The Blue Print: Fixing the Offense
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.
Keepers:
Matt Cassel
Whether you agree he can be the guy or not, he isn’t getting replaced any time soon. The Chiefs will not pour much effort into the QB position this off-season. They did that last year with a 2nd round pick. If you are unsure about Cassel as the franchise guy, and I think most of us are, your best bet is to take a deep breath and root for him like hell. He is our guy and he is here to stay for now.
Jamaal Charles
Clearly he can’t do it alone but make no mistake, this is the HB of the future for the Chiefs.
Dwayne Bowe
Untill Bowe proves to me otherwise, I think he is no better than a very good, if not unreliable, #2 receiver. He has the tools to be a #1 but I am not sure he will ever get there. That is up to Dwayne. Still, he is one of the Chiefs most talented offensive weapons. He must stay.
Chris Chambers
Chambers is getting up there in years and his contract is up. I think the Chiefs would be happy to resign him but the price had better be right. I don’t feel confident going into the season with just Chambers and Bowe but the Chiefs should keep him if they can.
Branden Albert
Brian Waters
Ryan O’Callahan
I think these 3 linemen are OK to roll with going in to next season. Waters will need to be replaced in the next 2 years but he should hold up for now. I liked O’Callahan at RT. I think the Chiefs did too. I believe the big Irishman will stay. He may be moved to another spot on the line depending on what the Chiefs with the other spots e but I think he will be a decent RT for us. He certainly stabilized the position and was damn sure better than Damian Sackintosh.
Pope
Cottam
I think the Chiefs can roll with these two as well. Could they maybe be upgraded? Sure, but I don’t think the offense crumbles with them in the lineup. There are other more pressing needs. Cottam was looking pretty good for a couple games before his injury. The Chiefs can probably stand pat here.
Mike Cox
Ahhh Mike Cox. He reminds me of John McGraw. Blue collar sort of guy, keeps his head down and works hard. He is not spectacular but he is not horrible. He has pretty good hands and can do some things out of the backfield. Whether Cox stays or not, really depends on how much the Chiefs plan to use a FB for Charles. Again, I don’t think offensive success or failure depends on the FB position for KC. Upgrading FB would be more a luxury than a need. I like Cox. He can stay. =)
Thus, here are my identified positions of need.
WR
C
RG
These are the biggies. I am not including HB, FB and TE because I believe if the Chiefs fill the WR, C and RG needs, those positions will be good enough for now. The 3 positions above are ones in which I feel the Chiefs are so desperately lacking talent, that they are pulling the teams offensive performance down. As for having a back to share the workload with Charles, I think the Chiefs will stand pat with who they have. I think they like their backs and if they improve their offensive line, the guys they have should be able to do well.
First let us look at everyone’s favorite subject of debate, the offensive line. How can the Chiefs fix it? The pickings are very, very slim in free agency as most of the notable lineman are going to be restricted due to the uncapped year. I think the Chiefs have to fix these two needs in the draft, although Pittsburgh’s Justin Hartwig will be available, however, he is 31 and won’t come cheap.
The pickings are also quite slim for WR’s in free agency. If the Chiefs want a game breaker, they are going to have to pay for it by going for one of the restricted free agents. The other available receivers are either old, assholes or both.
No, the Chiefs need to turn to the draft for these needs. Here is how they can do it.
#1. Draft Dexter McCluster, Demaryius Thomas, or reach a little for Marshawn Gilyard with the second 2nd round pick.
McCluster and Gilyard are slot guys. I like McCluster better I think. He is a Percy Harvin type and is faster than Gilyard. I did like what I saw from Gilyard at the Senior Bowl, though I know he had drop problems during the week. I feel either one of these guys would be another huge play maker for the offense, especially if the Chiefs can keep Chambers.
But if the Chiefs can get their hands on Demaryius Thomas, they have to do it. Thomas as a tall receiver at 6-3, 229. Philip Rivers and the Chargers have been terrorizing CB’s with their tall receivers and the Chiefs should get in on the action. He would make a nice red zone target and would add a deadly element to the Chiefs offense if they keep Bowe and Chambers. Thomas could very well be available when the Chiefs make their 2nd round pick.
#2. Draft (G) Mike Johnson out of Alabama with first pick in 3rd round.
Johnson is massive at 6-6 and 306. Put him next to Ryan O’Callahan and the Chiefs have probably the biggest right side in football. He may get snagged in the late 2nd round but the Chiefs should trade up if they have to get this guy. After Johnson, there is a pretty big drop off at G.
#3. Draft J.D. Walton out of Baylor with their 4th round pick.
Walton would be a nice upgrade over Rudy Niwswanger and could probably start right away. He is probably the 3rd best C in the draft and the Chiefs may be able to snag him with their early pick in round 4. If he is off the board the Chiefs could snag Ted Larsen here as well.
There you have it. Is all of this possible? Maybe. The Chiefs would need a little bit of luck for all of these guys to be available to them in the draft. If they can pull it off, however, I think they will have solved their major, major glaring problems on both offense and defense and all by the 4th round. That means they can use the rest of their picks on project players and depth.
Here is how the final offense would look in the 3 WR set:
Albert-Waters-Walton-Johnson-O’Callahan-Cottam/Pope
Bowe Cassel Chambers Thomas
Charles
Go ahead, Addicts! Let me have it!