The Chiefs 2011 Draft Class

It’s An Ivy-League FB In 7th

With their final selection of the 2011 NFL Draft the Chiefs selected FB Shane Bannon from that football factory known as Yale.

The 6-1½, 265 pound native of Connecticut is known for his blocking and special teams play for the Elis. In his junior year, he started the entire season at FB and caught two pass for 21 yards and had two carries.

In his senior season he started all season at H-back, where he had 13 catches for 122 yards. His best game came against Dartmouth when he had six catches for 41 yards and a TD.

Bannon was a three-sport star at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, CT. He earned varsity letters in football, track and hockey.

In the 6th Round, Chiefs Go Nose Tackle

In the sixth round with the 199th selection the Chiefs drafted DT Jerrell Powe from the University of Mississippi.

He’s 6-2, 335 pounds native of Mississippi, who missed just one game in three seasons with Ole Miss. Over his career he had 69 total tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 7 sacks.

Last season he was a team captain and started all 12 games at nose tackle. He finished with 27 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

Powe graduated from Wayne County Hargrave High School with the class of 2005. He spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy in 2005. The next year he enrolled at Ole Miss but was not able to play for two years because of academic standing. He ended up playing just three years and he considered petitioning the NCAA for another year of eligibility before deciding to leave school and enter the NFL Draft.

In the 5th Round It’s QB & LB

With the first of their two picks in the fifth round on Saturday afternoon, the Chiefs selected University of Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi with the 135th choice.

Five choices later at No. 140, they drafted OLB/DE Gabe Miller from Oregon State.

A 6-4¼, 223-pound native of Ohio, Stanzi was a three-year starter for the Hawkeyes, posting a 26-9 record as Iowa’s starting quarterback. He’s been one of the Iowa captains for the last two seasons. Stanzi threw for 3,004 yards, with 25 TDs and six interceptions last season.

“You have to be your biggest critic, and the best way to improve is to focus on improvement,” Stanzi said at the Senior Bowl back in January. “That’s the only thing you can do: find the things you’re doing wrong, be very critical of yourself, and then go out and try to improve those things.”

Miller began his college career at Oregon State as a tight end, playing two seasons at that spot for the Beavers. He moved to the defense for the 2009 season.

He’s 6-3, 250 pounds and was timed in his March Pro Day workout in Corvalis at 4.62 in the 40-yard dash, but more impressively 1.56 over 10 yards. Coming out of Lake Oswego, Oregon and going to Oregon State, Miller twice tore his right Achilles tendon.

In the 4th Round – It’s A Cornerback

With their selection in the fourth round, the 118th player in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected CB Jalil Brown from the University of Colorado.

A 6-1, 204-pound native of Phoenix, Arizona was a two-year starter in Boulder at left cornerback. Overall, he appeared in 39 games for the Buffs, contributing 167 total tackles and six interceptions, including three last season. He was also a big contributor on special teams, including 21 tackles over his four-season career.

He started all 12 games in the 2010 season at left cornerback, playing 799 snaps. Brown was one of his team’s co-captains last year and  earned honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition.

…Read More!

Chiefs Needs Driving Draft

From the Truman Sports Complex

Let’s be honest here, right off the bat – the needs of an NFL team always drive its selections in the annual Draft.

For some reasons there are a lot of teams and those on their draft committees that don’t like to admit as much. They always talk about how a team can’t by pass good players by reaching for players that fit a need.

OK, that makes sense, but it’s not an approach that always matches up with reality. The real world of football screeches in the heads of GMs, personnel directors, coaches and even an owner or two – we’ve got a hole at position and damn it, we’ve got to fill it.

That’s what the Chiefs did in the first three rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft. They need a wide receiver, an interior offensive lineman, an outside linebacker and a defensive line type that could provide a pass rush.

So they drafted WR Jonathan Baldwin, C/G Rodney Hudson, OLB Justin Houston and DL Allen Bailey.

Need … need … need … need. …Read More!

“We Know What We Signed Up For”

From the Truman Sports Complex

A year after talking about the great character of the young men they drafted, the Chiefs have taken the first three rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft and gone in another direction.

Selected in the first-round on Thursday WR Jonathan Baldwin was involved in a misdemeanor assault case involving a female student that was eventually thrown out of court.

The Chiefs followed that up on Friday by drafting in the third round OLB Justin Houston out of Georgia. It was reported earlier in the week that Houston was one of two players who failed the drug test administered by the league at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Reportedly, Houston and Iowa’s DE Christian Ballard tested positive for marijuana.

And while neither Houston nor Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli directly addressed the failed test, they both took on the subject of his transgression head on in explaining why a player who had been rated a late first round draft choice fell all the way to early in the third round.

“He had a situation he’s acutely aware of, we are acutely aware of and I know you guys (media) are acutely aware of,” Pioli said Saturday evening. “We talked with him and numerous people around him. He knows what he’s signing up for and we know what we are signing up for. Collectively, we are going to try and get this thing right.” …Read More!

Chiefs Grab Another Defender In 3rd

With their own selection in the third round Saturday night, the Chiefs drafted Allen Bailey, a DE/LB from the University of Miami.

A 6-3, 285-pound native of Sapelo Island, Georgia, played in 50 games with the Hurricanes over the last four years, starting 27 times and totaling 103 tackles and 12 sacks. He was named All-ACC twice in his career. Last year in a game against North Carolina, he had a career high 3.5 sacks.

Bailey spent most of his time at defensive end in Miami’s 4-3 defense, sometimes moving inside to tackle, especially in passing situations. He said in the run up to the NFL Draft that he was most comfortable playing as a 4-3 DE, something he obviously will not do with the Chiefs.

Sapelo Island is located off the coast of Georgia and required him to take a boat ride every morning to attend school on the mainland. He was one of the most sought after schoolboy players coming out of McIntosh County Academy. He grew up in the largest town on the Island called Hog Hammock.

In 3rd Round Chiefs Pick OLB

With the draft pick they acquired in a trade down with Cleveland on Thursday, the Chiefs selected Justin Houston an outside linebacker out of the University of Georgia.

Houston, a 6-3, 270-pound Georgia native saw his stock drop in the draft when it was revealed he failed a drug test during the NFL Combine in February. Reportedly Houston tested positive for marijuana.

He started all 13 games last year, totaling 67 tackles, with 10 sacks an interception and two recovered fumbles. Over his three seasons in Athens, Houston played in 36 games and started 24 times.

Houston finished his career with the Bulldogs with 125 total tackles and 23 sacks.

In The 2nd Round It’s C Rodney Hudson

With the 55th selection of the 2011 NFL Draft, the Chiefs drafted Florida State center/guard Rodney Hudson.

The second-round choice stands 6-2, 300 pounds and has played both guard spots, left tackle and a little bit of center for the Seminoles during his four years as a starter. He was an unanimous All-America selection in 2010 and was named to the All-ACC team for the third straight season. He goes down as the most decorated offensive lineman in ACC history.

With the Chiefs he will start his NFL career at center, according to GM Scott Pioli.

“There’s the chance we’ll start him off at center,” Pioli said. “Not the starting center, but he’ll start there with us to begin practice at center.”

Hudson said he’ll jump in wherever he can.

“I’m just going to come in and play wherever they put me,” Hudson said. “I played mostly left guard at Florida State, but I can play anywhere they want.”

Hudson played in 51 games and started 47 in four seasons for FSU. He  missed just two games during his college career to injury.  A native of Mobile, Alabama, he played at B.C. Rain High School.

No matter what position he played for the Seminoles, Hudson produced. Over those 51 games, he played 3,220 snaps and allowed one sack. Coaches review of the game tapes showed just 21 missed assignments in those snaps. That means Hudson performed at 99 percent plus efficiency throughout his career.

Player Profile Part #1 – Jonathan Baldwin

“Basketball is my first love because it was my first sport. I will always miss basketball.”

Those are the words of Jonathan Baldwin, who is joining the Chiefs and the National Football League with basketball nowhere to be seen. It’s just football, in the role of a first-round draft choice and what the folks in Kansas City hope is an infusion of talent into the team’s offense.

Funny, but it was about four years ago to the day that Baldwin decided the oblong ball was his future, rather than the round ball.

“It was after the NFL Draft and I decided I was going to go for football,” Baldwin recalled back in the summer of 2007. “If I had a good college career in football I think I probably had a better chance than if I played basketball. I always thought about the NBA, all the time. I never really thought about football, NFL football. I’d probably pick basketball (if I could go to pros in both), but I’m going for football so I got to love it.

“This is what I do now,” Baldwin said. “I definitely love it now.”

Here’s his story.

…Read More!

His First Love Was Hoops

The Chiefs first-round draft choice Jonathan Baldwin wanted to be an NBA player not so long ago. He was one of the better high school players in the country, averaging over 20 points per game for one of the most talented schoolboy teams western Pennsylvania has seen in many years. Baldwin’s Aliquippa High School team went to the Class AA state championship game in 2006. One of the teams they beat along the way in the playoffs was Jeannette High School.

And the star of the Jeannette team was a fellow named Terrelle Pryor. Yes, the same Terrelle Pryor who is now the quarterback at Ohio State.

Here’s the visible proof.

That’s Baldwin in white stretching backwards to get off a shot against Pryor.

“Pryor is an athletic man,” Baldwin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after the game. “But, in the end, we came up with the win, and that’s what counts.”

Baldwin scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“He was taking some wild shots, and I had a hand in his face,” Pryor said of Baldwin. “But he was still knocking them down.”

And yes, if you look closely at Pryor’s jersey it does say Jayhawks. That is the team nickname for Jeannette High School.

Survival Road Leads Baldwin to K.C.

From the Truman Sports Complex

The juxtaposition of the stories that appeared in Friday’s edition of the Beaver County Times newspaper were startling. The headlines provided a glimpse of just another day in the struggling old steel town of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

Story No. 1

“Chiefs take Aliquippa’s Baldwin in NFL Draft”

Jonathan Baldwin hit the jackpot Thursday night when he was taken in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Baldwin, an Aliquippa High School graduate who turned pro after his junior season at Pitt, was taken with the 26th overall pick of the draft.

Baldwin is the fifth Aliquippa grad to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. The others were: Mike Ditka, a tight end out of Pitt, in 1961; Sean Gilbert, a defensive end out of Pitt, in 1992; Ty Law, a cornerback out of Michigan, in 1995; and Darrelle Revis, a cornerback out of Pitt, in 2007

Story No. 2

“Aliquippa man sentenced to 30 years in prison for running drug ring.”

PITTSBURGH – An Aliquippa man who was the head of a large drug ring in the city was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on Thursday to 30 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Anthony Ali Dorsett, 34, was sentenced by Judge Alan N. Block on a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Other drug charges against Dorsett were dismissed. He was one of 13 men charged in 2008 who were part of a drug ring that sold cocaine from 2004 until the time of their arrest.

Anthony Ali Dorsett is the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett. …Read More!

Why Baldwin Was Pick 26, Not 27

From the Truman Sports Complex

So Todd Haley, what the heck was going on in those few moments when the Chiefs went on the clock to make the 27th selection of the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft?

How did it end up that the Chiefs actually drafted in the 26th, which had belonged to the Baltimore Ravens?

“We were told the Ravens passed,” Haley said. “So we made our pick.” …Read More!

At No. 26 … Chiefs Select Wide Receiver

From the Truman Sports Complex

In hopes of providing more help for their passing game, the Chiefs on Thursday evening selected WR Jonathan Baldwin of the University of Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Baldwin, a 6-4, 228 junior coming out of Pitt had 53 catches last season for 822 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Officially, he went down as the 26th selection in the first round. There was a great deal of confusion as the Chiefs were making their choice. Their time on the clock started when Baltimore picking at No. 26 made a late trade and their time ran out. The Chiefs then got their selection in before there was an announcement on the pick at No. 26 or the trade.

The Chiefs landed at No. 27 after making a trade with the Cleveland Browns for their original No. 21 choice. For making the move down, the Chiefs got the Browns third-round choice, the 70th choice in the draft.

RUNNING THREAD FOR ROUND #1 -Chiefs Trade Down

From the Truman Sports Complex

9:30 p.m. – Every team has a trade value chart for draft picks and they vary from team to team. But a popular one that’s been used for years, and in the past has been used by the Chiefs under Carl Peterson, had the 21st choice worth 800 points. The combination of the 27th and 70th selections are worth 920 points. So the Browns paid a premium to move up.

9:15 p.m. – Chiefs have traded down from the No. 21 slot to pick No. 27 from Cleveland, who got that pick in an earlier trade with Atlanta. The Chiefs picked up the
Browns third round pick (70). Cleveland drafted Baylor DT Phil Taylor, and on the next pick Indianapolis drafted OT Anthony Castonzo.

8:50   p.m. – With OT Nate Solder going to the Patriots, these guys are still on the board with just three picks ahead of the Chiefs – OT Castonzo and Carimi, LB Ayers, NT Liuget and Taylor and DE Clayborn.

8:40 p.m. – Too bad Mike Pouncey went to the Dolphins on pick No. 15. He would have been a perfect choice to fill one of the biggest needs the Chiefs have on their roster among the interior linemen.  You can bet the Chiefs were interseted, but that would have been a jump of six spots, and that would likely have cost them their second or third round pick.

8:20 p.m. – The QB stampede continued as the Vikings grabbed Christian Ponder and now four of the first dozen choices in this year’s draft have gone to that position. There will be at least two more in the round – TCU’s Andy Dalton and Arkansas’s Ryan Mallett. …Read More!

