RGIII And The Chiefs’ Sacred Cows

I know, I know, it sounds like a cartoon title but it’s not. It’s about the players the Chiefs have on their roster and whether or not you’d be willing to trade any of them to get RGIII.

Should the Chiefs have any Sacred Cows on their roster? Any players they should never think about trading? Would you throw Glenn Dorsey into a trade? Could you give up a Dwayne Bowe? DJ? Eric Berry? Tamba?

Heresy? Blasphemy?

It must be said sooner or later. No one wants to say it out loud, but some one has to.

Let’s trade any one player that the Rams would like… to draft Robert Griffin III.

Crazy, you say?

In 1999 Mike Ditka, who was then serving as coach of the New Orleans Saints, traded away eight draft picks to the Washington Redskins for the rights to draft Ricky Williams with the fifth pick in the draft. Three years later the Saints traded Williams to the Dolphins mainly because of Williams’ off-field issues. He’s an oddball, to say the least. Some say he’s completely off his rocker. By the way, Williams gained over 3,100 yards in his three years with New Orleans so, it’s not as if he wasn’t productive.

To this day, Mike Ditka stands by his move to trade all those picks for Ricky. Remember, Williams was thought to be the next coming of Earl Campbell.

Campbell played for eight years, had 9,407 total yards and a 4.3 yards per carry average. Williams played for 10 seasons and had 10,009 with a 4.1 yards per carry average. I guess their careers turned out to be fairly similar after all.

However, the trade has been bad-mouthed from here to Sunday and back again. Make that, a month of Sundays. The question now is, should it have been?

Obviously, I’m attempting to make a point about gangbuster trades like that. No, I wouldn’t have made the trade that Minnesota made with Dallas for Hershel Walker in 1989. Dallas ended up with three first-round picks, three second-round picks, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick plus five other players. No one disagrees that the Vikings were fleeced.

However, this is the year 2012 and GMs don’t hang each other out to dry like they used to. They have to continue to work with each other so they don’t make trades that are bad for one side but good for the other. They make trades that are good for both parties and that both parties will be able to live with in the long run.

In the Walker trade ,other teams were involved which drove the price up. The Williams trade was more of an impulsive move by Mike Ditka.

If the Chiefs were to enter into a bidding war for Robert Griffin III, I would not support that move. This will only drive the asking price higher and higher. However, there is also no getting around that, so the Chiefs need to be clear about what they are willing to give and what they are not willing to give.

Before revealing what I’d be willing for the Chiefs to give in a trade, I’d like to say what value I think RGIII will give to the Chiefs, if they are able to secure his services on draft day.

First of all, and I can’t overstate the importance of this, RGIII will be a huge lure, or magnet, for high-quality free agents to come and play in Kansas City for the next 10-plus years. Think of all the players who have signed with the Patriots or the Colts for the past 10 years because they wanted to play with a winner and someone they believed could, and would, take them to a Super Bowl. It’s an example of how the process of natural selection takes over. I just hope the Chiefs are willing to step forward and reap the rewards of the synergy RGIII will create.

Many times the public is removed from a phenomena that takes place around excellent players and unless you are in their presence you can’t understand the effect they have on their peers. This is one part imagination and two parts inspiration. What I’m referring to is the way players excite each other, invigorate each other, and motivate each other. Excellence begets excellence and when incredible talent is exposed to others with the potential for incredible talent, they rise to a level they have not previously performed at.

The other part of that is imagination. Visualizing the win. When you are around winners… it’s so much easier to see yourself winning. Simplistic yes, but, if you’ve ever experienced it then you know you can win, because you have the feeling of knowing it. And, the more you experience it, the more you know it.

This is a big reason I think many people don’t understand why someone like RGIII is so critically important to a “team” and an organization. In fact, those same people are often the ones who are holding onto a vision of losing, usually because it’s familiar.

Prior to Griffin attending Baylor, they had a long history of losing seasons. In Robert Griffin’s two full years as the Baylor quarterback, he produced over 8,800 yards of offense. In only two years. His quarterback rating was 192.3 in 2011 and Baylor finished with 17-9 during Griffin’s stay.

The QB is the most important player on the field. The QB is the most watched and scrutinized. The whole game goes through, and centers around, the QB.

The quarterbacks who have won the last 10 Super Bowls include: Eli Manning, Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Brad Johnson.

See the pattern? All upper echelon QBs, with the exception of Brad Johnson. If you go father back in Super Bowl history, one non-echelon QB like Johnson appears each decade. Trent Dilfer was the odd duck QB in the previous decade of Super Bowls.

So, 9 out of 10 times, a team requires an elite QB to win a Super Bowl.

