Will The Chiefs Draft A Wide Receiver In Round One?
October 20, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Marqise Lee (9) runs for a touch down in the first quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Marqise Lee – USC – 6’0″ – 192 lbs – 4.52 forty
On paper Marqise Lee is a prospect that might be easy to pass on. He’s had injury issues, he’s not a big physical specimen like a Calvin Johnosn, he’s not as fast as Beckham Jr. or Cooks, so why not pass on him and just wait to take a WR later in the draft since the talent is so deep? Good question, huh? Well those reasons listed above are likely the same reasons why Lee will be available when the Chiefs select at pick #23.
The problem is…….Keenan Allen.
I know some of you are probably wondering what the San Diego WR has to do with the Chiefs drafting or passing on Marqise Lee, but hang with me here. Allen fell in last year’s draft for similar reasons as we just mentioned above for Lee. He had injury concerns, he wasn’t exceptionally fast, he wasn’t a physical giant (although he is 2″ taller than Lee). You know what Allen does do? He get’s open, catches the ball, and makes plays. Ultimately, that’s what WRs have to do and the proof that Allen was great at doing it was right there on his college tape. Teams got scared off by his injuries and lack of measurables and missed out on a guy that’s just a great WR.
That’s Marqise Lee. Lee is a GREAT wide receiver. He gets open, he catches the ball, he makes plays. Yes, he has some injury history. Yes, there are bigger and faster WRs available in this draft. That doesn’t mean that in 10 years we won’t look back on this draft and see that Lee was the best WR of the group.
It’s a gamble.
Lee is tailor made for the West Coast Offense and (if healthy) would thrive under Andy Reid and playing with Alex Smith. I can see Lee quickly becoming Smith’s “go to” target. So here’s where I’m at on Lee. If the Chiefs draft him it means that they weren’t scared away by his medicals. If his medicals did scare them there is no way you draft him with so much WR talent still on the board. So if KC drafts him I’ll be excited because it means he checked out medically for them and more importantly because Marqise Lee is a great WR, period.
That having been said, there IS just enough of an injury question mark that I won’t be surprised if KC decides to look elsewhere at pick #23 and waits to draft a WR in round three.
Next up, Kelvin Benjamin………