I think I’m going to be in the minority on this, but I love what the Chiefs are doing in the draft. The Chiefs have drafted five players so far, and have filled some gaping holes in their roster. And they’ve filled them with good football players and great character guys. All five were team captains with outstanding personal resumes, as well as football resumes.

Safety: Last year the Chiefs were continually burned deep. Mike Brown could no longer cover wide receivers. And Jon McGraw is a fine special teams player, but is not a starting safety. The Chiefs had nobody who should start opposite Jarrad Page. And the Chiefs draft Eric Berry, an outstanding football player and outstanding athlete. He’s graded as one of the best safeties to ever be drafted. We’ll see how it translates to the NFL, but the expectation is that Berry will be a ten year starter, and make his way to a few Pro Bowls.

Slot Receiver: The Chiefs have competent starting receivers with Chris Chambers and Dwayne Bowe, but no clear choice to line up in the slot. So they draft Dexter McCluster near the top of round two. He was listed as a running back which left me scratching my head over the selection, but the Chiefs see him as a slot receiver. For Ole Miss, McCluster played running back, wide receiver and ran the “wildcat” formation as the quarterback. He was incredibly productive. He’s versatile. He’s fast. And the  Chiefs think they’ve found their “Wes Welker” with McCluster. He’s the size of Dante Hall, and could also impact the return game. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis will find ways to get McCluster on the field.

Nickel Corner: Though it wasn’t high on our radar, it should have been. The Chiefs tried a number of guys last year in the nickel. All were torched. Enter the Chiefs second second round pick Javier Arenas. At Alabama, Arenas was a fine corner back. He’s fast. He’s versatile. A good tackler. And an effective blitzer. Like McCluster, he’s not very big. But he has a good skill set to play the nickel. He’s tough and smart. And he was one of the premier return men in the country.

Kick and Punt Returner: Last year Jamaal Charles was pretty effective on kick returns, but the Chiefs never found a threat to return punts. And once Charles emerged as the starting running back, the Chiefs needed to look elsewhere for kick returns. McCluster will certainly get a chance to show what he can do, and looks like he offers similar abilities to a Dante Hall or Darren Sproles. And did I mention that Arenas was one of the premier return men in the country? It seems that this problem has been solved.

Offensive Line: Most of us had wanted the Chiefs to draft an offensive tackle. It appears the Chiefs are pretty happy with Branden Albert and Ryan O’Callaghan. Both played better as the season progressed last year. Early in the third round, the Chiefs picked offensive guard Jon Asamoah, who was rated by ESPN as the second best guard in the draft. Asamoah is another fine player and outstanding person. And one of the things the Chiefs liked best about him is his versatility. Though he played guard in college, he often practiced at center. Asamoah may not play much as a rookie, but he adds quality depth. And as Waters and Wiegmann are approaching the end of their careers, he will eventually get the opportunity to start. My guess is that it will be sooner rather than later. If he doesn’t crack the lineup this year, I bet he starts in 2011.

Tight End: This is another position the Chiefs struggled with last year. Early on the Chiefs featured Sean Ryan, but then phased him out as the season progressed. The Chiefs picked up Leonard Pope, who failed to distinguish himself. And Brad Cottam made a few plays before ending his season with an injury. So the Chiefs move up to the bottom of the third round to draft Tony Moeaki from Iowa. He’s big. He can catch the ball. And he knows how to block. He had a few injuries early in his career at Iowa, but started 10 games as a senior. Moeaki will likely compete with Cottam for the starting job at tight end. And my guess is that Moeaki will play a lot this year.

So what have we learned about the Chiefs this week?

1. The Chiefs like Matt Cassel. Several experts kept expecting the Chiefs to draft Jimmy Clausen. This never made sense to me. And the Chiefs obviously had the opportunity to draft Clausen later in the draft where he would have been a good value — if you wanted a quarterback.

2. The Chiefs viewed their areas of need differently than the fans and the experts. Everyone agreed that the Chiefs needed a safety. But the experts also felt like the Chiefs needed an offensive tackle, a nose tackle and linebackers. The Chiefs appear more comfortable with the players they have at these positions than we expected.

3. General Manager Scott Pioli wants high character guys. Jason Whitlock wrote a nice piece in the Star today about Pioli’s draft picks. All of these draft picks were leaders on and off the field in college.

4. And I think in general, though Pioli and Haley continue to say they need to upgrade the talent at a lot of positions, I think this draft shows that they like their players more than I expected. They didn’t spend two picks in the second round looking for immediate starters. Instead they picked role players who filled some holes. Time will tell if they’re right.

