Arrowhead half-empty: The realist view of the Chiefs season
This has been one of the most
questionable off-seasons in recent years. You would be hard pressed
to convince me that there are not many areas of concern the Chiefs
have not addressed outright ignored or made worse. Yes six pro
bowlers are returning but what help have we given them.
Coach: Andy Reid not only has never won
“the big one” but he has squandered some of the most talent
collections of players any one team has had in recent memory. The
chiefs also have big questions and OC and DC.
GM: Almost any move here would have
been an upgrade; however there were many proven guys available.
Unfortunately we were hel bent on hiring Reid so we had to get a GM
who would play second fiddle.
QB: Smith is leaps and bounds better
than ANYTHING we have had here in years. But he was widely regarded
as a bust before the last two years in SF. He is oft-injured and we
gave up ALOT to get him. If we get marginal plaay out of him and go
.500 this year we are on the hook for ANOTHER 2nd rd.
Daniels is talented college QB but has never proven he could
contribute in the pros. He was redrafted and the QB starved Redskins
didn't keep him. The Saints showed no interest in bringing him back
either. In fact the seemed desperate this off-season to upgrade.
Stanzi doesn't seem to have a future and Bray, though huge talent and
potential, is immature and a head case.
O line: Wasted the first overall pick
on a RT. It hurts to write that. Never in league history has any team
done that. And Fisher is a project to boot. We have questions at
guard and center and it doesn't look like we did much to upgrade.
WR: Bowe is back, that is the only
positive of this group. Baldwin is a good practice guy and nothing
more. Dexter has yet to find a role or produce consistently. There is
nothing more here to work with.
RB: Charles is amazing and nothing
else. Past back-ups have never contributed and we wasted a pick on
prospect Davis. He had one good year since his sophomore year in
high-school. Their were so many better RB in the draft when we used a
pick on a guy who will be lucky to make it out of the pre-season
healthy. For some reason Reid is serious about this upgrading the FB,
a position he almost has never used in the past and is about
non-existent in pistol formations. We used a draft pick and traded a
decent CB prospect as well as bringing in a FA. Only one guy is going
to stick and we will have wasted a lot here.
TE: Moeaki is back but he won't make it
a whole year. Everything else here is unproven projects.
D Line- We lost or best lineman and
possibly or best defender when Dorsey left for a contract we could
have easily matched. He went to a 34 team so that was not a
consideration. Jackson is a bust and Poe and Powe are unproven and
projects. DeVito seems like a good pick up, but the Jets would have
kept him if he is as good as fans say he is.
LB-Only Inside LB needed help. And we
did next to nothing to upgrade the position. We lack depth and the
guy we drafted wasn't even a starter in college. One injury here and
we have huge problems. If the D-line cannot play better than last
year Hali and Houston will be handled easily.
DB: Was a weakness last year and they
were upgraded but with old men we would be lucky to get a year or two
out of. We got rid of young prospects and seemed to be rolling the
dice here.
K: AS good as these guys are I would
have liked to seen some challenge here or at least a new long
snapper.
There you have it. This year seems to
be a big roll of the dice. A lot of things have to break just right.
We haven't built a contender but rather tried to gamble on the
Pro-Bowl players we have and a bunch of Maybes