You Were On The Clock … And Your Pick Was ….

As always, you guys were great in your reaction to the chance to be GM and make the Chiefs first pick. Many of you went ahead and picked the entire draft. Remarkable!

You can still read the comments attached to the original post here. I have others that will soon be added from votes that came in to me from various other avenues. In all there were 47 voters who named players individually for selection No. 21.

 The winner was Wisconsin OT Gabe Carimi. Here’s how the vote broke down:

1. 16 – Wisconsin OT Gabe Carimi.
2. 11 – UCLA LB Akeem Ayers.
3. 10 – Florida C/G Mike Pouncey.
4. 6   – Baylor NT Phil Taylor.
5. 3   – Colorado OT Nate Solder.
6. 1   – Purdue DE/OLB Ryan Kerrigan.

.

And The Choice Is …

From the Truman Sports Complex

I’ve waited as long as I can, so here goes my guess on the Chiefs No. 1 choice in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Drafting out of the No. 21 slot, the Chiefs will select:

OT Gabe Carimi … or OLB Akeem Ayers … or OT Tyron Smith … or ….

Let’s do this methodically because that’s how Chiefs GM Scott Pioli will handle things in the draft room.

POSITIONS OF NEED

We covered this the last two days with offense and defense. Here’s where they are ranked based on how needy those positions are on the current roster:

• Wide receiver
• Interior offensive line
• Nose tackle
• Outside linebacker
• Inside linebacker
• Offensive tackle

…Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – TAMPA BAY BUCS

A look at the Buccaneers heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Tampa Bay has the 20th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 10-6, in a season where they started strong at 3-1 and finished with a 3-1 record over the last quarter of the season. In beaten, they were 4-4.

Finish – they were third in the NFC South, finishing 3 games behind Atlanta.

Playoffs – tied with the Giants as the teams with the best regular season records that did not make the ’10 playoffs. Last time they were in the post-season was 2007 and it goes back to Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season since they won a game in the playoffs. They beat the Raiders in that game 48-21.

PARTICULARS

Offense – averaged 335.1 yards per game; that ranked them No. 19 among NFL offenses. The Bucs scored 35 offensive touchdowns, topped by rookie WR Mike Williams with 11 scoring catches. Rookie LeGarrette Blount led the team in rushing with 1,007 yards on 201 carries and six TD runs. TE Kellen Winslow Jr. caught more passes than anyone with 66 for 730 yards. Williams had 964 receiving yards on 65 catches and those 11 TDs. QB Josh Freeman had 25 TD passes vs. 6 INTs, throwing for 3,451 yards and finishing with a 95.9 passer rating. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – NEW YORK GIANTS

A look at the Giants heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; New York has the 19th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 10-6, in a season where they started 6-2 in the first half of the schedule. But they followed that up with a 4-4 second half, but that wasn’t good enough to make the post-season.

Finish – they were tied with the Eagles on top of the NFC East but ended up in second place due to tie-breakers.

Playoffs – just missed last year, as the Giants and Buccaneers had were the teams with the best records that did not make the playoffs. New York was there in 2008 and they won the whole thing in 2007, beating New England in Super Bowl XLII.

…Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

A look at the Patriots heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; New England has the 17th & 28th picks in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 14-2, at 1-1 after two games, the Patriots then won 5 in a row, lost once and came back and closed out the season with 8 straight victories.

Finish – first place in the AFC East, winning by 3 games over the New York Jets. It was the eighth division title for the Patriots in the last 10 years and the eighth time in the last decade where they won 10 or more games in a season.

Playoffs – after a week off, they lost to the Jets 28-21. The last time they won a post-season game was 2007, when they beat Jacksonville. It’s now been six full seasons since the Patriots won a Super Bowl.

OVERVIEW

The Patriots do not win championships any more, but they still win a lot of games. Last year it was 14 of them, but that did nothing to get them over the hump against the New York Jets in the playoffs.

Since they beat the Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, New England has made the playoffs five times and sports a 5-5 record in those games. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

A look at the Chargers heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; San Diego has the 18th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 9-7, in a roller coaster season for Norv Turner and his Chargers. They were 2-2, and then went to 2-5 with a three-game losing streak. San Diego got hot at that point winning four in a row and six of seven games.

Finish – they ended up one game behind the Chiefs in the AFC West, finishing out of the top spot for the first time in five years. The Chargers finished one game ahead of the Raiders.

Playoffs – it as the first time in five years that the Chargers were not in the playoffs. They made it at the end of the 2009 season. San Diego’s most recent post-season victory was in 2007. …Read More!

Chiefs Pre-Draft Prep/Defense

Wide receiver and the interior offensive line are the two areas on the Chiefs offensive roster that need help. They will be joined by several positions on the defensive side of the current roster to create a needs list for the eight Kansas City draft choices.

Here’s a look at the Chiefs defense and where it sits less than a day before the first-round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

NOSE TACKLE

• Roster – Dion Gales, Anthony Toribio.
• Without a contract – Ron Edwards, Shaun Smith
• Level of Need? Great.

Edwards did not have a bad season in ’10, but he will be 32 years old in July and is average at best holding down the middle of the defense. Smith provided a big boost to the defense, but most of that playing time was spent at DE, filling in for the injured Tyson Jackson. He played well enough that he kept the starting job when Jackson was able to play again. Smith will be 30 years old in August and to expect a second season like the one he gave the Chiefs in 2010 would be unrealistic and would totally go against the profile of his career.

Toribio remains a mystery since he barely got on the field last season, playing very limited roles in just five games. Gales spent the entire season on the practice squad. He’s a marginal prospect.

With the 3-4 scheme there’s no doubt the Chiefs need a young nose tackle and need him soon. This should be a priority position in the team’s plans for the 2011 Draft.

…Read More!

DRAFT COVERAGE LOG

We’ve pumped out a lot of coverage of the NFL Draft in the last two months. The focus has been on player profiles and team profiles.

Here’s what we’ve done on player profiles with links to all:

PLAYER PROFILES

• DE/OLB Sam Acho/Texas
• DT Marvin Austin/North Carolina
• LB Akeem Ayers/UCLA
• SS Ahmad Black/Florida
• G Clint Boling/Georgia
• OT James Brewer/Indiana
• CB Curtis Brown/Texas
• CB Brandon Burton/Utah
• TE Jordan Cameron/Southern Cal
• OT Gabe Carimi/Wisconsin

…Read More!

Player Profile – DE/OLB Ryan Kerrigan

While playing at Purdue, DE/OLB Ryan Kerrigan was a big-play performer. For evidence consider his Big 10 Conference record and his share of a major college record for forced fumbles in a career.

In his time with the Boilermakers, Kerrigan has forced 14 fumbles. It matches the record held by three others – Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs (2000-02), Cincinnati’s Antwan Peek (2000-02) and Kenechi Udeze of Southern California (2001-03). The previous record holders in the Big 10 with 13 forced fumbles were Simeon Rice of Illinois (1992-95) and Iowa’s Bob Sanders (2000-03).

“Our motto at Purdue was its not enough just to get the sack or get the tackle, but you wanted to force a fumble and get the ball back for your offense,” Kerrigan said. “We really tried to do that every game.”

It’s a skill that NFL defensive coordinators can’t wait to get their hands on.  Here’s his story. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

A look at the Jaguars heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Jacksonville has the 16th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 8-8, on a season that started strong with a 6-4 record. But over the last six they were 2-4 and fell out of any chance of making the playoffs. Part of their troubles was a 22-point loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City.

Finish – they were second in the AFC South, two games behind division winner Indianapolis.

Playoffs – the Jaguars last made the playoffs at the end of the 2007 season, and have now missed three consecutive years. The last time Jacksonville won a post-season game was 1999, when they blasted Miami 62-7 in an AFC wildcard round game.

OVERVIEW

It’s been a time of change for the past few seasons in Jacksonville and despite disappointing results head coach Jack Del Rio has been able to maintain his job, although he lost some powers three years ago when Gene Smith was elevated into the GM’s job. Last year the Jaguars had a disastrous season when it came to quarterbacks, as they had four different QBs start games. When all the smoked cleared, it was still David Garrard in the driver’s seat at the position. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – MIAMI DOLPHINS

A look at the Dolphins heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Miami has the 15th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 7-9, the season did not end well for the Dolphins. They were 6-5 in the middle of November but went 1-4 over the last five games, the only victory coming in an upset of the Jets 10-6 in the Meadowlands.

Finish – finished third in the AFC East, 7 games behind the division winning Patriots. They ended up four games behind the Jets in second place.

Playoffs – The last time the Dolphins were in the post-season was in 2008, when they followed a 1-15 season with an 11-5 division championship. Miami’s most recent victory in the playoffs was 2000, when they beat Indianapolis 23-17 in OT.

OVERVIEW

After the very big ’08 season when the Bill Parcells-Jeff Ireland-Tony Sparano took over a 1-15 team and won a division title at 11-5, the Dolphins have struggled, going 7-9 in back-to-back seasons. …Read More!

Chiefs Pre-Draft Prep/Offense

The clock ticks towards the start of the 2011 NFL Draft on Thursday evening. The Chiefs like the rest of their league brethren sit and wait.

The hay is in the barn as far as preparing and evaluating. You can bet there are few of the scouts and personnel types that are working the phone lines, talking to guys with other teams who are doing the same things. They continue to drop a line into the draft pool in hopes of hooking some sort of new information.

The evaluation process in preparing for the draft has two avenues. As a team you look at what you have, and then you look at what might be available. Every team hopes they can somehow connect the needs with the avails.

So just what are the Chiefs needs after their 10-6 AFC West winning season? Let’s break down the offense, with the defense and the avails to come. For each position we will provide a level of need for the Chiefs to find somebody in this draft class.

  …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – ST. LOUIS RAMS

A look at the Rams heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; St. Louis has the 14th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 7-9, the most victories for the Rams in five seasons. The season as back and forth for St. Louis – lose 2, win 2, win 1, lose 1, down to the final weekend of the regular season when they lost to Seattle 16-6.

Finish – tied for first in the NFC West with San Francisco, but lost the tie-breaker for the division title and appearance in the playoffs.

Playoffs – the Rams have been out of the post-season since 2004. That was also the last time they won a game in the playoffs. At the start of the last decade, St. Louis made the playoffs off four of the first five seasons. But they have not had a winning record since 2003, when they went 12-4.

…Read More!

Player Profile #21 – Akeem Ayers

“He can do the wrong thing on a play, but he’ll end up right where the action is.”

That’s how UCLA DT David Carter described his teammate LB Akeem Ayers, one of the top defensive prospects in this year’s draft. In three years with the Bruins defense, he was a big-play performer, with four touchdowns on defense and another on special teams as a freshman when he blocked a punt.

Ayers always seemed to be at the wrong place at the right time. Like the interception and TD he had in 2009 against Oregon. He rushed Ducks QB Nate Costa who was backed up in the end zone. Costa faked a hand-off and then threw the ball. Ayers jumped in the air, grabbed the ball out of mid-air and got his feet down inside the end zone for the score.

Great instincts from Ayers? “I was supposed to drop into coverage,” Ayers admitted. “I got sucked in on the play action.”

It happened over and over during Ayers career. Here’s his story: …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – DETROIT LIONS

A look at the Lions heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Detroit has the 13th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 6-10, a season that featured a losing start and a very strong finish. They were 0-4 and at one point 2-10 in early December. But the Lions finished with four straight victories.

Finish – tied for third in the NFC North with Minnesota, five games behind division winner Chicago.

Playoffs – the Lions have long been out of the post-season picture. They have not made the playoffs since 1999, and haven’t won a game in the post-season since 1991 when they beat Dallas 38-6.

OVERVIEW

The league was buzzing about the Lions at the end of the 2010 season and their four-game winning streak, including a 7-3 victory over Green Bay. Detroit was close throughout the season, losing by 5 and 4 points to Chicago, 3 points to Philadelphia, 2 points to Green Bay, 3 points to the Jets and 2 points to Buffalo. That’s six games lost by a total of 19 points. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – MINNESOTA VIKINGS

A look at the Vikings heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Minnesota has the 12th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record - 6-10, it was an up and down season for the Vikings, but their poor start really ended any chance the team had in ’10. They were 2-5, and then won four of its final nine games.

Finish – tied for third in the NFC North with Detroit, five games behind division winner Chicago.

Playoffs – The Vikings last post-season appearance was 2009, when Brett Favre helped take them to the NFC Championship Game where they beat Dallas and then ended up losing to New Orleans in overtime.

OVERVIEW

After selling their soul for the last two years to Favre and the grandfather QB’s inability to say no, the Vikings must pick up the pieces of their franchise and try to move forward. It won’t be easy.

New head coach-former defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has some talented players on both sides of the ball, with RB Adrian Peterson and WR Sidney Rice on offense and DE Jared Allen and LB Chad Greenway on defense. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – HOUSTON TEXANS

A look at the Texans heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Houston has the 11th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 6-10, as they started strong, but finished poorly. At one point in the first half of the season, the Texans were 4-2 and coming off a 35-31 victory over the Chiefs. From that point they went 2-8, losing four in a row on two different occasions.

Finish – tied for third in the AFC South with Tennessee, four games behind Indianapolis in the division.

Playoffs – they began play with the 2002 season and the Texans have yet to make the playoffs. They’ve had just one winning season in the nine years that they’ve played – they went 9-7 in 2009. That was the only season where they did not finish third or fourth in the division; they were second.

