Monday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

The NFL Scouting Combine is where the news was this weekend in the world of the Chiefs and pro football.

All the league’s movers and shakers still have one more night in Indianapolis, as there are player workouts on Monday and then the defensive backs go on Tuesday to close things out. The medical testing has pretty much wrapped up, so all the attention will come in the interview rooms Monday night and then with the physical testing like weight lifting (left) and running on the Lucas Oil Stadium field.

A hodgepodge of news came out of the weekend and here are a couple items worth mentioning.

SCOTT PIOLI SPEAKS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS

The Chiefs GM stepped to the media podium on Saturday and then talked with the NFL Network. He was pleasant, congenial and had very little to offer in the way of news.

Pioli was asked whether he will evaluate players for the Chiefs like he evaluated players for the Patriots. He said there would be a big difference because of the head coaches involved.

“Todd is a different coach from a different system, who is looking for different types of players skill set-wise,” Pioli said of Haley. “We’re looking for big, tough, smart, disciplined football players, but what we’re going to do schematically is not necessarily going to be the same thing that we did in New England. There will be different types of players that we’ll be looking at for different positions.

“I don’t think we’re necessarily battling over the same players as New England. The players that I have to go out and get are different because we have a different coach, and he’s running a different system with a different philosophy. Makeup-wise, they’re very similar, but from a positional and skill-set standpoint it will be a little bit different.”

On Tony Gonzalez:

“It’s a very interesting situation because sometimes veterans have a comfort zone and they want things to be a certain way. When you come in to a new situation, come into a club that was 2-14, some things are clearly going to have to change. Hopefully the veterans who are there are going to be receptive to the changes and they want to be and hopefully they will be.”

On Larry Johnson:

“There is no situation. He’s a Chief and we are moving forward.”

On what he’s looking for with the third choice of the draft:

“At 2-14 you are in the market for a lot of things. We are in the market for a lot of things. We are in the market for good football players who are good people.”

Pioli emphasized in all of his brief media dealings that he was interested in finding players that Todd Haley wants.

BELICHICK SPEAKS AS WELL

On Sunday, Bill Belichick strolled into the media area and ended up talking for some time on various subjects. The most interesting were his comments on evaluating defensive backs and edge pass rushers for the 4-3 and 3-4.

Here’s BB on defensive backs:

“There are some interesting guys here. There are some corners, there are some safeties, and then there are some guys that kind of fall in between. We’ll have to determine how they’ll fall in a particular system. I think that the safety position has become more and more of a corner position in the National Football League. There were times when some of the safeties, particularly the strong safeties, fit more almost like linebackers than they did as defensive backs. I think that’s changed gradually, but now to the point where your (safeties) a lot of times have to cover wide receivers or they have to cover tight ends who are very, very good in the passing game. It’s not guys running 5-yard hook routes, and stuff like that. The tight ends in the league, and it seems like just about every team in the league has one, can get down the field and make athletic and acrobatic catches … I think the demand for that position has changed and I think that’s changed the evaluation a little bit. So maybe some of those hybrid guys who played corner and played safety – like (Malcolm) Jenkins, for example, is a guy who played both, what his best fit would be for a team, where he’s most valuable, is certainly an interesting discussion for all teams.”

And BB on the edge pass rushers and proliferation of the 3-4 defense:

“There are an awful lot of teams playing the 3-4 defense now, certainly compared to 2000 when I came to New England, it was pretty much us and Pittsburgh. Now you have teams in our division, many teams in the AFC, couple teams in the NFC. You probably have 8-9-10 teams based out of a 3-4 defense. That’s made those positions – the outside linebacker position, the 3-4 nose tackle position – very competitive and very unique from the 4-3 complementary spots. Scheme has an awful lot to do with how those players are evaluated.

“The 3-4 outside linebacker/4-3 defensive end group, I think it’s an interesting group. I think there are some very talented players there, guys from different backgrounds – guys who have been in coverage, guys who haven’t been in coverage, with pass rush ability. The (Brian) Orapkos and (Larry) Englishes, guys like that. That will be part of the process as we go forward, to try to figure out how they would fit in, in our case, to our system.”

ONE OF THE TOP BLOCKERS SCREWS UP

It’s not been a good two months or so for Andre Smith, the offensive tackle out of Alabama. He was declared ineligible for the Sugar Bowl by Nick Saban for a violation that has yet to be determined, but is thought to involve contact with a prospective agent.

Smith then showed up out-of-shape for the Scouting Combine and did not take part in any on field work. In fact, when the linemen worked Saturday morning, Smith was nowhere to be found. He left Indy early Saturday morning without telling anyone.