I watched several Baylor games this season. I first started watching because of the midseason buzz about Mr. Griffin. No sooner than I had turned on the game… and I was sitting on the edge of my seat. Literally, and that doesn’t happen very often unless the Chiefs are playing. I remember squinting at the TV screen and thinking, “What am I seeing here?” I’ve been watching college football since the 1950s and I’d never seem anyone like him. Half way through the game, I recall saying to myself, “He’s the best college football player I’ve ever seen.” Now, I’d like to qualify that statement.

A huge irritant for me, when watching sporting events, is hearing the same announcers, week in and week out, repeat one of the following phrases: “This DB is the best I’ve ever seen,” or “No one in the league does it better than this WR,” or “There’s not another player in the league that compares to this ________ (you fill in the blank).” When every player an announcer sees is the best they’ve ever seen… it belies their credibility. So, while you may have heard me raving about a prospect before, like Jon Baldwin, or Justin Houston, the words “best ever” have never come out of my lips. As I watched other Baylor games this season, the same words kept coming to me whenever I’d see RGIII, “Best I’ve ever seen. Best I’ve ever seen.”

By the way, I also had the privilege of watching a few Stanford games this year.

There’s one last point I’d like to make about bringing a player with RGIII’s keenly unique qualities to the Chiefs, before I say what I’d be willing for the Chiefs to give in return. Having a superstar on your team not only becomes the face of your franchise but gives fans a focal point for their cheering, their excitement about the team and their encouragement about the team’s future. I recall when Derrick Thomas was that player for the Chiefs throughout the 90s. There was always Derrick to watch. Derrick to cheer for. And, Derrick to build a team around. No matter what the team’s record was I could always count on Derrick putting on a show. And he would rarely disappoint.

Without a breakout player like him… none of that is possible. Priest Holmes was also that kind of player. However, since Holmes was with the Chiefs, they have been devoid of that kind of player. BTW… Matt Cassel is not, and can not be, that player. He’s never had star power in his DNA. Never will. Could he be the next Brad Johnson? That’s a big maybe and a much longer long shot.

So, what would I be willing to give for a player like that? Specifically, what would I be willing to give for a player like Robert Griffin III?

When I think about the open-ended possibilities with a QB like Robert Griffin III, I think there are no Sacred Cows on the Chiefs roster. Now, I would not give away all of the best players but there is no one particular player I would not give up, to gain a player like RGIII.

That said, I would begin by offering a starter, plus some draft picks. Glenn Dorsey plus a first, a second this year and a first next year.

Too much for you? For me, I’m just getting started.

First of all, let me explain that offering Glenn Dorsey is only done because Allen Bailey is ready to step into Dorsey’s starting role. Bailey has plenty of upside and will eventually be better than Dorsey has been thus far in his career.

By offering a player (Dorsey) as trade bait, which other teams may not be prepared to do, it opens the door for further discussions about what else can become possible trade fodder. Be it picks or players.

No matter who the Chiefs trade to the Rams, I also see no reason not to throw in Matt Cassel. He’d make a great backup for the Rams and the Chiefs would be better off moving on from him if they’re going with Griffin. That would put a end to any split loyalties current Chiefs players may have. And, it also clears up who the starter will be one day one.

I hope more AA fans will take the time to check out the AA Radio Show that airs each Sunday afternoon. Patrick Allen and Big Matt take calls and are able to cover issues relating to the Chiefs in much greater depth than we’re sometimes able to do in our posts. This past Sunday Paddy told a story about Scott Pioli that came from a book he was reading. Here’s that story.

In the book “War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team” there’s a line about Scott Pioli and how he supported the trade Atlanta made last year on draft day for WR Julio Jones. Atlanta moved from their 27th pick in the draft up to the 6th pick and gave up 5 draft picks: their 1st pick (27th overall), their second pick (59th) and fourth-round pick (124th) in  the 2011 draft and their first and fourth-round picks in the 2012 draft. The night before the draft Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff called Belichick to see what he thought but, Belichick didn’t like the trade because he didn’t think Jones was very good in certain areas. However, Dimitroff had already talked with Scott Pioli who said, “he would do it.” (See page 310)

Scott Pioli supported a… five picks for one player trade… involving a wide receiver. A wide receiver.

If you thought Scott Pioli absolutely would not make a trade for RGIII, a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback, you may want to rethink that.

The question is not, what would I give to get RGIII. The question is, what would Scott Pioli give?

Now, what would you give to get the player who may become, the most memorable, fascinating and transcendent player of the next generation?

And come on now, isn’t there at least a small part of you that wants to see RGIII in a Chiefs uniform?