OVERVIEW

The combination just does not seem to come together for the Texans. Owner Robert McNair is one of the league’s best, willing to spend money and he stays out of the day-to-day operations. He does check in, however, on what’s going on and he’s not happy with his franchise’s status outside the contender level. …Read More!

ANSWER BOB – 4/25

Thanks for your questions. As always they were very insightful. I hope I can provide answers to match their quality.

———-

Tim says: Bob, thanks for the opportunity to ask a few questions! (1.) Last year it was apparent our “interior trio” on the OL was manhandled on several occasions. With the increased difficulty of the 2011 schedule, how do you see us addressing this & some possible names either draft or FAs we might pursue (assuming there is one)? It would seem not to address this would severely damage the strongest portion of our offense. (2.) Who might be draft candidates & possible FAs the Chiefs might desire as possible WR candidates opposite Bowe? (3.) Any update on Cameron Sheffield & if it might impact how we draft?

Bob says: Tim, there’s no question the Chiefs should be concerned about the interior of their offensive line, specifically center and left guard. I’m not leaving RG Ryan Lilja out, but he held it together better than Casey Wiegmann and Brian Waters. I’ve heard a lot of folks talking about Barry Richardson and Branden Albert, but I think they played far better than people are giving them credit for and better than some of what we saw with the interior trio. I’d be hoping that Mike Pouncey is still available. I’d rush that card to the stage and get a guy who can come in and play in ’11 and has a huge upside. Otherwise, there’s nobody in the first round worthy on the inside. But, if they are considering moving Albert inside and grabbing another tackle, then that’s another step they can take. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – WASHINGTON REDSKINS

A look at the Redskins heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Washington has the 10th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 6-10, as they got off to a decent enough start going 4-3, and eventually 5-5. But over the last six games they went 1-5 as they had trouble scoring points in that stretch.

Finish – tied for third in the NFC East with Dallas, four games behind Philadelphia and the New York Giants for first place.

Playoffs – the Redskins have made the post-season just twice in the last 11 seasons. The last time was in 2007, when they finished 9-7 and lost in the wildcard round. Their last post-season victory was 2005 when they had a 10-6 record.

OVERVIEW

Since Daniel Snyder took over ownership of the team in 1999, Washington has had three winning seasons out of the 12 that have been played and a 2-3 record in the post-season. That makes the teams overall record under Snyder 88-109, a .447 winning percentage.

Snyder has twice tried to take a step away from the running of the team. The first time came when Joe Gibbs returned as head coach, and the second is currently with GM Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan running the ship. …Read More!

Player Profile #32 – Phil Taylor

Who knows when it happens? At some point in all of our lives there’s that moment when we don’t even see the fork in the road as we come to it, let alone know what direction would be the best one to take. But Phil Taylor knows. Last May, Taylor traveled with a group of Baylor athletes and personnel to Kenya for two weeks. It was a major fork in the road for the big man. After his trip to Africa, he came back with a different perspective.

“It was a life-changing trip,” Taylor said. “You see how good we have it over here. It was a real eye-opener. I loved it and would probably do it again.”

With a new sense of purpose, Taylor played the best football of his college career in 2010 with the Bears. “Phil came back this season with a revamped attitude, work ethic and focus,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “The light turned on for him. He realized what he needed to do and did it, and that’s something you like to see as a coach.”

Taylor volunteered for the trip led by Baylor chaplain Wes Yeary. They visited the slums of Mukuru and went to a prison in Nairobi. They met children who were sleeping on the streets, and went to villages that were infested with diseases. “Phil literally washed the feet of children and adults,” Yeary said. “He gave and served. He did everything that we asked. It was a joy for me to watch Phil step out of his comfort zone and share this experience with other athletes. He had an eagerness and hunger to experience a different culture.”

Now, he prepares for another life changer – pro football.  Here’s his story. …Read More!

Judge Unlocks NFL; What’s Next?

In a clear victory for the players, a federal court judge has ruled that the NFL’s lockout should be immediately lifted.

That much is clear. What happens next remains very muddled.  The NFL has said it will not re-open for business with the players on Tuesday. They will not re-open until they get their day in court.

Judge Susan Nelson granted the players an injunction lifting the lockout. Plus, she decided she would not grant a stay in the decision, forcing the NFL to immediately seek a stay of her order from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We will promptly seek a stay from Judge Nelson pending an expedited appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals,” the league said in a statement.  “We believe that federal law bars injunctions in labor disputes.  We are confident that the Eighth Circuit will agree.  But we also believe that this dispute will inevitably end with a collective bargaining agreement, which would be in the best interests of players, clubs and fans.  We can reach a fair agreement only if we continue negotiations toward that goal.”

If the Eighth Circuit does not grant at least a stay of the injunction order from Judge Nelson, then the league would be open for business. If the league gets a stay of her order, then the lock would go back on the NFL doors and there would be no immediate return to football.

DRAFT PREVIEW – DALLAS COWBOYS

 A look at the Cowboys heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Dallas has the 9th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 6-10, where they struggled in the early going before putting together three victories in the last five games. They started the year 1-7, but came back with an overall record of 5-3 in the second half of the year.

Finish – tied for third in the NFC East with Washington, four games behind Philadelphia and the New York Giants who tied for first place.

Playoffs – the Cowboys last post-season appearance was the 2009 season, when they went 11-5 and won the NFC East, but lost in the second round of the playoffs. The victory in the wildcard game was the first in the post-season since 1996.

OVERVIEW

When there is disappointment with the Dallas Cowboys, then it’s major disappointment. Nothing that happens with the Cowboys in Dallas happens quietly. Last year, there was the injury suffered by QB Tony Romo, the quick start of rookie WR Dez Bryant that was ended by an injury, the firing of head coach Wade Phillips and a host of other moments that proved embarrassing to Jerry Jones. The whole idea was to go to the Super Bowl, since it was set for Cowboys Stadium. …Read More!

Player Profile #55- DT Marvin Austin

Marvin Austin would like a second chance. The big defensive tackle out of Washington, D.C. and the University of North Carolina knows what he missed after being suspended for the 2010 season because of contact with agents and accepting impermissible benefits.

“I went from being one of the top players and prospects in the nation to being a guy that is not even talked about,” Austin said. “And it was a tough situation having to sit back and watch all the other defensive linemen go out and play and perform and not be able to do anything. It made you put things in perspective a lot more.”

That was Austin speaking at the NFL Combine where he admitted to taking trips paid for by an agent. He knew they were bad decisions when he made them, but still he got on the airplane and flew twice to California and twice to Florida.

“It was a mental mistake,” Austin said. “I got ahead of myself. I learned that I can never take anything for granted. This is a privilege. A lot of guys would kill to be in these shoes, so you have to take advantage of it and never abuse the privilege.”

Now, Austin prepares to join the ranks of professional football in a draft slot far lower than was expected a year ago.

Here is his story. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – TENNESSEE TITANS

A look at the Titans heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Tennessee has the 8th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 6-10, in a season where the Titans began the year with 5-2 record, but then lost eight of their last nine games. Ultimately, that led to the departure of both head coach Jeff Fisher and QB Vince Young. Change is in the Nashville wind.

Finish – tied for third in the AFC South, four games behind division leader Indianapolis and two games behind second-place Jacksonville.

Playoffs – the 2008 season was the last time Tennessee played after the regular season. They were division winners that year with a 13-3 record, but they lost in the first-round of the playoffs. The same thing happened the season before when they made the post-season with a 10-6 record and again lost in the first round. They haven’t won a game in the playoffs since 2003. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

A look at the 49ers heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; San Francisco has the 7th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 5-11, the 49ers lost their first five games and six of their first seven. That led to all sorts of changes in the coaching staff, as first offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye was fired and then head coach Mike Singletary as relieved of his duties. Jim Harbaugh is now the head coach, stolen away from Stanford.

Finish – third in the NFC West, just a game behind division leaders Seattle and St. Louis at 7-9. The Niners finished one game ahead of Arizona.

Playoffs – It’s been awhile for San Francisco, as they haven’t had a winning season or tasted the post-season wine since the 2002 season. They won the division that year.

OVERVIEW

A 7-9 and then 8-8 seasons in 2008-09 seemed to have the Niners pointed in the right direction. That forward momentum blew up last year, especially when they lost the first five games of the season. That included a 21-point loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. …Read More!

Player Profile #56 – QB Christian Ponder

Christian Ponder has three college degrees that he earned over the last five years at Florida State. So picking up an offensive playbook and being able to handle the transition to running an NFL offense. Ponder will get that chance after he gets drafted, probably in the late first or second round.

“If you look at the game in general, a lot of it is mental,” said Ponder. “My intelligence kind of helped me learn the playbook pretty quickly and allows me to study a defense and take in more information. The habits you develop in the classroom definitely transfer over to the study habits of watching film and getting ready for the game.”

Here’s the quarterback’s story. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – CLEVELAND BROWNS

A look at the Browns heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Cleveland has the 6th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 5-11, the Browns won four of six games at one point, but finished the season with four consecutive losses. They dropped a 16-14 decision to the Chiefs in Week No. 2.

Finish – third in the AFC North, seven games behind Pittsburgh and Baltimore in first place. Cleveland finished one game ahead of Cincinnati.

Playoffs – It’s been awhile for the Browns, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2002, when they finished 9-7 and lost the tie-breaker for first place in the AFC North to Pittsburgh. They then lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Steelers.

OVERVIEW

It’s hard to believe how badly the Browns have struggled since they made their return to the NFL in the ’99 season. In a dozen seasons to date, they finished with a winning record twice, but only made the playoffs once. In four of the last five seasons, they had either four or five victories. …Read More!

Player Profile #25 – DT Corey Liuget

It was February 2010 and as Corey Liuget sat in his place in Champagne, Illinois, snow covered the ground and flurries drifted through the air. The sky was dark, the winds were frigid and Liuget decided he had enough.

Almost two full years into his time at the University of Illinois, Liuget decide it was time to transfer. Things had not gone that well on the field, the Illini were bringing in a new defensive coordinator and there’s no way the kid from Miami’s Hialeah neighborhood was every going to get used to an Illinois winter. Liuget did what any unhappy son would do – he called his mother.

But down in Miami, Lorene Liuget wasn’t looking for a new roommate. A widow who lost her husband and Corey’s father about 15 years before, she put her foot down. “My Mom said ‘You’re not welcome back home’,” Corey Liuget told ESPN.com. “I said ‘Well I could live with this person or that person’ and she was like, ‘Don’t even think about living with them. It’s not going to happen. We expect a lot more out of you.’

“I had to think either I stay here and get an education and play football, or go home and be a nobody. I would have to find my own place to live. It was going to be tough for me. So I decided to stay.”

But he’s leaving Illinois now, declaring for the NFL Draft with a year of eligibility remaining. Staying in school could be worth millions of dollars for him, as he’s considered a first-round prospect.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – ARIZONA CARDINALS

A look at the Cardinals heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Arizona has the 5th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 5-11, the second worst record in the NFC behind only Carolina’s 2-14.

Finish – fourth in the NFC West, but two games behind Seattle and St. Louis that shared the division title. The Cardinals were one came behind San Francisco.

Playoffs – Not last year, but that broke a streak of two seasons with a ticket for the playoffs. It was three years ago that they somehow reached the Super Bowl, before losing to the Steelers in the fourth quarter. Over the last 11 years, they Cardinals have had two trips to the playoffs and two winning record.

OVERVIEW

Some people may have thought that the Cardinals had gotten over the hump that seemed like a huge mountain for so many years. Did the Bidwill family finally get their act together and establish something that could compete with the most powerful teams in the NFC? …Read More!

Player Profile #20 – OT Tyron Smith

Surgery on his right knee back in December may be contributing to a first-round slide by Southern Cal OT Tyron Smith.

During the 2010 season, Smith injured his knee and ended up missing one game. But he returned and finished out the season, before having surgery on the meniscus in his right knee on December 17. That kept him from doing all the on-field work at the NFL Combine in late February.

But he bounced back in late March at Southern Cal’s Pro day and did just about every physical test, including the 40-yard dash that he did in just under 5 seconds. By the time the NFL’s medical re-check in early April, the knee showed signs of hard work and was not 100 percent. His doctor told Pro Football Weekly “it would seem that in his efforts to further expedite his recovery, it looks like he pushed himself a little too hard.”

There’s going to be great discussion in the league about Smith because he’s such a gifted physical specimen. As an example he has a wing span of 85¾ inches. That’s the distance between the tips of his fingers when he stands and holds his arms straight out. That’s right at 7 feet. But concerns about the knee may push him down the first round and right into the lap of a team that can be patient.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – CINCINNATI BENGALS

A look at the Bengals heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Cincinnati has the 4th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 4-12, tied for the worst record in the AFC with Buffalo and Denver.

Finish – fourth in the AFC North, eight games behind division leaders Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and one game behind third place Cleveland.

Playoffs – the Bengals were there in 2009, after going 10-6 and winning the AFC North. They ended up losing in the first round to the Jets. Over the last 11 years, Cincinnati has had two winning record and a pair of trips to the playoffs.

…Read More!

Player Profile #22 – OT Gabe Carimi

When Gabe Carimi steps on the field for his first NFL game this fall – if there are NFL games this fall – it will be not only his first game in uniform, but his first game ever. Although he grew up in Wisconsin and is a Packers fan, he’s never seen the game live and in person.

