mist of an economic depression, Chiefs fans are spending good money — money that some of them really don’t even have — to watch this team. Meanwhile, he is wealthy regardless of the final score. It’s Kansas City, big boy, and the NFL’s best fans will hold you accountable for that hefty paycheck you pocket after every game. If you had any of our jobs you would have been fired by now.

Besides, he has to be the most overrated Chiefs player in recent history. The days of praising this guy here on the Addict are over. I’m declaring martial law on Rudy gushing. No mas! I mean, the Chiefs started playing better when Rudy came out against the Raiders and Wade Smith slid over to center. I’m not the only one who’s said that either.

The guy gets hurt all the time, is the only center I’ve ever seen hold damn near every game and he couldn’t block 120-pound Angelina Jolie from scooping up some impoverished Third World child. I, for one, am glad he’s out for tomorrow’s game. The Chiefs would be smart to make that a permanent thing.

First round draft pick Branden Albert was in on every first string snap at left guard. Brian Waters was at left tackle, Adrian Jones was at right tackle and Damion McIntosh was at right guard with the first unit. Third-year center Rudy Niswanger snapped for the first stringers to round out the Chiefs’ first practice offensive line.

I’m thinking it’s a mistake, and that the writer switched the guards and tackles, but who knows? Jones has always been a tackle, and the Chiefs might be protecting Albert while playing their best lineman at LT for now. We’ll be looking into this, but if anybody else has anything let us know.

Update: Warpaint Illustrated is reporting the Chiefs line as previously reported. It looks like the UW-RF website must have just goofed. From WPI:

Kansas City’s starting five on the offensive line remains, left to right, Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones and Damion McIntosh. Albert, KC’s second first-round pick, showed no ill effects from the ankle he sprained earlier this offseason, and was light on his feet.

Other notes of interest are that Devard Darling started off as the No. 2 receiver for the first-string offense, and Dwayne Bowe was so “giddy” to be back that he was playing free safety for the scout team defense. D-Bo is definitely a character, isn’t he?