It wasn’t my prediction, but I’m very pleased with the result. Safety Eric Berry is a high-quality player and a high-character kid. I had mentioned Berry in a post as a possible draft choice for the Chiefs back in December. Several great stories on Berry in the Kansas City Star this morning outlining some of his personal and football accomplishments. Coming out of high school Berry was ranked as the number one defensive back by Rivals.com and Scout.com, and carried a 3.75 GPA. He was an immediate starter at Tennessee and started every game. In 39 career games he was flagged for one penalty — and that was his freshman year. Berry fills the biggest hole on the Chiefs roster. When the Chiefs decided not to pursue any of the free agent safeties on the market, I guess it should have been clear to us then that Berry was already high on the Chiefs radar. Good job Pioli. I think Berry will be a great Chief and ambassador to our community.

Rounds Two and Three
The Chiefs have three picks tonight in rounds two and three — picks 36, 50 and 68. Still some first round talent on the board. ESPN.com in their updated mock draft for these two rounds is predicting that the Chiefs will draft:

#36: OT Rodger Saffold from Indiana
#50: DT Terrence Cody from Alabama
#68: TE Dennis Pita from BYU

I’d be good with the Chiefs getting an offensive lineman and a nose tackle tonight. I’m not sure that Cody will last till the middle of the second round, and might be worth taking with the Chiefs first pick tonight. I also really like OLB Sergio Kindle from Texas, and would not be disappointed to see the Chiefs grab him at the top of round two. So if the Chiefs go defense with their first pick tonight (Kindle or Cody), then you’d think they might look to the offensive line with their next pick. If they don’t like the available tackles, two names to watch are OG Jon Asamoah (6-4, 305) from Illinois and OG Vladmir Ducasse (6-4, 332) from Massachusetts. They are the two top-rated interior linemen still on the board.

Other Thoughts on Round One
Overall I thought most of the teams made picks that made sense given what was on the board, and each team’s needs. But I can’t even imagine what the Jaguars were thinking drafting DT Tyson Alualu at number ten, or what the Broncos saw in Tim Tebow to take him at 25. Tebow is the type of kid you’d like to root for (though I’ll never root for Denver). I just don’t see him ever as a great NFL quarterback. And why would you ever draft a quarterback in the first round unless you were CONVINCED that he’d make a great NFL quarterback? We’ll see what happens, but I’m not sold that Denver and their staff know what they’re doing.

My favorite move of the night? Probably the Chargers jumping up to draft RB Ryan Mathews. It was aggressive. And when you already have a lot of talent like San Diego, but a glaring hole at an important position like running back, you need to go get your guy.

Big 12 Rocked the House
And congrats to the Big 12. Wow. The top four picks and five of the top six all coming out of the Big 12. I will say that I was very impressed with both Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy. They were humble, polite and well spoken. Both came across as very sincere and nice young men.

A new rumor floating online has the Chiefs and 49ers possibly swapping picks. The 49ers have two picks in the first round — number 13 and number 17 — and may want to trade up to draft QB Jimmy Clausen. From ESPN.com: “One possibility that jumps right out at us is the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners have two picks in the teens, are enamored with Clausen and have a new man at the head of the front office who might be looking to make a signature transaction. Of course, it might be more logical for the Niners to hang on to both of those picks because they’ll likely be able to get two starters instead of one, and Clausen is considered a risky pick by some. But Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News is on board with this suggestion. He even suggests that the Niners might be able to get a second-rounder back from the Chiefs. That would mean the Niners would pick at No. 5, No. 36 and No. 49, with the Chiefs picking at No. 13, No. 17 and No. 50 (from Atlanta from last year’s Tony Gonzalez deal). On the surface, this seems to make some sense for both sides, since the Niners will get Clausen (if they do want him that badly), and the Chiefs will be able to plug two of their many holes with impact players drafted in the teens.”

The draft starts in a couple days. I’m actually enthused about the new format. Round one Thursday night. Rounds two and three on Friday night. And the remaining four rounds on Saturday. The Chiefs have eight picks: one in the first, two in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth, and three in the fifth.

Most mock drafts have the Chiefs picking an offensive tackle (Okung, Williams or Bulaga) or safety Eric Berry with their first pick. A few, including my own mock draft, have the Chiefs ending up with defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. I’d be OK with any of these picks. And I’d be even better if they could move down a few slots and still get Berry or one of the offensive tackles.