“I’ve never known anyone with season tickets and I haven’t felt like spending that much money to buy it, because I could just watch it on TV from the comfort of my home,” Carimi said. “Growing up I watched the Packers every Sunday – but once I got to college it was tougher because Sundays is when we watched all of our film, so I loved Monday games. Unless you know someone with Packer tickets, I wasn’t going to spend an arm and a leg on them. I was Packers fan growing up, but I’ll be switching my allegiance as soon as I get drafted.”

He’ll have plenty of opportunities to spread tickets around to family and friends once he’s into the league.

That will come soon … and this is the rest of his story. …Read More!

The Best Late Picks In Chiefs History

The NFL Draft is such a gamble that even the players selected in prime positions each year have about a 50-50 chance of failure.

Those odds get longer as each round is passed and another 32+ names are added to the drafted list. That’s why it’s usually easier to pinpoint the good drafting teams not by who they take in the first round, but how many of their picks from the later rounds make the team and provide contributions to winning.

With 51 drafts in the books it was time to shuffle the top cards off the deck and discover the best players selected in the late rounds of the AFL and NFL Drafts.

Criteria for selection to this list: …Read More!

Player Profile #57 – LB Mason Foster

Who has ever heard of a football player, especially a defensive football player, not interested in getting a chance to play quarterback?

Meet University of Washington LB Mason Foster. It happened during his senior year at Seaside High School in Monterey, California. After a weight-lifting session, his coach sat him down and asked for a favor, a big favor. He needed a QB and he needed Foster – his defensive leader – to take control of the offense as well. “He didn’t want to be our quarterback,” said Al Avila, the Seaside coach. “I told him the team needed him.”

That factor had Foster taking snaps at practice that afternoon and he became Seaside’s quarterback and he led the Spartans offense and defense to the school’s first sectional championship.

At Washington, he returned only to playing linebacker and is now ready to take another step up the football ladder – the NFL Draft.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

DRAFT PREVIEW – BUFFALO BILLS

A look at the Bills heading into the 2011 NFL Draft; Buffalo has the 3rd pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 4-12, tied for the worst record in the AFC with Cincinnati and Denver.

Finish – fourth in the AFC East, 10 games behind division leader New England and three games behind third place Miami.

Playoffs – not since the 1999 season, and 11-year drought that is the longest in the NFL. The rest of their AFC East mates have made the playoffs 17 times since the Bills have gotten there – Patriots 8, Jets 6 and Dolphins 3.

OVERVIEW

The Bills have been struggling for over a decade now, and they’ve had just one winning record since 1999; that was 2004 when they were 9-7 and still finished in third place. Since they made the post-season under Wade Phillips, they’ve had Greg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Dick Jauron and now Chan Gailey as head coach. Mularkey led them to 9 victories in ’04. …Read More!

Player Profile #12 – OT Anthony Castonzo

As time is running out on the start of the upcoming draft, we are going to jump ahead on some of these profiles and make sure you learn about some of the players that could fall to the Chiefs in the first round. We start with OT Anthony Castonzo.  We will continue to mix in other players as well.

It has been producing NFL players for over 30 years. More than 70 cadets from Fork Union Military Academy have been drafted or signed by NFL teams. That includes players like QB Vinny Testaverde, RB Eddie George and WR Plaxico Burress. To that group we can add OT Anthony Castonzo.

After high school graduation, Castonzo was a 6-7, 215-pound self-described “drink of water” who couldn’t find a school on the Division 1 level of college football interested in signing him. So the kid from suburban Chicago went off to center Virginia and FUMA. He marched, he wore the uniform, and he did all the things the other cadets did.

But Castonzo was there not to improve his grades, but to get bigger and to improve his standing with recruiters. After playing on the line both ways for the Blue Devils, he had his choice of Division 1 tickets. He picked Boston College and four years later, he should become the first offensive lineman taken in this year’s draft class.

“It was a tremendous help for me,” Castonzo said of his time at Fork Union. “It really set up what happened over the last four years.”

Here’s the rest of his story. …Read More!

FIRE AWAY! – ASK BOB/PRE-DRAFT EDITION

The clock ticks down to the start of the 2011 NFL Draft next Thursday evening.

If you’ve followed our draft coverage you know there’s little chance I’ll be able to get 50 player profiles done by dinnertime next Thursday. The plan is to jump ahead on our top 100 list and profile possible first-round selections for the Chiefs. Plus, we’ll preview the draft plans for the 20 teams in front of the Chiefs at selection No. 21 in the first round.

Needless to say, we are going to be busy. But I also know you guys have a lot of questions. So starting now, pump your queries into the comments to this post before 6 p.m. on Saturday. By Monday morning, we’ll post answers. For now, let’s keep the questions focused on the Draft.

Ready, fire, aim!

K.C.’s Worst Draft …Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to grading NFL Draft classes.

But even Stevie Wonder can look at the Kansas City Chiefs 1975 class of draft picks and declare it the absolute worst group in franchise history.

In fact, it may go beyond even Kansas City. The ’75 draft class very well may be the worst draft class in the history of the NFL, no matter the year or team. There’s no question it would be on the medal stand at the end of the competition.

It would simply be hard to match the remarkable disaster of that selection meeting and the long term effect it had on the team’s rebuilding attempts.

How bad was it? Here’s a taste of the sheer ineptitude – only one player of the 11 the Chiefs selected with ’75 draft choices made the team. In fact, only one played in a regular season game. Just one of 11 – the odds would say a GM and coach could throw darts at the draft board and hit for better than that.

“Last year was a bad year from the standpoint of the draft,” then head coach Paul Wiggin said in the days after the team’s 75 season. “It was a disaster.” …Read More!

Chiefs 1975 NFL Draft

Trades Involving ’75 Draft Choices

Player Profile # 58 – S Rahim Moore

UCLA has produced a bunch of highly-rated safeties in the last few years. Dating back to Kenny Easley, they’ve also sent Eric Turner, Carnell Lake, Shaun Williams and Jarrad Page into the NFL.

Rahim Moore is about to become part of the legacy. Moore started the first game of his college career and never left the lineup, opening 37 consecutive games on the black line of the Bruins defense. Now, he’s coming into the NFL and figures to be the first true safety drafted. As he departed UCLA, Moore wrote a letter thanking many people in his life for their help in getting him to a spot in life where unlike many of the young men he grew up with, he’s got a future. He wrote about his UCLA experience:

“Wearing that blue and gold UCLA jersey with #3 on the back made me feel so reborn again – from every game running on the field in warm ups, jogging to the third yard line, praying to God giving him all the thanks, to playing “Dear Mama” by 2 Pac, crying my heart out just by thinking about my mother and all she went through, and after rejoicing on the field playing my favorite gospel song by Shekinah Glory Ministry called “Awesome & Mighty”. Those were my pre-game routines that I did each and every week for 37 consecutive weeks. UCLA fans, I love you from the bottom of my heart and I thank you for the prayers, the love and the passion you have for this school. I’m leaving to launch my career to another level I have always dreamed about, but I will never stop bleeding that beautiful “blue and gold”.

Here’s a link to the complete letter.

And here’s the rest of his story. …Read More!

Take A Swing With Sal

One of the most popular Chiefs players in franchise history is again lending his efforts in the fight against cancer.

Join Dan Saleaumua for what’s being called the “Take a Swing at Cancer” Golf Tournament on Friday, May 20th at the Winterstone Golf Course in Independence.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Individuals can join the tournament field for $100 and they have a great price on a foursome, $320. There’s 18 holes of golf, dinner afterwards from McC’s Smoke and Spice, plus full use of the practice facilities and on course competitions and prizes.

The shotgun start is set for 1 p.m. Winterstone is at 17101 E. Kentucky Road in Independence (64058).

For more information go to www.saleaumua.com or e-mail Cure11@saleaumua.com

No NFL Favors … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Check out the Chiefs 2011 regular season schedule, especially the second half of the season and it creates a very distinct impression that somehow Todd Haley must have really pissed off the guys at the league office that crunch the games and create the schedule.

The Chiefs knew that they were set to face a very demanding set of opponents over 16 games, including meetings against the NFL’s final four post-season teams and six games against teams from the playoffs.

What the schedule makers decided to do was put all of those teams together on the Chiefs schedule. In a span of 28 days from November 21 through December 18, Haley’s team will play five games in a football death march that’s the toughest stretch on any schedule in the league.

The Fabulous Five Marathon rolls like this: …Read More!

Player Profile #59 – RB DeMarco Murray

DeMarco Murray has learned how to overcome adversity many times during his football career.

While establishing a place in the University of Oklahoma record books during his four seasons with the Sooners, Murray’s career never quite hit full speed because of numerous injuries while he was in Norman. His only chance to play for a national championship found him on the sidelines thanks to a dislocated knee cap. Murray learned how to deal with those frustrating times thanks experiences from disappointments during his high school career in Las Vegas. That includes a brawl after a game in the 2003 state playoffs and one year later, Murray fumbled at the two-yard line in overtime leading to another post-season loss.

“I know he cried a lot after the fumble,” said Murray’s coach at Bishop Gorman High School David White. “It’s made him grow up a lot quicker than he really wanted to and any average high school kid would like; he went through a lot. He took a lot of weight on his shoulders; he felt like it was his fault. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to be what everybody thinks he’s going to be.”

Here’s the rest of his story. …Read More!

Chiefs 2011 Schedule

All times CDT. Flex scheduling is a factor in the final 7 weeks.

DRAFT PREVIEW – DENVER BRONCOS

Here’s a look at the Broncos heading into the 2011 NFL Draft. Denver has the 2nd pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 4-12, the Broncos worst record since the 1971 season when they went 4-9-1.

Finish – they were in fourth place in the AFC West, six games behind the division winning Chiefs and four games out of third place where Oakland went 8-8. The last time Denver finished last in the division was 1999 when they were 6-10.

OVERVIEW

For nearly two decades the Broncos were the class of the AFC West. They are the only franchise within the division to win a Super Bowl, grabbing back-to-back championships at the end of the 1997-98 seasons. Most of that was with Mike Shanahan in charge of the football operations. In Shanny’s final season (2008), Denver was 8-8.

Josh McDaniels was the new man in charge and he proved that he wasn’t ready for the chore. After going 8-8, the Broncos bottomed out last season like they’ve not done in 30 years. McDaniels got the boot and Denver has put together a duo to bring the franchise back to prosperity – Hall of Fame QB John Elway (right)  and former Carolina head coach John Fox. …Read More!

Player Profile #60 – CB Curtis Marsh

The pool of prospects for the 2011 NFL Draft includes a handful of legacy players – young men attempting to match the accomplishments of their fathers who came into the NFL.

At Ohio State is the late Craig “Ironhead” Heyward’s son Cameron, a highly rated DE. California DE Cameron Jordan can turn to his father former Vikings TE Steve Jordan for advice. Connecticut LB Greg Lloyd can get an analysis of his play from the man he was named after, the former Steelers LB.

And Curtis Marsh can always call his Dad, Curtis Marsh Sr. The Utah State CB traveled a tough road to prepare for the NFL Draft; it hasn’t been that different than his father’s football journey some 20 years ago.

Here’s the rest of Curtis Marsh’s story. …Read More!

Draft Preview – New York Jets

An analytical look at the Jets heading into the 2011 NFL Draft. New York has the 30th pick in the first round.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 11-5 and one of the AFC wildcard teams in the playoffs.

Finish – finished in second place in the AFC East, three games behind New England.

Playoffs – in the wildcard round, the Jets held on to beat Indianapolis 17-16; in the divisional round they were able to knock off New England 28-21; in the AFC Championship Game they fell to the Steelers in Pittsburgh 24-19.

OVERVIEW

The Jets have not always been the vision of stability, but they’ve been able to win games, whether the head coach was Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini or Rex Ryan. In the last five years, they’ve had four winning record and made the playoffs three times. Under Ryan, they’ve gotten to the AFC Championship Game for two straight years, but have been unable to find a way to beat first Indianapolis and then Pittsburgh. …Read More!

Player Profile #61 – DE/LB Jabaal Sheard

Jabaal Sheard was 11 years old. He and some of his buddies were out riding bikes in Hollywood, Florida when they rolled down a street in the tough neighborhood where they grew up.

“I came across a house and the house was smoking and the fire alarm was going off and nobody called the police and everyone was just looking at it,” Sheard remembered a decade later. “My friends and I tried to help out, so we called the police first and then we went into the house.

“It ended up being an old lady in the kitchen who had fallen down and was unconscious. It was a good thing that we did end up calling the police because they came and rescued her.”

Sheard was awarded a bravery medal for what he did that day and getting involved is something he’s carried into his life in college at the University of Pittsburgh.

Here’s the rest of his story. …Read More!

Draft Preview – Carolina Panthers

An analytical look at the Panthers heading into the 2011 NFL Draft. Carolina has the 1st pick in the draft.

REVIEW OF 2010

Record – 2-14.

Finish – last in the NFC South, NFC and NFL.

Playoffs – hardly. The last time the Panthers were in the post-season was 2008, when they won the division but lost in the divisional playoffs to Arizona.

(That’s veteran WR Steve Smith to the right; the Panthers aren’t sure if he’s coming back for an 11th season.)

OVERVIEW

The Panthers have been around since the 1995 season and last year was the second worst record in franchise history. From the day they fielded a team and went to the NFC Championship Game after just two seasons (1996), Carolina has been an average to good team on the field. That disappeared in the 2010 season when they were able to win but two out of 16 games; they beat San Francisco by a field goal and Arizona by a touchdown.

There are not many recognizable names on the Panthers roster. Offensively there is veteran WR Steve Smith (46 catches for 554 yards and 2 TD catches), RBs Jonathan Stewart (178 carries for 770 yards) and DeAngelo Williams (361 yards on 87 carries.) Defensively their best player is linebacker Jon Beason.