Later Smith said he simply wanted to get back to Atlanta and get working with his trainer on getting in better shape.

There were questions about the intangibles with Smith before the Combine. Those questions are now stacked up like cord wood outside a BBQ restaurant. Based on his playing ability, Smith was considered a possible top 10 pick. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him over the next two months to get back to that spot.

CRABTREE’S FOOT AND MACLIN’S INJURY

Much was made over the weekend about a hairline fracture of wide receiver Michael Crabtree’s left foot. The fracture turned up on x-rays given during the medical period. Surgery is needed and it will likely keep him out of action for eight to 10 weeks.

But Crabtree came out and said on Sunday that he’s known and played with the fracture for the last few months. He will run the 40-yard dash during the Pro Day at Texas Tech before he has surgery. Part of that is to hold his spot in the top five of the draft. The league will deal with the foot, but they want to know how fast he is, because that’s really the only question about his status coming into pro football.

During Sunday morning’s work inside the Lucas Oil Stadium, Maclin took a tumble after trying to adjust his body to make a catch and came up limping on his left leg, supposedly with a hyper-extended knee. Maclin was out of the work for a few minutes, but eventually returned to catch passes, but was walking with a noticeable limp. An MRI is set for this week.

If you wonder why some players do not want to work out at this event, things like the Maclin injury are why.

SPEED, SPEED AND MORE SPEED

Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey turned in an official time of 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash, making him the fastest wide receiver this year and the second fastest player in this decade. Only Jerome Mathis was faster, running a 4.28 during the 2005 Combine.

In total, there were four receivers who ran faster than 4.4 seconds: Heyward-Bey, Mississippi’s Mike Wallace (4.33), Johnny Knox (4.34) of Abilene Christian College and Penn State’s Deon Butler (4.38).

There was not much speed among the running backs, as only four backs broke 4.5 seconds according to the Combine timers: Virginia’s Cedric Peerman (4.45), Boise State’s Ian Johnson (4.46), Purdue’s Kory Sheets (4.47) and Andre Brown of North Carolina State (4.49).

FOLKS WHO ARE MOVING, STAYING OR LEAVING IN THE NFL

BROWNS - named Matt Eberflus as linebackers coach, taking him away from the coaching staff at the University of Missouri. Eberflus was the associate head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Tigers. He spent eight years on Gary Pinkel’s staff in Columbia.

FALCONS – have decided to part ways with veteran safety Lawyer Milloy, who will become a free agent this Friday.

RAIDERS – plan to release veteran wide receiver Javon Walker, who was signed last year as a free agent.

STEELERS – saw OT Max Starks sign his franchise tender offer of $8.45 million, thus guaranteeing that money for the 2009 season.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO …

Former Chiefs No. 1 draft choice and running back Greg Lamonte Hill, born on February 23, 1972 in Dallas. Hill was the Chiefs first-round choice in the 1994 NFL Draft and played four of his six seasons (1994-97) with the team. He played in 63 games with 19 starts. His best season was 1995, when he carried 155 times for 667 yards.

Born on February 23, 1975 in Arlington Heights, Illinois was quarterback Pat Barnes. A fourth-round draft choice of the Chiefs in 1997, he played in one game that rookie season with the team. Born on February 23, 1966 in Shreveport was running back John Stephens. He played six NFL seasons, and seven games with the Chiefs in 1993. He carried the ball six times for 18 yards.

A trio of Pro Football Hall of Famers were born on February 23. Let’s start with wide receiver Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli, who was born on February 23, 1923 in Hudson, Ohio. He played 11 seasons with the Cleveland Browns, finishing with 386 catches for 6,488 yards and 62 touchdowns. He had a record 24 catches in six NFL title game appearances. He was part of the Hall’s class of 1975.

Born on February 23, 1940 in Columbia, Mississippi was Jackie Larue Smith. He played 16 NFL seasons, and all but the last one was with the St. Louis Cardinals. That final year was 1978 with the Dallas Cowboys, where he’s remembered most for a dropped touchdown pass in Super Bowl 13 against the Steelers. Smith played in 210 games, and retired with 480 catches, 7,918 yards and 40 touchdowns. He joined the Hall with the class of 1994.

Born on February 23, 1943 in Erie, Pennsylvania was Fredrick S. Biletnikoff. He played 14 seasons and 124 regular season games with the Oakland Raiders (1965-78). He finished his career with 589 catches for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns. He had 40 or more catches for 10 straight seasons. He was the MVP of Raiders victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl 11. Biletnikoff was part of the Hall’s class of 1988.