November 20, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos (5) is congratulated by punter Dustin Colquitt (2) for making a field goal against the Oakland Raiders during the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Special Teams
Then: Ryan Succop, Dustin Colquitt, Thomas Gafford
Now: Cairo Santos, Dustin Colquitt, James Winchester
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one, but personnel wise I think it’s pretty much a wash. Succop and Santos are pretty indistinguishable and Colquitt is amazing now just like he was back then. We haven’t seen much from James Winchester yet, but I didn’t see anything in the preseason that makes me nervous and would lead me to downgrade the current team.
I would call this a wash, except for one thing….the Dave Toub factor. I know this is about what Dorsey has done with the roster and I haven’t factored coaching into any of the other areas, but that’s how big of a difference maker Toub is when it comes to special teams. He makes his units better. Therefore this draw becomes another advantage for Dorsey’s current team.
If you were keeping score at home that puts my final tally at:
Seven position groups upgraded
Two position groups that are equally good
One position downgraded
That’s a pretty impressive job for a first time general manager. The job that John Dorsey has done upgrading the offensive skill positions (QB, RB, WR, and TE) as well as the defensive secondary has put this team in a position to win. The other clear difference is the amount of depth on this year’s team. You can go up and down the 2012 roster and find guys that aren’t in the NFL anymore. While that will surely be the case for some of the players on this roster, I have a suspicion that three years from now many more players from this roster will still be earning a paycheck in the NFL.
The bottom line is that John Dorsey clearly has a plan and has done a very good job of executing it thus far. As he enters his third season as the Chiefs GM he has assembled what appears to be the team’s best all around roster in recent history.
So what do you think Addicts? Do you think the 2015 Chiefs are heads and tails more talented than the 2012 team that John Dorsey inherited? Do you agree with my breakdown of position groups? Did I give Dorsey too much credit? Not enough? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!