Over the years, Carolina has largely built its roster through the NFL Draft. At the end of last year, 17 of 22 starters were Panthers draft choices. They have not been afraid at times to spend money in free agency, or to let players walk for bigger money (DE Julius Peppers) on the free agency market. …Read More!

Player Profile #62 – CB Aaron Williams

There’s one item that stands out on the resume of University of Texas CB Aaron Williams – over his high school and college careers Williams has blocked 17 kicks and punts. That’s right, 12 blocks in two seasons at McNeil High School in Round Rock, Texas, and then five more in three seasons with the Longhorns.

That’s 17 blocks in five seasons. Most players don’t put up one-quarter of that number of a career.

According to Williams, credit for his remarkable numbers goes to his father Anthony. For years, father and son have done meticulous film study, including special attention to the snapper and kickers of opponents. Anthony Williams played linebacker in college.

“Having a father who has so much football experience is a huge bonus that I try to take advantage of whenever I can,” said Aaron Williams. “Special teams is such an important phase of the game. I go as hard as I can after each kick.”

Here’s the rest of his story. …Read More!

Scouting Coaches … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

There’s an old saying in football – a game that has a lot of old sayings – that goes something like this:

Coaches coach and scouts should scout.

Meaning? In the process of preparing an NFL roster, the scouts should do the work of finding talent, and the coaches should do the work of developing that talent. Coaches shouldn’t be scouting and scouts shouldn’t be coaching.

There are very few teams that draw the duty lines so firmly in the dirt, however. At this time of the year, the NFL coaches are very busy scouting possible draft choices at the position they coach. They come back to the team’s facility and provide their two cents worth on the players.

On some teams, the analysis by the coaches is given great credence by the decision makers. An unusual example is the Cincinnati Bengals where the assistant coaches are essentially the team’s scouting department. Either the Brown family is incredibly cheap or they know something nobody else in the NFL understands, but the Bengals have a senior VP of player personnel, a director of player personnel, one scout and two scouting consultants.

That’s it – three full-time people and two consultants. Compare that to the Chiefs, who are not unusual in having a dozen full-time people and heaven knows how many part-timers in their personnel department. …Read More!

Player Profile #63 – TE Luke Stocker

It has become one of the tougher to find positions in the NFL these days – the classic tight end.

Whether it’s the direction of offenses or the talent pool available each year out of the college football ranks. But tight ends these days always seem to be either guys who are at their best split out and running routes, or the big body tight blockers.

From out of the University of Tennessee comes an old-school TE – Luke Stocker. He played for three different head coaches in his last three years with the Volunteers, allowing him to become familiar with a host of offensive concepts, including the pro-style scheme that was brought to Knoxville by Lane Kiffin.

He did not put up record breaking numbers, but Stocker improved every season, despite dealing with a changing offense and quarterback situation.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

Player Profile #64 – CB Chimdi Chekwa

As far as Chimdi Chekwa’s parents were concerned what happened in December was far more important than what will happen in about 10 days when their youngest son should be an early choice in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Back in December, Chekwa received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the Ohio State University. That made him the sixth of Charles and Eunice Chekwa’s six children to earn their college degree. They have a way to go to catch Mom and Dad, however. Between them, Mr. and Mrs. Chekwa own five college degrees, including a doctorate in business for Charles and a Master’s degree in Mathematics for Eunice.

It’s a remarkable American success story of a young couple that escaped Nigeria during that country’s civil war and created a new life for themselves in America.

Here’s more of Chimdi Chekwa’s story. …Read More!

Player Profile #65 – DT Jurrell Casey

Had tragedy not intervened, Jurrell Casey would have had a road map to handling the NFL Draft – his older brother – by two years – Jurray had accepted a football scholarship to the University of Oregon. According to his little brother, Jurray was the best football player in the family, a 6-2, 210-pound linebacker with 4.5 speed who had registered 215 tackles over his final two seasons at football powerhouse Long Beach Polytechnic.

But Jurray’s life got sidetracked – he’s sitting in the California State Prison in Sacramento serving a 50-year to life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder in June of 2007.

Jurrell Casey now waits for the NFL Draft, where he should be selected somewhere in the first three rounds and continue the football career he started at Southern Cal and Long Beach Poly.

Here’s Jurrell Casey’s story. …Read More!

Player Profile # 66 – WR Jerrel Jernigan

Alabama and Auburn did not want him for their football programs when Jerrel Jernigan was coming out of high school in Eufaula, Alabama. Too small was the word. Listed at 5-11, he was a lot closer to 5-8 and he was a tiny 170 pounds.

Four years later, Jernigan has enough evidence in the bank to show he could have handled the action in the SEC. At Troy, he played in 50 of 51 games over four years, missing just one because of injury. When he had the chance to face the big-time schools, he performed. As a freshman, he caught 11 passes for 102 yards and a pair of TDs against Georgia in Athens.

Jernigan is still closer to 5-8 than 5-11, but he’s added muscle over four years and is ready to take his talents to the NFL.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

Talkin’ Draft With Pioli … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

Scott Pioli walked into the room one minute after 10 o’clock on Friday morning at the Chiefs facility.

No big deal, since the media horde has learned long ago that part of life in the big leagues is sitting around and waiting. That Pioli was but 60 seconds behind hardly registered as being tardy.

For the next 21 minutes, Pioli spoke and answered questions. Anyone expecting to hear great detail on the direction of the Chiefs in the 2011 NFL Draft was certainly disappointed.

How they could possibly have expected a news bolt from the blue is hard to believe. Pioli doesn’t speak often to the media – in fact, this was his first press conference with the K.C. media since the opening days of training camp last summer – and when he does speak, Pioli is pleasant in demeanor and seemingly earnest in his replies.

But to say he does not expose the cards he’s holding would be the understatement of the year. …Read More!

Player Profile #67 – CB Brandon Burton

Fans of the University of Utah Utes will remember CB Brandon Burton for a long time, just as fans of their biggest rival; Brigham Young won’t soon forget him.

Burton wrote his name in the Utah-BYU rivalry history last fall when his block of a field goal on the last play of the game gave the Utes a 17-16 victory. Whenever Burton is out and about in public, fans want to shake his hand, to touch the hand that beat the Cougars. “It’s been crazy and you get mauled everywhere you go,” Burton said.

Right now, Burton is headed to the NFL, giving up his final year of eligibility at Utah.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

Pioli Talks ’09 Draft & Tyson Jackson

It didn’t qualify for headlines the size of “War Ends in Europe” but Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli did throw out a bit of a shocker when he met with the media on Friday:

“I know some of my limitations as an evaluator and some of the mistakes that I have made in the past.”

Pioli is pretty good about not drinking the Kool-Aid passed about concerning his prowess in selecting players in the NFL Draft. He’s always been willing to admit that the Patriots drafting of Tom Brady with choice No. 199 back in the 2000 Draft was more luck than skill.

Anybody making personnel decisions in the NFL is not going to come through the process with a perfect record. There are too many players that must be evaluated and they are humans with all their faults and foibles. Some football pundits and fans have been quick to confer genius status on Pioli for the Chiefs class of players from last year’s draft – Eric Berry, Dexter McCluster, Javier Arenas, Tony Moeaki and Kendrick Lewis have kick-started the group with strong contributions in their rookie seasons. …Read More!

Player Profile #68 – WR Leonard Hankerson

Miami WR Leonard Hankerson II never knew his father; Leonard Sr. was murdered on the streets of south Florida about a month before his son arrived in the world. All through the last 23 years, Leonard II has sought the help of male authority figures.

For a wide receiver, there’s no better place to find that help than south Florida. His position coach in high school was former NFL receiver Cris Carter. Before his junior year in high school he started working with former Dolphins WR Mark Duper to polish his route running and become a well-rounded player. “Mark Duper just told me to stay focused and keep doing what I’m doing,” Hankerson said.

He did it well enough that he left the Miami Hurricanes program with just about every receiving standard in the record book. Now, he’s preparing to take his game to the next level.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

First Round Worst … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

Who were the worst first-round draft choices in the NFL since the merger in 1970?

As we did on Thursday with our best first-round picks, the selections are based on the player’s position in the round. In other words, who was the worst 12th pick taken in the first round of the NFL Draft from 1970 to 2010? Who was the least productive player taken with the 25^th pick?

Picking the best first round picks was very subjective. We’ll use a more objective reference for picking the worst first round selections. The No. 1 ability any player can have is availability and that’s how we’ve made our selections: games played. It’s not a perfect barometer of their contributions, but they couldn’t begin to be productive if they weren’t on the field in the first place.

Injuries, in some cases death and in one case even murder led to departures from the league by first round selections. We violated this rule only once in 32 picks, and that’s the first choice.

And, remember that picks No. 27 through 32 have not always been in the first round. It was in 1976 that picks No. 27 and 28 joined the first round, with No. 29 and No. 30 coming in 1995, No. 31 in 1999 and No. 32 in the 2002 Draft. There were various exceptions along the way, like the ’95 draft when new teams in Jacksonville and Carolina received a pair of first round selections.

Plus, I considered picks from the last few years, even though those players have not proven themselves over any length of time. Not many have yet qualified to be part of this group.

So here we go, the best first-round picks, spot by spot: …Read More!

NFL Draft Focus – Nose/Defensive Tackles

The Big Boys in the middle – like Auburn’s Nick Fairley (above) – are attracting a lot of attention in this year’s run-up to the 2011 NFL Draft.

With nearly half of the league using the 3-4 defense as a base scheme, more and more defensive tackles are being selected in the draft. The big bruiser inside is the toughest guy to find for just about every NFL team, whether he’s a nose tackle or just one of two defensive tackles playing together.

“I think there are more teams in the NFL looking for 3-4 talent,” said Kevin Colbert, the Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations. “But there’s some changes going on in the college game, things going on with the spread offense, you’re getting more 3-5-3 kind of defenses which are more similar to what we run, so there’s actually some defenses in college that are changing that supplement some of the extra demand in the NFL.”

There are a lot prospects on the defensive line in this year’s draft pool, with first-round possibilities of maybe 15 defensive tackles and ends going in the first round.

“This is the second year that I think we’ve had a very good defensive line draft,” said Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff. “I think it’s great for the league because for the longest time we had a dearth of d-linemen. We are excited about having some very high producing athletes along the front.”

Here’s what we have for our premium subscribers when it comes to the prospects at NT and DT in this year’s draft:

• For the Chiefs at defensive tackle it’s try, and try, and try again.
• Chiefs D-Line picks over last 10 drafts.
• This year’s DT class has question marks.
• On the nose – tackling the big boys with a look at who handles the inside on the NFL teams using a 3-4 defense.
• Charting DT selections over the last 10 drafts.

Chiefs Defensive Line Picks 2001-2010

Players in red, still with Chiefs. s-seasons, g-games, t-tackles, s-sacks.

That’s 16 draft choices on the defensive line in 10 Drafts; 3 remain with the team; 8 were released; 4 were traded; 1 left as UFA. On average they played 33 games in a Chiefs uniform.

Chiefs Trying To Find Their Nose

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

That’s just the first part of one of the most memorable lines uttered by comedian-actor-writer W.C. Fields. Few people know there’s a second part of this famous quote:

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.”

Maybe that’s something the Kansas City Chiefs should acknowledge as they enter the 2011 NFL Draft and consider drafting another defensive tackle. On the offensive side of the football, the Chiefs have been a disaster when it comes to drafting quarterbacks.

On the defense, the position that has stymied the Chiefs for years has been inside players for their defensive line. They have not had success in the draft, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying again, and again, and again.

No NFL team over the last decade has invested more quality draft choices in defensive tackles than the Chiefs. They ended up drafting eight players who played at DT in rounds one-two-three in the NFL Drafts 2001-10. In that same decade, no other NFL team drafted more than four DTs.

That was two in the first round – Ryan Sims (2002) and Glenn Dorsey (2008); three in the second round – Eddie Freeman (2002), Junior Siavii (2004), Turk McBride (2007); and three in the third round – Eric Downing (2001), Tank Tyler (2007), Alex Magee (2009).

To that list you can add defensive ends – Tamba Hali (1st-round/2006) and Tyson Jackson (1st-round/2009). That’s 10 premium picks in 10 years along the defensive line.

No other area of the team got that kind of attention in the early rounds of the draft. In the last 10 drafts, the Chiefs have drafted 31 players in the first three rounds. They break down by position in this fashion:

• Defensive line – 10.
• Wide receiver, tight end, linebacker, cornerback and safety – 3 each.
• Running back, offensive line – 2 each.
• Quarterback, punter – 1 each.

Any NFL team that wants to play the 3-4 defense and hopes to field a unit that can control the flow of the game must have a force at nose tackle. It’s imperative on the early downs that there’s an immovable rock in the middle who can handle the center and the A gaps to each side of the snapper.

Want to field a 3-4 defense that stops the run? Then a big, hulking body on the inside is required. Evidence sits at the top of the defensive statistics from the 2010 NFL season, where four of the five defenses that led the league in fewest yards allowed were base 3-4 units with nose tackles that averaged 6-2½, 326 pounds.

That’s the type of player that sits near the top of the Chiefs wish list for the 2011 NFL Draft.

Under Romeo Crennel in his first season, the Chiefs improved on defense last year, despite a limited injection of new talent in the front seven. The Kansas City defense finished 14th in yards allowed in ’10, giving up an average of 330 yards per game. The season before they ranked No. 30, allowing 388 yards per game. Defense was the biggest area of improvement at Arrowhead Stadium.