Top priorities for the Chiefs: improve their offensive line (potential starter or add depth / future starter), improve their defensive line (in particular a true nose tackle), draft a starting safety, and find a kick returner. If they can do these four things, the draft will prove to be successful.

This is an exercise in futility only. My first time doing a mock draft. And if I’m correct on more than a dozen picks I’ll be shocked! This assumes no trades, though there’s been a lot of speculation that we could see more trades than normal this year.

St. Louis Rams (1 – QB Sam Bradford): I can’t imagine the Rams doing anything else. They’ve cut QB Marc Bulger, and all signs point to Bradford.

Detroit Lions (2 – OT Russell Okung): Most mock drafts have the Lions taking DT Ndamukong Suh. But this could shake up a few draft boards early. Lions need to protect their young QB and pick the best OT in the draft.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3 – DT Gerald McCoy): Bucs faced with a tough choice between Suh and McCoy, but choose McCoy as a better fit for their defense.

Washington Redskins (4 – OT Trent Williams): The Redskins are disappointed that Okung is off the board and take Williams. Shanahan needs to protect QB McNabb and must replace the retired LOT Chris Samuels.

Kansas City Chiefs (5 – DT Ndamukong Suh): Chiefs have no choice but to draft Suh, the top player on their board. They certainly won’t reach for the third best OT in the draft. And they won’t take safety Eric Berry over Suh. Here’s hoping that the Chiefs can trade down with both Suh and Clausen still on the board.

Seattle Seahawks (6 – S Eric Berry): Seahawks happy to see Berry fall to them. Berry will be an impact player.

Cleveland Browns (7 – Jimmy Clausen): Browns need to solve their problems at quarterback, and I can’t imagine they believe that Jake Delhomme is a long-term answer. Clausen would be a good fit in Cleveland.

Oakland Raiders (8 – OT Bryan Bulaga): Never to be deterred by potential character issues, Raiders draft the best OT on the board. That makes three OTs in the top 10.

Buffalo Bills (9 – NT Dan Williams): Bills had hoped for Clausen, but settle to fill a hole on their defensive line as they move to the 3-4 defense.

Jacksonville Jaguars (10 -DE Derrick Morgan): I could picture the Jags going in many directions here with the tenth pick. But at this point I don’t have a single pass rusher coming off the board yet. Morgan would help Jacksonville and their anemic pass rush.

Denver Broncos (11 – WR Dez Bryant): After trading WR Brandon Marshall, the Broncos have a hole to fill, and Bryant is still on the board.

Miami Dolphins (12 – DE/OLB Sergio Kindle): The Dolphins need to go defense, and improve their pass rush. They decide to choose Kindle over Pierre-Paul.

San Francisco 49ers (13 – CB Joe Haden): The 49ers are happy to see the best CB in the draft still on the board at number 13.

Seattle Seahawks (14 – RB C.J. Spiller): Having gone defense with their first pick, the Seahawks move to offense and take the dynamic Spiller.

New York Giants (15 – ILB Rolando McClain): The best inside LB in the draft and a fiery leader. A good fit with the Giants.

Tennessee Titans (16 – DE Jason Pierre-Paul): This could prove to be one of the steals of the draft. Fits in well with the Titans, and could become a sack machine.

San Francisco 49ers (17 – OT Anthony Davis): If Jimmy Clausen falls, I could picture the 49ers taking him here. But with Clausen off the board, 49ers add Davis to their offensive line.

Pittsburgh Steelers (18 – C/G Maukice Pouncey): Steelers need to improve their offensive line, and Pouncey just looks like a great fit here.

Atlanta Falcons (19 – OLB Sean Weatherspoon): I like Weatherspoon. He’s got a chance to be a real impact player in the NFL. Another option here would be DE/OLB Brandon Graham.

Houston Texans (20 – CB Kyle Wilson): Texans need to replace CB Dunta Robinson, and Wilson is a decent value here.

Cincinnati Bengals (21 – TE Jermaine Gresham): If WR Dez Bryant is still on the board, he’s the pick here. But instead the Bengals take the best TE in the draft. A good weapon in the passing game for Carson Palmer.

New England Patriots (22 – DT Jason Odrick): Pats have a history of drafting defensive linemen in the first round, and they still need to replace Richard Seymour.

Green Bay Packers (23 – G Mike Iupati): Packers need to upgrade the offensive line, and Iupai is best lineman on the board.

