Sunday Proves John Dorsey’s Worth

If two weeks ago I told you Jamaal Charles, Derrick Johnson, Eric Berry, Jeff Allen, Donald Stephenson, Mike DeVito, Joe Mays, and De’Anthony Thomas were going to be (mostly) out for the Denver Broncos game, what score prediction would you have made?

What makes this game a little more interesting are some of the picks and facts we have to work with in preparation for this week when we thought Berry and Charles would be good to go.

Las Vegas had the Chiefs as 14 point underdogs in some books, the largest point spread of any game so far in this young season. Most every prognosticator has this game ending in a blow out, that Peyton Manning would dominate and the Chiefs would be laughed out of the stadium.

Some of you were not so convinced this game would end well. I was convinced this game would not end well.

Yet with under a minute left in the game the Chiefs sat inside the Broncos five yard line with two shots at the endzone and a chance to either win the game with a two-point conversion or send the game to overtime. Down three of the Chiefs five best players, facing the best team in the AFC on the road, and playing two guys off the street at left guard and right tackle.

Somehow, the ‘worst 53-man roster in the NFL’ as some put it last week nearly beat the clear AFC Super Bowl favorite in their place and in front of a national audience with almost their backups squad. How was that so? Because this roster is better than people are giving credit for.

Last week’s loss was a massive and disturbing coaching gaff by Andy Reid and his staff. It was not a reflection of talent but a complete mismanagement of the talent on the roster. Reid went as far as to say so himself in postgame press conferences.

This week Reid played to his team’s strengths and the battered roster nearly pulled out the game. Key players from that game are littered with savvy Dorsey pickups. Knile Davis (Dorsey draft pick) was excellent in relief of Charles, Travis Kelce (Dorsey draft pick) and Anthony Fasano (Dorsey free agent) made several big third down plays, and Marcus Cooper (Dorsey waiver wire pickup) had two critical passes defended.

James-Michael Johnson and Josh Maugua (both Dorsey pickups) were much better in relief of Joe Mays and Derrick Johnson than I think most expected. And even recent signing Kevin Vickerson came up with a big tackle for loss in his first game as a Chief and help stabilize the team’s defense against the run.

Dorsey took over a roster that had produced little talent in the three years Scott Pioli was in charge. Consider that of the 32 draft picks Pioli made in his three years in Kansas City only eight of those still play for the Chiefs.

Do you want to know why the secondary is so bad? Here is the list of defensive backs selected by Pioli over those three years:

Eric Berry, Javier Arenas, Donald Washington (out of football), Jalil Brown (out of football), Kendrick Lewis, DeQuan Menzie (out of football).

In total, there are at least eight players drafted by Pioli who are out of football altogether. That list does not include players like Wylie, Ricky Stanzi, Jerome Long, Baldwin, and Gabe Miller.

Dorsey inherited a massive rebuilding project when he came to Kansas City. It is not to say it hasn’t come without its bumps (Cairo Santos?) and bruises (wide receiver depth) but for the most part he has flipped a two-win roster and created something competitive. At least competitive enough that when seven starters go down the Chiefs still have a chance to beat the best team in the AFC on the road.

Kansas City is going in the right direction in large part because of the work John Dorsey has done to make this team better and deeper. It isn’t perfect yet but it is on it’s way to being a championship level roster. Sunday only proves that notion further.