I don’t see Studebaker being very effective in pass coverage, which has been a problem with Chris Gocong, another DE the Eagles converted to LB. Not sure how the Chiefs are considering playing him.

AND NOW, Clark Hunt has RE-affirmed Herm’s The Man!

“LB Andy Studebaker was the best pass-rusher in Division III as a defensive end. Eagles moved him to OLB and also use him as an edge-rusher. He’s a smart kid with great speed and long arms. But he’s still got a lot to learn. Probably headed for the practice squad initially.”

My thought is that as a draft junkie, I had info on around 500 players. Probably had at least heard SOMETHING on an additional 100 or so. Studebaker was a player that I had never heard ANYTHING about. After each draft, I like to go back and look and see how many players get drafted that I’ve never heard of. In 2008, there were 7 players total. The Chiefs have four of them now. Brandon Carr, Mike Merritt, Erik Walden, and now, Studebaker apparently.

I’m certainly not flawless in my own personal coverage of the draft. Who is? Brandon Carr certainly has worked out well and he wouldn’t have even been on my board. However, Studebaker sounds like a major project to me. The Chiefs pass rush is so poor that they need to look into signing someone with some experience who can help right away. Babin was a nice start, but they need more.

The offense has more excuses to be bad this year: QBs going down, LJ getting in trouble, the Gonzalez trade drama, rookie left tackle, fat overpaid right tackle, new offensive coordinator. Yet, the offense is what is promising right now. Sure, the defense has had some injury woes of their own the last few weeks, but this is freaking rediculous. The defense is why Herm and Carl need to go. Even if you like Herm as a coach, there is no defending this defense that he has built….which by the way he began building IMMEDIATELY in 2006. He didn’t start building it this year, so don’t throw that weak argument at findthedr or myself.

In the last 7 years, the Chiefs have spent 4 of 7 1st round picks on Defense, EVERY 2nd round pick on Defense, and 5 3rd rounders on Defense.”

Here are the results, and they are DISGUSTING. Even from the beginning of the Vermeil and Herm eras, the Defense has not been ignored:

Of the Picks Not Traded Since the 2001 Draft

1st Round: 4 of 6 have been on Defense (67%)

2nd Round: 6 of 6 have been on Defense (100%…100 freaking percent!)

3rd Round: 5 of 9 have been on Defense (56%)

71% of of every 1st through 3rd round draft pick in the last 8 years has been on Defense.

By Position:

DT = 6 (7 if you count McBride)

DE = 2 counting McBride as a DE

LB = 3

S = 2

CB = 2

By Year (with names):

2001 = 1st – No First pick. 2nd – No Second pick. 3rd – Defense, Eric Downing DT. 3rd – Offense.

2002 = 1st – Defense, Ryan Sims DT. 2nd – Defense, Eddie Freeman DT. 3rd – No Third pick.

2003 = 1st – Offense. 2nd – Defense, Kawika Mitchell LB. 3rd – Defense, Julian Battle CB.

2004 = 1st – No First pick. 2nd – Defense, Junior Siavii DT. 2nd – Offense. 3rd – Defense, Keyaron Fox LB.

2005 = 1st – Defense, Derrick Johnson LB. 2nd – No 2nd pick. 3rd – Special Teams.

2006 = 1st – Defense, Tamba Hali DE. 2nd – Defense, Bernard Pollard S. 3rd – Offense.

2007 = 1st – Offense. 2nd – Defense, Turk McBride DT/DE. 3rd – Defense, Tank Tyler DT.

2008 = 1st – Defense, Glenn Dorsey DT. 1st – Offense. 2nd – Defense, Brandon Flowers CB. 3rd – Offense. 3rd – Offense. 3rd – Defense, DaJuan Morgan S.

I really feel sick looking at all of this over the last 8 years, and we still have the 32nd ranked Defense. Blame Vermeil…blame Herm, but there has only been 1 person in charge over that entire 8 year period.

[U] Those are 15 first day Defensive players. Even if we whiffed on 4 of them, that is still an ENTIRE starting defensive team in their prime. Add to that FA’s in that period like Ty Law, Pat Surtain, Napolean Harris, Donnie Edwards, Demorrio Williams, Alphonso Boone…and keep in mind Jared Allen, Jarrad Page, and Brandon Carr were second day picks and don’t factor into this scenario.

Our Defense is, and has been, so horrendously broken it almost defies blame…but it doesn’t. It is inexcusable.

Today’s Star has a good article by Teicher. Two points of course, could not replace Allen (although we did not need this bad apple) and the chiefs knew Dorsey was not a “polished” pass rusher before they drafted him 5. Obviously the rebuilding brain trust miscalulated a bit, missed it by this much.

If a touchdown had been called back early in the 3rd quarter it would have been much less dramatic, but in a low-scoring game would likely have had the same impact.