Philadelphia Eagles (24 – S Earl Thomas): Eagles go with the best player still on the board. Thomas could go considerably higher. Some mock drafts have him in the top 10.

Baltimore Ravens (25 – WR Demaryius Thomas): A big, physical home run threat, Thomas will help the Ravens passing game.

Arizona Cardinals (26 – OT Charles Brown): The run on OTs continue as the Cards take the best offensive lineman on the board.

Dallas Cowboys (27 – S Taylor Mays): Disappointed that they’ve missed out on all of the top OTs, Cowboys grab the top safety on the board.

San Diego Chargers (28 – DT Terrence Cody): Cody will be a great fit in the middle of their defensive line. This pick just makes too much sense not to happen.

New York Jets (29 – DE Everson Griffen): Another defensive weapon for Rex Ryan, Griffen is a fantastic athlete. Or they could go with Brandon Graham here.

Minnesota Vikings (30 – CB Kareem Jackson): Many have Jackson going much higher in the draft. The Vikings will be happy to see him still on the board.

Indianapolis Colts (31 – OLB Brandon Graham): Colts take best player still on the board. Graham could go much higher than this.

New Orleans Saints (32 – OLB Jerry Hughes): The Saints need to get more pressure on the QB, and Hughes could be a playmaker.

The draft is only three weeks away, and I don’t think I’m any closer to guessing at what the Chiefs will pick than I was three months ago. So instead we’ll look at a few possible scenarios, and a few areas of need. The Chiefs have done a good job in free agency plugging a few holes with Thomas Jones, Ryan Lilja, Casey Wiegmann, Shaun Smith and Jerheme Urban. And they’ve resigned Chris Chambers, Derrick Johnson and Mike Vrabel. What this has done is that it’s put the Chiefs in a position where they don’t have to draft any one area of need. They can focus on taking the best player available.

Top Five Pick
It’s almost impossible to trade out of a top five pick, so for the most part we’ll assume the Chiefs are stuck with their pick. Typically top five picks are reserved for players at premium positions: quarterbacks, offensive tackles, pass rushers (defensive ends / 3-4 outside linebackers), and possibly star cornerbacks and defensive tackles. Occasionally you might get a running back or a wide receiver that jumps to the top of the draft, but it seems that in recent years these positions have slipped further down the draft boards. Typically not taken in the top five are safeties, guards, centers, inside linebackers and tight ends.

I only see one scenario where the Chiefs could trade their pick, and that’s if quarterback Jimmy Clausen is still on the board. Behind the Chiefs are several teams that have a need at quarterback including Seattle, Cleveland, Oakland and Buffalo. If the Browns or the Bills want Clausen, and are concerned that the Seahawks might grab him with the sixth pick  in the draft, then possibly the Chiefs will have an opportunity to trade down. Other than that, it won’t happen.

Best Player Available vs Area of Need
Last year the Chiefs surprised us all by reaching for defensive end Tyson Jackson. I don’t expect the same kind of reach this year. And good news for the Chiefs is that they have needs that match up well with premium positions, and the top players on the board.

Defensive Tackle: According to Mel Kiper’s Big Board, he’s got Ndamukon Suh and Gerald McCoy ranked as the top two players in the draft. Most mock drafts have Suh and McCoy off the board by the time the Chiefs pick at number five, but if one of them would happen to fall, the Chiefs will be faced with a tough choice. The Chiefs have drafted a lot of defensive linemen in recent years, but still have a hole in the middle of their line. I think they’ll both be gone by the time the Chiefs pick.

Quarterback: Kiper has Jimmy Clausen and Sam Bradford rated in his top five. In a way this is great news for the Chiefs. The Chiefs don’t need a quarterback, but several teams drafting in the top ten could use a quarterback. Bradford is likely to go number one to the Rams. Clausen could potentially go to Washington at number four.

Offensive Tackle: This is the position most Chiefs fans see as the biggest area of need. Picking a top offensive tackle would allow the Chiefs to move Branden Albert to right tackle, and could dramatically strengthen their offensive line. There are several offensive tackles ranked highly among the experts including Russell Okung, Trent Williams, Bryan Bulaga and Anthony Davis.

Pass Rusher: I’m a bit surprised there hasn’t been more talk about the Chiefs taking a pass rusher in the draft. Derrick Morgan and Jason Pierre-Paul are two of the best defensive ends in the draft. Pierre-Paul is 6-5 and 262, and I would think could transition to an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense. He would give the Chiefs another pass rusher, and could rotate with Vrabel and Hali, and eventually replace Vrabel in the starting lineup.