But the defense against the run allowed an average gain of 4.3 yards per carry, and they had a tough time at the end of the season stopping the run. San Diego ran for 207 yards and 4.8 yards per carry in week No. 14 and Oakland hit for 209 yards and 5.6 yards per carry in the regular season finale.

While they allowed an average of 110 rushing yards per game over the ’10 season, in six games against AFC West teams, the K.C. defense gave up 158.5 rushing yards per game. That’s a five-yard per carry average.

In stopping the passing game, the Chiefs need more of a push in the middle than they’ve gotten in the two seasons they’ve operated out of the 3-4 scheme. They had 38 total sacks in the ’10 season, but just two of those came from the nose tackle position. The season before, they had 22 sacks with none coming from the nose tackle spot. Now, a lot of that is due to the fact like most teams the Chiefs shift out of their 3-4 when it’s an obvious passing situation and goes with a 2-4-5 or 2-3-6, with defensive ends staying in the game.

Starter Ron Edwards (6-3, 315 pounds) and backup Shaun Smith (62, 325 pounds) handled the nose in ’10. Edwards will be 32 years old and in his 11th NFL season and Smith will turn 30 and will be in his seventh league season if the league gets on the field for games in 2011. But, both players may not be with the Chiefs – they are free agents and no matter the free-agent concept that is part of the league’s new labor agreement, Edwards and Smith should be unrestricted.

There’s little else in the pipeline for the position. Backup Anthony Toribio was a waiver-wire claim at the start of the ’10 season from the Packers. Toribio (6-1, 315 pounds) was dressed for five games but saw only a handful of defensive snaps. On the practice squad and signed for the ’11 season is Dion Gales (6-5, 310), who has three games of NFL experience.

Unless the league’s lockout of the players ends sometime in the next two weeks, the NFL Draft will be the first opportunity the Chiefs will have to improve the talent level at nose tackle. They figure to take at least one defensive lineman.

Among last year’s top 26 nose tackles for 13 teams that played the 3-4 as their base defense, 21 were selected in the NFL Draft, including four in the first round and 10 were picks from rounds one-two-three.

Whether it makes sense to try, try again, the Chiefs need a mountain in the middle and they need him soon and this year’s draft is as good a time as any.

On The NFL Nose 2010

There were 14 teams that during the 2010 season used the 3-4 as their base defensive alignment. That group included five of the six defenses that allowed the fewest yards in the league and eight defenses in the top half of the league.

For the 3-4 defense to work there must be good and dominating play at nose tackle, a guy like Green Bay’s B.J. Raji (top right) and Pittsburgh’s Casey Hampton (bottom right.)

(#1) San Diego (gave up 271.6 yards per game and 32 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Antonio Garay, 6-4, 320 pounds, he’s going into a 5th season after joining the team as a street free agent. He was released by Cleveland after he was a sixth-round choice in 2003 by the Browns. He played in 16 games and started 15 times, finishing with 48 total tackles and 5.5 sacks.

Backup NT – Ogemdi Nwagbuo, 6-4, 312 pounds, going into his third season. He signed out of Michigan State as an undrafted free agent with New York, where he was released. He was signed by the Chargers to their practice squad in December 2008. Last season, he played in 15 games with 19 total tackles and half-a-sack.

(#2) Pittsburgh (allowed 276.8 yards per game and 20 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Casey Hampton, 6-1, 325 pounds, and going into his 12th season. He was selected in the first round of the 2001, with the No. 19 pick out of Texas. In the 2010 season, Hampton played in 15 games with 14 starts. He had 20 total tackles with one sack.

Backup NT – Chris Hoke, 6-2, 305 pounds, going into his 11th season. He signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie out of Brigham Young in 2001. Hoke played in 15 games with one start on the nose. He finished with 12 total tackles.

(#3) New York Jets – (gave up 291.5 yards per game and 35 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Sione Pouha, 6-3, 325 pounds, is going into his 7^th season. He was drafted out of Utah in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Pouha played all 16 regular season games during the ’10 season, with 15 starts. He finished with 46 total tackles and 2 sacks.

Backup NT – Marcus Dixon, 6-4, 295 pounds, going into his second NFL season. Dixon was signed by Dallas as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2008 out of Hampton. He spent two full seasons on the Cowboys practice squad but was released on the final cutdown of the ’10 pre-season. He was claimed the next day by the Jets. He was inactive for 13 games and played in 3 with 1 start, picking up four tackles and a sack.

(#5) Green Bay Packers (allowed 309.1 yards per game and 22 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – B.J. Raji, 6-2, 337 pound will be going into his third season. Raji was a first-round choice of the Packers in 2009 with the ninth pick overall. He had 66 tackles while starting all 16 games. His 6.5 sacks led all NFL nose tacklers and the most sacks for a nose tackle since Minnesota’s Ken Clarke in 1990 (7). He was a Pro Bowl alternate.

Backup NT – Howard Green, 6-2, 340 pounds, going into his seventh season. Green was claimed off waivers on October 27 from the Jets and played in the final nine games of the season. He entered the NFL as a sixth-round choice of Houston in 2002, and he has played for the Ravens, Saints, Seahawks and Jets before the Packers. Green had 17 tackles and half a sack for Green Bay.

(#6) Miami Dolphins (gave up 309.3 yards per game and 30 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Paul Soliai, 6-4, 355 pounds, is going into his fifth season. A fourth-round pick of the Dolphins in 2007 from Utah and Coffeyville C.C., the 108th player selected. He played all 16 games and started 14 times, picking up 39 tackles and two sacks.

Backup NT – Chris Baker, 6-2, 329 pounds, going into his third season. He was signed as an undrafted college free agent out of Hampton in 2009 by Denver and ended up on the Dolphins practice squad in 2010. He was activated on November 26 and played in one game and did register a tackle.

(#10) Baltimore Ravens (allowed 318.9 yards per game and 27 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Kelly Gregg, 6-0, 320 pounds, is going into his 12th season. He entered the NFL originally as a sixth-round choice by Cincinnati in the 1999 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. He played three games with the Eagles in ’99 before he was signed by the Ravens in ’00. He started all 16 games on the nose and finished with 39 total tackles.

Backup NT – Terrence Cody, 6-4, 349 pounds and will be in his second season. A second-round choice by the Ravens in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Alabama, Cody played in 15 games as a rookie. He was credited with 13 tackles.

(#13) San Francisco 49ers – (gave up 327.8 yards per game and 34 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Aubrayo Franklin, 6-1, 317 pounds and will be in his ninth season. He was signed in 2007 as an unrestricted free agent from Baltimore. Franklin entered the NFL as a fifth-round choice of the Ravens in 2003 out of Tennessee. In the’10 season, he had 86 total tackles, with 5.5 tackles for loss while starting all 16 games on the nose.

Backup NT – Ricky Jean Francois, 6-3, 295 pounds and will be in his third season. The Niners drafted him in the seventh round in 2009 out of LSU. Francois had 23 total tackles and a sack while playing in all 16 games.

(#14) Kansas City Chiefs – (allowed 330.2 yards per game and allowed 34 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Ron Edwards, 6-3, 315 pounds and will be in his 11th NFL season. Edwards was signed as an unrestricted free agent in 2006 from Buffalo, where he came into the league as a third-round selection in the 2001 Draft. Last season, he played 16 games and started 15 times, with 22 tackles and 2 sacks.

Backup NT – Shaun Smith 6-2, 325 pounds and will be in his seventh season. He joined the Chiefs as a street free agent last year after playing in earlier seasons with the Saints, Bengals and Browns. He came into the league as an undrafted rookie free agent with Dallas out of South Carolina. Last year, he played in all 16 games, with 10 starts, all of those at defensive end. He had 31 tackles and a sack.

(#22) Cleveland Browns (350.1 yards per game and allowed 33 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Ahtyba Rubin, 6-2, 330 pounds and going into his fourth season. A sixth-round choice of the Browns in the 2008 NFL Draft out of Iowa State, he had 82 total tackles during the 2010 season, with two sacks and an interception as he appeared in all 16 games.

Backup NT – Shaun Rogers, 6-4, 350 pounds, will be in his 11th NFL season in 2011. He entered the NFL as a second-round pick of the Lions in 2001. He was traded to the Browns in 2008, and between the two teams he made three Pro Bowls. In the ’10 season, he appeared in 14 games with 16 total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

(#23) Dallas Cowboys (351.8 yards per game and allowed 44 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Jay Ratliff, 6-4, 303 pounds and will be in his 8th season. Ratliff was drafted in the seventh round of the 2005 Draft as a DE out of Auburn. He was moved to NT two years later and he’s now made the Pro Bowl twice. Last season, he started 16 games on the nose and had 31 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

Backup NT – Josh Brent, 6-2, 315 pounds. A rookie out of Illinois, Brent was selected with a seventh-round choice in the 2010 Supplemental Draft. He played in 15 games and finished with 14 tackles.

(#24) Buffalo Bills (361.5 yards per game and allowed 46 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Kyle Williams, 6-1, 306 pounds and will play his seventh season. Williams arrived as a fifth-round pick of the Bills from LSU in the 2005 NFL Draft. He started all 16 games, and had 77 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

Backup NT – Torell Troup, 6-3, 315 pounds. He joined the Bills as a second round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Central Florida. In his rookie season, he appeared in 15 games and started twice when Buffalo opened with two defensive tackles. He had 23 tackles.

(#25) New England Patriots (366.5 yards per game and allowed 35 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Vince Wilfork, 6-2, 325 pounds and headed for his eighth season. Wilfork was selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft out of Miami. He’s been to multiple Pro Bowls. He had 87 total tackles last year.

Backup NT – Ron Brace, 6-3, 330 pounds and will begin his third season. He was a second-round choice in the ’09 Draft out of Boston College. In the ’10 season, he played in 13 games and started five. Brace had 28 total tackles before he went to the injured-reserve list at the end of the season because of an elbow injury.

(#30) Washington Redskins (389.3 yards per game and allowed 38 touchdowns.)

Starting NT – Albert Haynes worth, 6-6, 335 pounds and the coming year will be his ninth in the league, if he gets back on the field. Haynesworth had problems last year with Washington and played in only eight games over the ’10 season. He had 16 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. Haynesworth entered the NFL as a first-round draft choice of the Titans in 2002.

Backup NT – Anthony Bryant, 6-3, 360 pounds, will be in his fifth NFL season. He was drafted in the sixth round in 2005 by Tampa Bay and played their two years. Later he did time with Detroit and Miami before landing with the Redskins last year. He played in six games with three starts, putting up eight tackles.

First Round Bests … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

Who were the best first-round draft choices in the NFL since the merger in 1970?

That is today’s question and what follows are my answers for selections No. 1 through No. 32 in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Obviously, this is a very subjective type of poll, which is why I’ve included honorable mention selections at almost every slot. And, remember that picks No. 27 through 32 have not always been in the first round. It was in 1976 that picks No. 27 and 28 joined the first round, with No. 29 and No. 30 coming in 1995, No. 31 in 1999 and No. 32 in the 2002 Draft. There were various exceptions along the way, like the ’95 draft when new teams in Jacksonville and Carolina received a pair of first round selections.

Plus, I considered picks from the last few years, even though those players have not proven themselves over any length of time. Not many have yet qualified to be part of this group.

So here we go, the best first-round picks, spot by spot:

Check BetFirms for a a complete list of Chiefs draft needs.  …Read More!

NT-DT Drafted 2001-10

Here are the total number of players designated as defensive tackles that were selected in the last 10 NFL drafts and what rounds they went off the board at:

First-Round Defensive Tackles 2001-10

2010 – 2, Ndamukong Suh/Detroit; 3, Gerald McCoy/Tampa Bay; 26, Dan Williams/Arizona; 28, Jared Odrick/Miami.

2009 – 9, B.J. Raji/Green Bay; 24, Peria Jerry/Atlanta; 32, Evander Hood/Pittsburgh.

2008 – 5, Glenn Dorsey/Chiefs; 7, Sedrick Ellis/New Orleans; 29, Kentwan Balmer/San Francisco.

2007 – 10, Amobi Okoye/Houston; 16, Justin Harrell/Green Bay.

2006 – 12, Haloti Ngata/Baltimore; 14, Brodrick Bunkley/Philadelphia; 26, John McCargo/Buuffalo.

2005 – 16, Travis Johnson/Houston; 28, Luis Castillo/San Diego; 31, Mike Patterson/Philadelphia.

2004 – 14, Tommie Harris/Chicago; 21, Vince Wilfork/New England; 23, Marcus Tubbs/Seattle.

2003 – 4, Dewayne Robertson/N.Y. Jets; 6, Johnathan Sullivan/New Orleans; 12, Jimmy Kennedy/St. Louis; 13, Ty Warren/New England; 25, William Joseph/N.Y. Giants.

2002 – 6, Ryan Sims/Chiefs; 9, John Henderson/Jacksonville; 12, Wendell Bryant/Arizona; 15, Albert Haynesworth/Tennessee.

2001 – 3, Gerard Warren/Cleveland; 6, Richard Seymour/New England; 12, Damione Lewis/St. Louis; 13, Marcus Stroud/Jacksonville; 19, Casey Hampton/Pittsburgh.

Mixed Bag At NT-DT For ’11 Draft

With the increased frequency of NFL teams using the 3-4 defense, nose tackle has become the toughest position to fill in the world of pro football.

