32 Teams in 32 Days, Team #19: The Kansas Cirty Chiefs

A 4-12 record showed us how bad the Kansas City Chiefs can be. They have issues all over their team. Its unfortunate for Coach Herm Edwards. He is a terrific coach, but he’s got a team that just doesn’t get the job done. The Chiefs may have improved aspects of their team in the draft, but they are still a long way from being a team that matters. My biggest concern with the Chiefs is their terrible offensive line. The line could not produce the holes for stud running back Larry Johnson, while he was playing, and they also couldn’t protect their quarterback, whoever it was. The Chiefs addressed this problem by drafting Guard Brandon Albert out of Virginia and Tackle Barry Richardson out of Clemson, but I still think the line is far from improved.

The defense was improved via the draft and the improvements are terrific. The Chiefs drafted Glenn Dorsey out of LSU in the first round. Dorsey shouldn’t have even been available by the time it got to the Chiefs, but he was and they bit. Dorsey is an incredible defensive tackle that can stop both the run and rush the passer. He is a stand out and will bring a lot of credibility to the defense. They also drafted Brandon Flowers out of Virginia Tech to the cornerback position. I am normally very critical of rookie cornerbacks, but I think Flowers has all the talent to be great at the cornerback position. Just don’t expect it to be this year. It wasn’t a great defense last year, but it was probably the best aspect of their team. It will be better this year, but I still think the Chiefs are a year or two away from being a viable contender.

The Chiefs really don’t have much talent at the receiving positions. Lets face it, this team has always been about the running game and then passing the ball to Tony Gonzalez. Well Gonzalez is old now. He is still very talented, but age and the poor play of the offensive line make Gonzalez ordinary. The talent isn’t there at wide receiver. Second year wide out Dwayne Bowe will provide for this team, but other then that I don’t have faith in any of the other wide outs. Devard Darling isn’t a great option. This team needs a lot of things. It needs playmakers. They don’t have them and until they get them, this team won’t go anywhere. I hope the Kansas City fans can be patient because its going to take a while before this team is anywhere near ready for the playoffs.

The running game for the Chiefs has always been good, but when the offensive line plays as bad as they did last year, you can’t really expect the ground game to work. Larry Johnson is an extremely talented running back that has the power to bust through the tackles and the speed to make defenders miss, but without help, he is common. However, if the line can hold strong and open holes, this running game will be very successful. This year, Herm Edwards has stated that Johnson will take more plays off. He will still be the starter and get the bulk of the work, but expect to see Kolby Smith stealing some carries from Johnson and I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that rookie Jamaal Charles will get some carries too. If those two running backs can impress with the work they get, there could be a chance that they get even more work to do. We could be heading for a 3 headed monster like they have over there in New York.

The quarterback position is one of anxiety for me when I think about the Chiefs. They don’t have any option at that position that is actually good, but they have to start a quarterback and there isn’t much to choose from. It basically comes down to Brodie Croyle v.s Damon Huard. Both of these men played last year and both were terrible when they did. I don’t see either of these quarterbacks leading the Chiefs to the playoffs at any point in their careers. They just don’t have the talent to get that done. One of them will have to start and by the looks of it, its going to be Croyle, but I honestly don’t think it really matters. They have to start a quarterback. Or maybe they can revolutionize the offense, eliminating the quarterback position, line up 4 running backs in the backfield and do a whole hell of a lot of reverses. Yeah that would work. Its better then what they got.

To even say they win 4 games next year is still wishful thinking. The Chiefs are not a great team. They are not a good team. They are not even a mediocre team. They are just bad. I look at their schedule and see a few games they can win, but I still see mostly losses. The defense will be better, but thats really about it. They’ve got a long road ahead of them to fix the problems on this team. It won’t be this year, but maybe they will matter in 2 years. Tim Tebow may be in next year’s draft and maybe they will have a shot at getting him. Its time for this team to have a franchise quarterback. They’ve got their running game, they got Glenn Dorsey for their defense. The next option is quarterback. Only then, can we really start talking about the future of this franchise.