Safety: Typically safeties aren’t taken in the top five, but most experts agree that Eric Berry is a special talent, and this would certainly qualify as an area of need for the Chiefs. I wouldn’t be disappointed at all to see Berry in Kansas City.

Two other names that have popped up for the Chiefs are wide receiver Dez Bryant and linebacker Rolando McClain. I’d be surprised by either pick. These are not premium positions, and they aren’t glaring needs for the Chiefs.

Summary
If Suh or McCoy falls, I think the Chiefs would have to give this serious consideration. But I think that’s unlikely. It’s hard to know how the Chiefs value the safety position, and whether or not they’d take a safety this high in the draft.

Experts: Eric Berry seems to be the pick from many experts, including Kiper and Todd McShay.
My prediction: Offensive tackle Russell Okung
My sleeper pick: Jason Pierre-Paul

NFL free agency begins soon, and the draft is only a couple months away. A difficult time of year for us NFL junkies with little news to read.

Free Agency
With the expiration of the NFL’s labor agreement, free agency takes an interesting turn. Unless a deal is reached soon, which is not anticipated, this year will be an uncapped year. So you might expect a lot of money to get thrown around to free agents. But because of the expiration of the agreement, many players who would have become unrestricted free agents are now restricted free agents. So pickings will be slim. Add to that the uncertainty of the 2011 season and it’s likely now that many teams will refrain from spending much this off-season. There are a few marquee names out there who will sign quickly. But after that expect little action on the free agent market.

I found an interesting website this week: NFL Labor News. Lots of information focused on, well, NFL labor news. And if you’re looking for a site to track available free agents, try KFFL’s Free Agent Tracker.

Chiefs First Round Draft Pick
Improving the Chiefs’ offensive line remains a priority this off-season. And I still think it’s likely that the Chiefs will take an offensive tackle with their first pick in the draft. Russell Okung from Oklahoma State has consistently been high on most draft boards, but appears to be slipping a bit as other players move up. One name to watch is Anthony Davis, an offensive tackle from Rutgers. Here’s how he’s described by ESPN’s Mel Kiper, who predicts that the Chiefs will pick him in the draft: “Davis has the physical talent to be a Pro Bowl player early in his career, but he’s still developing. Still, given a choice, the Chiefs can’t pass on his upside, which is as high as any player’s in the draft. A potential Walter Jones-like presence, if his development continues. The Chiefs also could move Branden Albert to the right side.”

The Chiefs are moving to the top of the list, but not the list we want them to top. At 3-11 the Chiefs now appear to have the fourth pick in the upcoming NFL draft. With two more likely losses on the team’s schedule, it appears certain that the Chiefs will indeed have another top five pick this year. And while the Chiefs need all the help they can get, top five picks are virtually untradeable, limiting their options moving forward.

I have already written a couple times about the Chiefs need to draft offensive lineman (read NFL Draft and A Tale of Two Lines). My opinion remains unchanged. Though after watching the defense fall apart the last few weeks, it’s clear the Chiefs have many holes to fill.

What’s interesting for me is watching the players change on the projected draft boards. Just a few weeks ago I’d find one or two offensive tackles projected in the first round. Scouts Inc. now has five in their top 32 available players. And that will continue to change. Though Mel Kiper still only has Russell Okung from Oklahoma State in his top 25 (#6 on Kiper’s board). You would expect Okung to receive considerable consideration from the Chiefs.

So if the Chiefs don’t go for an offensive tackle with their first pick, where do they go? I love Ndamukong Suh (#1 on Kiper’s board) from Nebraska, but I’d probably scream if the Chiefs picked another defensive lineman that early. The Chiefs certainly are not in the market for a quarterback, so that takes Jimmy Clausen (#4 on Kiper’s board) and Sam Bradford (#5 on Kiper’s board) out of the mix.

The name to watch is Eric Berry (#3 on Kiper’s board and #1 on Scouts Inc.’s board), the safety from Tennessee. He’s been compared to Ed Reed. He’s a playmaker. And while picking a safety at the top of the draft isn’t very sexy, the Chiefs need playmakers, and safety is an area of need.

In Kansas City, when our team is 3-9, it’s not too early to start thinking about the 2010 NFL draft. If the draft was held today, I believe the Chiefs would have the sixth pick in the draft. It’s almost impossible to trade out of a top five pick, so the Chiefs are probably best served by winning another game or two and staying out of the top five. This will open up more options for them to pick or trade down.

