MVN: Most Valuable Network

Last week, I expressed my concern that the Chiefs didn't do enough to surround Cassel with enough weapons. The good news is that there are still some people in the market worth looking at. As I said previously, I normally don't approve of throwing money at free agents; however, this year is an exception--the Chiefs should bring in some veteran stopgaps so that Cassel has some players to work with.
Read more...

It doesn't take long to get someone's opinion on Jason Whitlock - he's one of the more polarizing figures in the Kansas City sports scene.  Most people either love him or hate him.  He's been called opinionated, contraversial, racist, insightful, and pretty much any other adjective you can think of.  I would like to add one more - spineless. A week or so ago, I wrote a post on whether or not Mike Brown could come in and be the Chiefs' version of safety Rodney Harrison.  Since it's July (a dead time in the NFL) and I had pretty much abandoned this blog for the last four months, it wasn't my most read piece.  Thankfully though, Mr. Whitlock changed all that. On July 4th, he posted this article - which looks familiar.  Even right down the the title of the piece.  Now - I'm a no-name blogger with little to no... Read more

First, let me say that I know people are expecting me to grade the Chiefs' 2009 draft. I read through my colleague Ryan Brown's article on MVN, and it pretty much says everything I need to say. That being said, I will now shift gears toward the Chiefs' defense. Let me first say that I am and always have been a strong advocate of moving to a 3-4 defense. It does concern me that the defense is starting to become a little trendy, with the Packers and the Broncos also shifting to that defense. However, as we saw with the 49ers and the Jets, running a 3-4 requires your front office to understand how to bring the right players in for that scheme. Scott Pioli knows how to run a 3-4 and it shows. ... Read more

First, let me mention that I happen to really like Matt Cassel. I love his potential. I am well aware that the knock on him is that he often struggles to make his reads in a pro set offense, but I love his work ethic and I love his mechanics, both of which make me believe he will be a very quick study. I also hate that every single supposed expert and analyst railed on him for having targets like Wes Welker and Randy Moss to throw to. I don't remember those same analysts questioning Carson Palmer when he had big league targets like Chad Johnson or T.J. Houshmandzadeh or Big Ben for throwing to Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress. ... Read more

The Chiefs announced the signing of safety Mike Brown on Wednesday, which seemed like a surprising move, given that the team had two starters in Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard - plus they drafted DaJuan Morgan in the 3rd-round last year.  However, in retrospect, the move makes sense when considering the man who made the signing. Back in 2003, Scott Pioli signed safety Rodney Harrison, who was a salary cap casualty of the San Diego Chargers.  Harrison was 31 at the time, and was considered by many to have lost a step.  All he did after that was be named defensive captain of the Patriots, win two Super Bowls (including one where he had 7 tackels, 2 INT's, and a sack) and create the 30-30 Club - the only person in the history of the NFL to record 30 sacks andn 30 INTs in a career. A quick disclaimer here - I... Read more

Hey, better late than never, right? Since I was indisposed this year during the draft, I was unable to conduct what I was hoping would be an annual tradition - drinking beer and saying "WTF?" every time the Chiefs made a draft pick.  It worked well last year, but unfortunately I wasn't able to follow up in 2009.  That's sad, actually, because this was the first year of Scott Pioli's reign of terror...er...general management.  I think it would have been interesting to berate him on the spot rather than two months later. However, we'll berate him (or praise him) as we see fit now.  Seeing how this is the absolute Bermuda Triangle for NFL news, we have to takes what we's can gets right now.  Without further ado... 1st Round - #3 overall - Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU - I guess if at first you don't succeed, take another LSU defensive... Read more

I'm having a really difficult time grading the Chiefs' approach to free agency this offseason. On the one hand, I've always been a minimalist: I hate it when teams spend money for the sake of spending money and I despise it when fans treat average players like Max Starks and Rex Hadnot as if they were borderline pro bowl players. My theory has always been that if a player is at all valuable, particularly in today's cap era, he will be protected by his team at all costs. When a player becomes available, they're usually damaged goods, over-the-hump, never good in the first place, or a team cancer. That being said, Chiefs' fans can't help but feel as if the Chiefs didn't do enough to address their needs. They knew they were rebuilding. They knew they had about a million and a half needs to fill. And yet, the Chiefs did... Read more

The Kansas City Star is reporting that former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green is retiring after having been released by the St. Louis Rams back in February.Congratulations to Trent for moving on into his post-NFL life. He was one of the best quarterbacks this town has known and I will always remember how classy an individual he was, and how well he represented the Chiefs. It's probably the best decision for him given the concussions and health issues he has faced, but what a great story he had in the NFL, rising to a Pro-Bowl QB when he was given the chance. ... Read more

Head Coach: As most of you know, I liked Herm Edwards better than most people did. I still believe that he was a decent head coach crippled by a GM who was in his post a few years longer than he should have been and who refused to let his team rebuild in the way Herm wanted to. That being said, I still agree with Pioli's decision to fire him. I hope Herm Edwards goes to another team and becomes a good head coach, but he isn't and never will be a Pioli guy.That being said, the Chiefs lucked out in getting Todd Haley so late in the game. Haley, like Bill Belichick, is a no-nonsense, strict disciplinarian. I have to admit that while I liked the decision to hire Haley, I was still scared about his ability to keep his temper in check. I'm still scared about that, but... Read more

Last year was embarrasing - for lots of reasons. A 2-14 record.  Larry Johson trying to fight half the female population in Westport.  A half-empty Arrowhead.  An NFL record for lowest sack total by a team with 10.  Marques Hagans taking snaps at quarterback.  Yeah, there was a lot to be ashamed of if you support the Kansas City good guys. However, was was most embarrasing for me was that instead of 2-14, this team could've been a lot better.  They had a chance in New England (where the diabolical plan to steal the Patriots' GM, backup QB and starting LB was put into fruition with Bernard Pollard's CLEAN hit on Tom Brady).  The Jets game when the team folded down the stretch.  Tampa Bay.  San Diego.  That damn Miami game.  Yeah - the team could've been 6-10, maybe 7-9 last year.  Still not great, but better to be improving... Read more

Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay since the last post. I took a little time off, but I'm back and ready to talk Chiefs' football again. I thought it would be nice to start off with an evaluation of how the Chiefs fared this offseason on several different dimensions. We'll start today with the Ownership.Ownership: I was reluctant to grade Clark Hunt because we have yet to see how good Scott Pioli really is. However, I think there is a lot to be said for the way he conducted the vetting process for the GM position. Clark Hunt was unfairly criticized early in his tenure for being a puppet to Carl Peterson. Nevermind that he inherited his father's team, front office, and problems. When the Chiefs stunk, the fans criticized him for not caring about the team. Even when he made the tough decision to fire Carl Peterson, the fans... Read more