GMs and coaches are in constant search from a mountain of a man to hold down the middle of the three-man line. They seek a mountain man who can move. They want big, fast, quick and strong – a home run of physical traits that doesn’t walk in the door on a regular basis.

There’s no better proof of that fact than the nose tackle-defensive tackle group that’s part of the 2011 NFL Draft class. There are about a half-dozen men with the type of size that NFL teams seek on the inside of their defense. Some are fast, some are quick and others are strong. None in the group comes with all the attributes teams want.

And this ’11 group brings question marks to the discussion. Just about every man has something that needs to be answered about their character or their body:

• Alabama’s Marcell Dareus – talented inside force with the Crimson Tide, but will have to adjust his play to work out of the nose full-time. There are fewer questions about Dareus than any of the other defensive tackles that are draft eligible.
• Auburn’s Nick Fairley – was quite a force in his team’s run to a national championship, but there are concerns about his attitude and work ethic.
• Illinois Corey Liuget – is another player that did not reach the NFL radar screen until 2010, and some scouts worry that he might be a one-year wonder.
• Baylor’s Phil Taylor – has to answer questions about why he left the Penn State program and transferred to Baylor. There are questions about why he allowed his weight to balloon to 400 pounds during the transfer season where he was forced to watch under NCAA rules.
• Oregon State’s Stephen Paea – he suffered a knee injury at the Senior Bowl and had to undergo surgery.
• LSU’s Drake Nevis – another possible one-year wonder, as he played the 2010 season like a first round talent that he did not show in previous seasons.
• Hampton’s Kenrick Ellis – comes out of the ranks of the smaller colleges and there are questions about his dismissal from the South Carolina program three years ago.
• North Carolina’s Marvin Austin – was suspended for the entire 2010 college season for violating NCAA regulations on dealing with agents and accepting gifts that violated the association’s rules.

That essentially is the top group of names teams are considering for the top three rounds when it comes to NT-DT types.

No matter the concerns, teams will draft defensive tackles and with 13 teams using the 3-4 as a base defense, they will grab them quickly. In the last 10 years, the position has averaged 20 picks a year. On average, at least a half-dozen DTs go in the first two rounds.

Last year, there were 10 DTs taken in the first two rounds. Here’s a listing of the draft choices that went for defensive tackles in the last 10 years.

The lines of demarkation between the NT-DT prospects are pretty well defined, even with the question marks. It sounds like it should breakout like this:

• Dareus and Fairley will go in the top half of the first round, maybe even in the top five.
• Liuget will go next, somewhere in the top 20 players.
• Taylor, Paea, Nevis and Wilkerson should go in the top 50 picks.
• Ellis, Casey, Powe and Austin will go before the end of the second round.

Those Lyin’ Eyes … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Don Henley and Glenn Frey are not football coaches. Not even close. They are the founding members of the iconic musical group the Eagles. They wrote one of the group’s most popular songs, Lyin’ Eyes:

“You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes, and your smile is a thin disguise.
I thought by now you’d realize there ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.”

That’s the song of the moment in the NFL, and it’s not related at all to the continuing labor battle playing out this week with court ordered mediation.

It is all about the NFL Draft, because we’ve entered the Lyin’ Zone, the time of year when every comment about a potential draft choice must be taken with a grain of salt, and a good dose of pepper as well.

There’s an old line used often in football – and probably a few other sports and businesses as well – if you aren’t lying, you aren’t trying. Nowhere is that a greater part of the NFL landscape than the days before the annual Draft. Every team is trying, thus they are lying.

Most NFL teams have long ago lined up their draft boards and have an idea of who they would like to select, and who they are not interested in. They’ve spent the better part of April fishing around the country for information on what the other teams are going to do.

So you’ve got 32 teams, lying to 32 teams and why anybody would believe anything that comes down the grapevine at this time of the year is beyond comprehension. But that doesn’t stop the misinformation and outright fibs that league folks live for each spring. …Read More!

Player Profile #70 – S Tyler Sash

They used to write children’s book about schoolboy athletes who were stars in every sport, good students and the overall boy next door. It was a quaint example of Americana from the 1940s and 50s.

But there’s a modern day version those type of young men and in Iowa, his name is Tyler Sash. Out of Oskaloosa, Iowa, Sash was a high school phenom, who set records in football and basketball, and ran track as well. He was offered scholarships in both sports. He picked football and no he waits to see who will pick him in the NFL Draft.

Here’s the Tyler Sash story. …Read More!

Chiefs Pre-Season Schedule

The Chiefs will be on prime-time during the pre-season, if there is one, as the NFL released its schedule for the 2011 pre-season.

On Friday, August 12, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will visit Arrowhead Stadium to face the Chiefs. The game will be broadcast by the FOX network with a 7 o’clock kickoff for the national TV cameras.  That’s the opening game of the four-game schedule for the Chiefs that will see them face the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers twice.

Week No. 2 will have a Saturday night game in Baltimore on August 20th.  In the third week of the pre-season, the Chiefs will host St. Louis in the Governor’s Cup game on Saturday, August 27th.

And to finish up the pre-season, the Chiefs will travel to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, September 1. They will also face the Packers during the regular season. Dates and times on the 16-game “real” season are expected to be announced by the end of the month. …Read More!

Player Profile #71 – RB Kendall Hunter

Although their arrivals were separated by more than three decades, Earl Campbell and Kendall Hunter traveled very similar paths in the world of football.

Campbell was the original “Tyler Rose” coming out of the east Texas plains where he was raised under tough circumstances by his mother who held multiple jobs to keep the family together. Hunter was also born in Tyler and was raised by his mother who held multiple jobs to keep Kendall and his family together. Campbell earned All-America status at the University of Texas. Hunter earned All-America status at Oklahoma State University.

Where they differ is physically – Campbell was a freight train at 5-11, 233 pounds. Hunter preps for the 2011 NFL Draft at 5-7, 199 pounds, soaking wet. Yet both were productive on the football field.

Here’s Kendall Hunter’s story. …Read More!

Chiefs Hold Local Pro Day

A Division II cornerback and an offensive tackle from Stanford highlight the invitees to the Chiefs Local Pro Day workout at the team’s facility on Tuesday.

In the run up to the NFL Draft every spring, teams workout hundreds of players in various fashions and forums. After the first 100 or so rated players, it’s a process that becomes a lot like finding a needle in the haystack.

Part of the process includes Local Pro Day, where teams invite players with local or regional roots to their facility for a series of physical exams and tests. This is over and above the 30 allocated visits that each NFL team can have with other players that are part of the draft pool.

Thanks to kcchiefs.com, we know the 18 players that have been invited to the Local Pro Day. They come from 12 different schools at four different levels of college football. For many of the players this will be the last time football is a big part of their life.

But others will get a shot at the NFL, and that includes Northwest Missouri CB Ryan Jones (right) and Stanford OT Derek Hall. In fact, it would be a shock if Jones’ name is not called during the 250+ choices at the end of this month. …Read More!

Player Profile #72 – DB Quinton Carter

Quinton Carter has a factor on and off the field during his five years in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Las Vegas native was a two-year starter at free safety for the Sooners, earning first-team All-America honors as a senior. In the Oklahoma community, he was also a powerful force. That’s one reason he was named to the 2010 Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team and why he was named the winner of the seventh annual Wooden Citizen Cup, presented annually those athletes whose character represents the highest and best in sport, and who make the greatest difference in the lives of others. Part of that comes from his non-profit organization that he founded, SOUL (Serving Others Through Unity and Leadership.) He’s organized football camps and special days out for dad around Father’s day. Plus he’s mentoring a group of five friends and he visits weekly at a KinderCare facility.

Here’s the story of Quinton Carter. …Read More!

Coaching “Genius” Homer Smith Is Gone

The use of the term “genius” to describe the abilities of someone who coordinates the movement of guys wearing jockstraps always seemed a bit out of touch with reality.

There was one exception – Homer Smith.

On Sunday, Smith passed away at his home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama after suffering through a long illness. He was 79 years old. A Nebraska native, Smith retired after the 1996 college season ending 38 years in the business. All but one of those coaching seasons was spent in college football.

His only exposure to the NFL came in 1987, when long-time friend Frank Gansz convinced him to join the Chiefs coaching staff. It would not prove to be a successful time for the Chiefs, Gansz or Smith and within days of the end of that ’87 season, Smith was back in college football.

When he showed up at Arrowhead Stadium, Smith’s reputation preceded him. He was not just another guy with a projector and a binder filled with x’s and o’s. He was a man who had taken offensive football to another level of thought. He was considered by all who coached with him as an offensive genius, a coach that could teach and coordinate offensive players better than just about anybody in the business.

But then, what else would have been expected from a guy with degrees from Princeton, Harvard and Stanford. That’s right, three of the most decorated institutions of higher learning in the world, and Smith had graduating paper from all three. He earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton, a MBA from Stanford and he actually quit coaching for a year (1979) and went back to school, spending the time at Harvard and earning a Master’s degree in Theological Studies. …Read More!

Quarterbacks And The NFL Draft

It’s the position that draws most of the attention no matter the year and no matter the circumstances. Quarterbacks are the superstars, the men under the football microscope.

With the 2011 NFL Draft coming up, there’s plenty of QB talk whether it’s speculation that the Carolina Panthers with the first choice will take one of the two highest rated passers, or will the Chiefs use a mid-round choice to find a developmental quarterback to bring in behind Matt Cassel.

The angles are almost limitless when it comes to quarterback and the NFL Draft. We’ve tried to cover a few of them in this package of stories. Here’s what premium subscribers can find:

• First-round formula – How do the ’11 prospects fit with a formula based on intelligence, experience and accuracy?
• In-depth numbers on the top 20 QB prospects in this year’s class.
• Who is looking for a quarterback? We look at the teams that need to fill the seat.
• The NFL QBs of 2010 and how they came into the league.
• Super Bowl QBs – do you have to draft one to get the title?
• Where QBs were drafted in the last decade.

NFL Drafted QBs – 2001-2010

Here are the total quarterbacks drafted in the last decade and what rounds they went off the board on:

QBs From 2010 NFL Season

AFC

NFC

Who Is Looking For A QB?

There are at least a dozen teams that legitimately need to find themselves a quarterback of some kind in the 2011 NFL Draft.

First, here’s the list of quarterbacks who threw at least one pass for all 32 teams during the 2010 season.

Here’s the list of QB-needy teams, in drafting order:

(1.) Carolina – In the 2010 season, the Panthers were the worst offense in the NFL, producing just 258.4 yards per game and scoring only 16 offensive TDs. In last year’s draft the Panthers used a second-round choice to draft Jimmy Clausen (above right) out of Notre Dame. His rookie season was not one to remember, although fairly typical for an unproven QB – 3 TDs, 9 INTs, 52.5% completion percentage and 5.21 yards per attempt. They also used a sixth-round choice to draft Tony Pike from Cincinnati. Carolina has not used a first-rounder on a QB since Kerry Collins in 1995, the year they came into the league. After going 2-14, the Panthers have a lot of holes in a lot of spots on their roster.

(3.) Buffalo – Ryan Fitzpatrick eventually become the starter for Chan Gailey with the Bills and he used that Harvard brain of his to survive rather than his physical abilities. Fitzpatrick is not the long term answer for Buffalo. But then there are a lot of players on the roster that are in the same class. Last year, the Bills had the worst defense against the run in the NFL, allowing an average of 169.6 yards per game. So that may have Gailey and GM Buddy Nix looking at defense with that third choice. The last time Buffalo drafted a QB was last year, grabbing Troy State’s Levi Brown in the seventh round.

(4.) Cincinnati – Carson Palmer (left) says he’s done with the Bengals and if he’s not traded, he’ll retire. Whether that happens or not will depend on just how stubborn G.M. Mike Brown wants to be, and he has a history of being very stubborn. There is no heir apparent on the roster; since taking Palmer with the first pick of the 2003 Draft, they’ve used three lower round picks on QBs. In the past, the Bengals have never been shy about dropping a first-round choice on a QB. In their history, they’ve drafted six passers in the first round. Offensive weapons are probably more important for the Bengals to find than a QB right now.

(5.) Arizona – The handling of the QB position by the Cardinals in the last year was a crime and exposed the normal type of franchise blundering that all fans hoped was chased away with the team’s trip to the Super Bowl three years ago. Kurt Warner retired and the man they drafted to fill that spot, Matt Leinart was apparently not capable of filling the role. Their answer was to sign free agent Derek Anderson who was found wanting. Draft choice John Skelton got a chance to play, as did rookie free agent Max Hall. In the end, the Cardinals had the No. 31 offense, with the 32nd rushing attack and the 31st passing game. Big help is needed in the desert. The last time they used a first rounder on a QB was Leinart in 2006.

(7.) San Francisco – The Smiths handled the quarterback spot last year for the 49ers, helping cost Mike Singletary his job as head coach. The offense ranked No. 24 in yardage, gaining 313.3 yards per game and it really didn’t much matter whether it was Alex Smith or Troy Smith. They combined for 19 TD passes against 14 INTs. San Francisco is a team with talent, especially on defense and the offensive line. New head coach Jim Harbaugh needs a leader and triggerman to get his offense off the ground. Somewhere in this year’s draft, they will grab a QB.

(8.) Tennessee – Owner Bud Adams has said that Vince Young (right) will be somewhere else in 2011. Whether he sticks with that now that head coach Jeff Fisher has walked away remains to be seen. Veteran Kerry Collins isn’t the answer and last year they used a sixth-round choice on Rusty Smith out of Florida Atlantic, who in 40 passes threw four interceptions. If Young is out, the Titans must go for a QB in this draft.