Biggest Needs
The Chiefs have a lot of needs, but none more glaring than the offensive line. (See my post here about our lack of picks for the offensive line the last several years.) It all begins up front. The Chiefs have trouble running the ball, protecting the quarterback, making first downs, scoring points, and sustaining drives. The Chiefs must upgrade the line. They have several serviceable parts. I’m not down on any particular lineman. If you can improve the line at a couple of positions, you’ll put the entire offense in a much better position to succeed.

We also have holes to fill at safety, running back, nickel back and wide receiver. And can use upgrades just about everywhere except our two kickers.

The Chiefs will likely be a bit more aggressive in free agency to fill some holes next year, but free agency is not the answer for building and sustaining a winning team. So assuming they do not find a starter for the offensive line in free agency, the Chiefs need to use two of their top four picks in the draft on offensive lineman. Remember that because of the Tony Gonzalez trade, the Chiefs have two picks in the second round. Which should give them three picks in the first 50 assuming that Atlanta’s second round pick will be somewhere in the middle of the round.

The unfortunate thing for the Chiefs is that this draft does not appear to be as top heavy with offensive tackles as the last two drafts. According to Scouts Inc., they have only two offensive lineman in their top 25: Russel Okung from Oklahoma State at #5 and Trent Williams from Oklahoma at #8. Mel Kiper lists Okung at #6 and Williams doesn’t even make his top 25 at this point. Lots will change on the draft boards before April.

At this point I’d hope that the Chiefs draft an offensive tackle in round one (hopefully Russell Okung is still on the board), and take a guard or center with one of their second round picks.

During the ’90s under Marty Schottenheimer, the Chiefs had dominating offensive and defensive lines. So what happened? I think if we look back at these last ten years, we get a pretty darn good glimpse at how the Chiefs have fallen. And why they can’t seem to get back up.

Defensive Line
Derrick Thomas. Neil Smith. Dan Saleuamua. Joe Phillips. As Kansas City fans we loved these guys. The Chiefs have repeatedly tried to replace them. Here are the players that the Chiefs have drafted in the money rounds (NFL draft rounds 1-3) since 2001 to play on the defensive line.

2001: Eric Downing (round 3)
2002: Ryan Sims (round 1), Eddie Freeman (round 2)
2004: Junior Siavii (round 2)
2006: Tamba Hali (round 1)
2007: Turk McBride (round 2), Tank Tyler (round 3)
2008: Glenn Dorsey (round 1)
2009: Tyson Jackson (round 1), Alex Magee (round 3)

That’s ten players selected in the early rounds to play defensive line during the last nine drafts. Several are out of football. And few have made significant contributions on the field in Kansas City or anywhere else for that matter. None were a greater bust than Ryan Sims, who the Chiefs traded up to grab.

Defensive linemen take several years to develop. It’s way too early to judge Dorsey, Jackson and Magee. Hali has been much better with the move to outside linebacker this year than I would have expected. And Dorsey may be starting to turn the corner. He has played well the last couple of weeks. There’s hope for a few of these guys.

Offensive Line
As the Chiefs continued to miss on defensive lineman, it caused a ripple affect through subsequent drafts. With every miss, the Chiefs had to try again. Other positions suffered. And none were ignored as greatly as the offensive line.

During the Vermeil years, the Chiefs were able to build what may have been one of the finest offensive lines in NFL history, featuring veterans Willie Roaf, Will Shields and Brian Waters. But because their line was so good and so dependable, the team felt little urgency to draft and develop young offensive lineman. Here’s the list of offensive lineman taken in rounds 1-3 since 2001.

2008: Branden Albert (round 1)

That’s it. Matter of fact, you have to go back to 1999 when the Chiefs drafted John Tait to find the last offensive lineman chosen by the Chiefs in one of these early rounds. And the Chiefs allowed Tait to leave in free agency after the 2003 season.

The Future
Pioli and Haley have been criticized for not rebuilding the Chiefs offensive line this year. And it’s apparent that the offensive line is their greatest weakness. But it’s important to understand that the Chiefs weren’t just bad. They were really bad and really deficient of talent when Pioli got here. This is not a one year project. Defensive linemen take time to develop. And a good offensive lineman can contribute more quickly. They take less time to develop. I fully expect the Chiefs to address their offensive line problems in the next two drafts. And the hope would be that by 2011 the defensive linemen have developed, and we’ve hit on some good offensive linemen.