KC Chiefs: Ranking every first-round pick since 2000
By Matt Conner
14-15. Sylvester Morris and Jonathan Baldwin
This is a tale of two wide receivers, and perhaps we shouldn’t bunch them together, but we’re on a streak here after the letdown linemen.
Sylvester Morris was the Chiefs first round selection back in the 2000 NFL Draft out of Jackson State and his is a very simple story of a talented wideout who showed solid promise during his rookie year only to find injuries ruining his ability to build on that initial showing. Morris caught 48 passes for 678 yards and 3 touchdowns in his rookie campaign. Knee and hip injuries would take away his ability to play at all the next two seasons, and he only resurfaced with a roster spot with the Buccaneers in 2004 (but he would never play another official NFL snap).
As for Baldwin, he was the Chiefs first round pick out of Pittsburgh in the 2011 NFL Draft and had every chance to do something with his talent. However, he couldn’t make it work despite myriad opportunities in both K.C. and San Fran. After only two seasons, in which Baldwin had less production than Morris in one year, the Chiefs decided to trade him for A.J. Jenkins of the 49ers in a rare player-for-player swap. You know when you’re sent packing for another frustrating player that you’re a major letdown.
It wasn’t so long ago that we were all enthralled by Baldwin’s late night workout videos, but int he end, it was all for nothing. Or at least that’s about the amount of production generated by that specific draft pick. That’s also why he is second to last in our rankings.