(10.) Washington – The clock is ticking on the short-Donovan McNabb Era with the Redskins. Whether too much water has passed over the bridge between Mike Shanahan and McNabb is a soap opera that must be played out in the next few months. Whether McNabb stays or gets ticketed out of town, there is no QB of the future and that’s something Shanahan wants for his future in the world of Skins’ owner Daniel Snyder. The last Redskins first rounder that went for a QB was in 2005 with Jason Campbell.

(12.) Minnesota – Hopefully by now the Vikings are no longer sitting back waiting for Brett Favre to return from another retirement. Last year Favre was anything but a future Hall of Famer, with 11 TDs to 19 INTs. The two QBs that jumped in for him Joe Webb and Tarvaris Jackson did not get the job done either. It all ended up with the Vikings have the No. 8 defense paired with the No. 23 offense. That has to change; they have the weapons in RB Adrian Peterson and WR Sidney Rice, along with Percy Harvin. The last time they grabbed a first-round QB was in 1999 when it was Daunte Culpepper.

(15.) Miami – Chad Henne (left) is the starter with the Dolphins right now, but that seems to be far from permanent with Tony Sparano and his coaching staff. They’ve been on the lookout all through the off-season at the draft class QBs and other passers around the league. Henne had 15 TD passes and 19 INTs last year, while completing 61.4 percent of his passes. But, he averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt and was sacked 30 times. The Dolphins have not used a first-round choice on a QB since 1983, when they drafted Dan Marino. Henne was a second-round pick in 2008.

(16.) Jacksonville – Last year was a tough QB season for the Jaguars. When starter David Garrard was injured, the rest of the QBs started falling as well. They ended up signing Todd Bouman and he came off the farm and ended up starting against the Chiefs in the space of 10 days. Garrard remains a solid NFL quarterback, but he’s 33 now and going into his 10th NFL season. They also added Trent Edwards as a backup last year. Jacksonville has drafted just four QBs in 16 drafts, the last one being Byron Leftwich, taken in the first-round of the 2003 Draft.

(25.) Seattle – The Seahawks duo of GM John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll have quite a decision to make when it comes to the quarterback position. Long-time starter Matt Hasselbeck is a free agent and he’ll be 36 years old this fall. They made a deal last year with San Diego for Charlie Whitehurst, who struggled in limited playing time. That leaves little doubt that the Hawks are going to use a draft choice somewhere in this year’s Draft on a passer. The last time they went for a QB in the first round was 1993, when they drafted Rick Mirer with the second choice.

(48.) Oakland – At no time should anyone take anything for granted about the Raiders and what their plans are for the game’s most important position. Jason Campbell at times showed last year he could stabilize that team. But they’ve changed head coaches again, and whether Hue Jackson thinks Campbell is the answer is something we don’t know yet. Of course, they are still reeling from the complete bust of 2007′s first choice in JaMarcus Russell. At this point, the Russell pick now sits with giant busts like Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith and Cade McNown.

Important Numbers For 2011 QBs

These are generally considered the top 20 quarterbacks that will be available in the 2011 NFL Draft, along with the number of games they played, starts, completion percentage, average yards per attempt, touchdown passes, interceptions, record of their team in their starts and Wonderlic scores that we were able to find.

The First-Round Quarterback Formula

Bill Parcells had a formula that he liked to use when he was evaluating quarterbacks for the NFL Draft while with the Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys.

It was 26 – 27 – 60.

That’s at least a 26 score on the Wonderlic test given to potential draft choices. That’s at least 27 starts in college football, the equivalent of two full seasons. And finally, a completion percentage of at least 60 percent during his college career.

26 – 27 – 60.

This year there’s a wide variety of different types of quarterbacks among the top 15 to 20 players in the quarterback pool. There are athletes, there are athletic passers, there are cerebral passers and there are guys that somehow get things done.

When Stanford’s Oliver Luck decided not to leave school early and enter the 2011 NFL Draft it created a vacuum at the top of the position and likely at the top of the draft order. Less than two weeks from the first round and there is not a general consensus on anything related to the quarterbacks.

Is the best of class Auburn’s Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton or Mizzou’s Blaine Gabbert (above left)? These are the only two that most teams consider guaranteed first round selections. Some teams have them rated among the top five or six players in the class. Yet other clubs rank both of them no higher than the middle of the first round, some even lower into the low 20s.

The important numbers on the top 20 QB prospects in this year’s NFL Draft.

 Carolina has the No. 1 choice and they have not given any indication they’ve zeroed in on one player, let alone a potential quarterback.

“This year is not like last year where there were two clear-cut guys at the top,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said, referring to QB Sam Bradford and DT Ndamukong Suh. “This year, there’s no one (consensus) guy. We’ve got six-to-eight guys targeted who are most surely guys who can impact us.”

Sitting in the No. 2 spot in the first round are the Buffalo Bills, who relied on journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick last year in working with head coach and QB guru Chan Gailey. Will the Bills jump in the QB water? Only if their guy can do what the head coach expects.

“The two most important things about playing quarterback in this league: accuracy and decision-making,” Gailey said. “Would you like to have a guy that’s mobile? Yes. Would you like to have a guy that is extremely intelligent and is smarter than the coach and can make good decisions on the field? You bet you would like that.”

(Carolina, Buffalo and a host of other teams have QB needs. Here’s the story.)

There are all sorts of combinations and opinions on what quarterbacks come next. It’s a group that includes Ryan Mallett out of Arkansas, Christian Ponder from Florida State, TCU’s Andy Dalton, Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick, Jake Locker of Washington and Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi.

They are among the top 20 prospects at football’s most important position that have been analyzed within an inch of their football lives.

Based on the last 10 NFL Drafts, there will likely be at least four quarterbacks taken in the first two rounds. Here’s the chart with the last decade’s quarterback draft choices.

Among the top 20 prospects among the quarterbacks, only six would match the Parcells’ criteria of 26 – 27 – 60: Gabbert, Dalton, Stanzi, Ponder, Wisconsin’s Scott Tolzien and Alabama’s Greg McElroy.

Here’s a link to the complete set of numbers for the top 20 quarterbacks in this year’s draft pool. The passers statistics are for games played, starts, completion percentage, average yards per attempt, touchdown passes, interceptions, the record of their team in their starts and Wonderlic scores that we were able to find.

Here’s the best choices under each category:

Games played – 51 by Kaepernick and Dalton.

Starts – Dalton with 51 and 50 by Minnesota’s Adam Weber.

Completion percentage –  Tolzien topped the 20 passers at 68.1 completion percentage, followed by Texas Tech’s Taylor Potts at 66.4 percent, McElroy at 66.3 percent and Newton at 66.1 percent.

Average yards per attempt – Newton’s average was 10.2 yards per attempt, with Mallett and Tolzien behind him at 8.8 yards.

Touchdown passes – Kaepernick threw 82 touchdown passes, ahead of Idaho’s Nathan Enderle with 74.

Interceptions – Newton had just seven INTs at Auburn in 14 games. Overall impressive numbers for McElroy (10 INTs in 35 games) and Delaware’s Pat Devlin (12 INTs in 39 games.)

Most victories as a starter – Dalton led the Horned Frogs to a 42-7 record over his four seasons.

Wonderlic – Best scores were McElroy with 43 and Gabbert with 42.

Super Bowl QBs – Draft Or Not?

When the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl 45 back in February, Aaron Rodgers became the 29th quarterback to lead his team to the championship.

Do those championship quarterbacks come through the NFL Draft? If they do, when in the draft have they been picked? Is it worth using one of the earliest choices in the draft on a quarterback? Can you find a championship QB through trade and free agency just as often as you draft?

Here’s what history shows us:

• Of the 29 quarterbacks that led their team to titles, 28 were selected in the AFL or NFL Drafts. Only Kurt Warner (’99 with Rams) took his team to a title without entering the league through the draft. Conclusion – best to take chances with a QB that was drafted.
• With 28 drafted, when do Super Bowl QBs get selected? The average spot they were selected was No. 48, in the middle of the second round. But that number is skewed quite a bit by three QBs who were taken from 199 to 227. A better gauge is the median number of those 28 and that would be the seventh player selected. Of the 45 Super Bowls, 22 were won by quarterbacks taken in the first round, from No. 1 through 7. But, the lower half of those drafted quarterbacks also won 22 Super Bowls, including three by Tom Brady (199), two by Bart Starr (200) and Brad Johnson (227). Conclusion – It helps to have an early choice, but it guarantees nothing.
• How many first round QBs get taken each year, and how often do they win Super Bowls? Let’s start with 1967 and run through the 2010 NFL Drafts – there were 70 quarterbacks taken with first round choices and 14 won at least one Super Bowl title. That’s 20 percent. Conclusion – One out of every five QBs taken in the first round ends up winning a Super Bowl. Not very good odds at all.
• Should a team use the draft or another avenue to find its championship quarterback? Of the 29 Super Bowl winning QBs, 17 won the title with the team that drafted him, or 31 of the 45 Super Bowls played to date. That’s 59 percent of the QBs and 69 percent of the championships going to teams that drafted their winning QB. Conclusion – If you guess right, the chances are about two in three that you can win a title with “your” QB.

Here are the 29 Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. They are listed by the spot they were taken in the NFL Draft, the round, the year, what team drafted them and who they won the Super Bowl with and what year, or how many titles they won.

Best &Worst Chiefs Draft Choices

The assignment was this – starting with the combined AFL-NFL Drafts of 1967, choose the best and worst of the selections by the Chiefs over the last 44 years.

There were a couple hundred players drafted in that time, all the way from Gene Trosch, the first Kansas City selection in 1967, to Cameron Sheffield, the final player selected by the Chiefs in last year’s draft.

According to the voting there’s no doubt about whom Chiefs fans believe was the best and worst:

• Best Chiefs draft choice – OLB Derrick Thomas.
  
• Worst Chiefs draft choice – QB Todd Blackledge.
  

By the time we got done counting the votes from various sources – e-mail, comment posts and submissions from Twitter – there were 87 approved votes for both categories. Some were not counted because they involved picks before 1967 (Bobby Bell was the favorite on those) or players who were not Chiefs draft choices (Len Dawson got several votes.)

Thomas, the team’s first-round choice in the 1989 NFL Draft, received 55 votes, far and away more than any player in either category. No surprise given his Hall of Fame career over 11 seasons. The only other draft pick that received 10 or more votes was G Will Shields (third-round choice, 1993) with 11. …Read More!

Player Profile #73 – OL Will Rackley

Over the long history of the NFL Draft, teams have never made a stop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Lehigh University an annual part of their travels. But they were all there during the 2010 season to see big offensive lineman Will Rackley.

There’s no question Rackley will be selected, as he’s one of the top small college players in this year’s draft prospects. Only one Lehigh player has been taken higher than the fifth round and that was QB Kim McQuilken, who went in the third round in 1974. In the last 31 drafts, only one Mountain Hawk has been drafted – DE Rich Owens in the fifth round of the 1995 Draft by Washington.

“I’m here to prove that guys can jump from I-AA to the pros,” Rackley said. “Playing football is playing football. It doesn’t matter where you’re from; it matters how you play.”

Here’s his story. …Read More!

Player Profile #74 – CB Curtis Brown

Over the last decade, there has been an abundance of defensive backs coming out of the University of Texas. The Longhorns always have a lot of talent that makes its way to pro football through the NFL Draft at all positions.

But since 2002, they’ve had nine defensive backs selected, all in the fifth round or better and five in the first round.

Curtis Brown may get a chance to join them. He’s one of three Texas secondary players who figure to be selected no later than the second round. For the last four Longhorns season, Brown has been a fixture on the field, not only for the defense, but on special teams.

Here’s his story. …Read More!

Player Profile #75 – QB Andy Dalton

If the number one statistic that matters for a quarterback is winning, then Andy Dalton got the job done at both the high school and college levels.

Playing for Katy High School in Texas, Dalton took the Tigers to a 14-1 record in his only season as full-time starting quarterback. In four seasons as the starting QB at Texas Christian University, he was 42-7, the most career wins by an active college quarterback last season.

That’s a combined 56-8 over his last six seasons as a starting quarterback.

Here’s the rest of his story. …Read More!

Judge Tells NFL-Players To Zip It

What a quaint way to run a work stoppage. No Twitter. No Facebook. No text messages. No YouTube.

Over the last few days, the NFL and its locked players have been communicating with Judge Susan Richard Nelson up in the Twin Cities via letters and a conference call on Friday morning.

Those old-fashioned means of communication involved the suggestion by Judge Nelson earlier in the week that the owners and players get back to the bargaining table with help from a mediator. She offered to handle the duties under the federal court. The two sides had previously spent 16 days working with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington.

When those discussions did not produce an agreement, the NFL Players Association decertified and the owners locked the doors.

Judge Nelson says it will take her some time to come up with a ruling on the players request for an injunction to end the lockout. In the mean time, she encouraged both sides to get together. …Read More!

QBs Drafted By The Texans-Chiefs

The Chiefs organization has selected 31 quarterbacks in the last 51 AFL or NFL Drafts. Here are the picks, broken down round-by-round, with the year they were taken, what pick in that draft where they came off the board and then games and starts in a Chiefs uniform.

First-Round

*- Meredith was first pick of Texans in inaugural AFL Draft; players were not selected in any numerical order.

Second-Round

Third-Round

Fourth-Round

Seventh-Round

10th-Round

11th-Round

12th-Round

13th-Round

16th-Round

17th-Round