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The Kids are Alright: Croyle, Pollard, and Page Will be Just Fine

First, let me preface by saying that the Chiefs still suck and, regardless of their improving draft position, I still hate watching the Chiefs lose. Still, I’m trying hard to view this season and every single game we play from here on out as an evaluation tool for 2008 and beyond.

It would be very easy to be frustrated with our rookies. Brodie Croyle was showing signs of life and then he throws two lousy interceptions in the second half. Our young safety tandem, Page and Pollard, once again blew up a few big plays and then blew a big play or two a few plays later. Our young players’ inconsistency might be frustrating to many, but for me, it’s encouraging. Very encouraging. I’m willing to sacrifice consistency in exchange for upside and that’s where I believe I contrast with many other Chiefs’ fans.

That’s part of the rebuilding process. I would rather have a player with upside make a few mistakes than watch a veteran with average ability and limited upside play flawless football. Therein lies the dual nature of Chiefs’ fans: they want the team to get younger, yet don’t have the patience to watch the team work through their youth issues. So when Pollard and Page give up big plays, we quickly overlook all the positives they have shown this season; when Croyle throws two late-game interceptions, we quickly erase the tremendous game he had in the first half.

Let me get this out in the open: I thought that Brodie Croyle had an outstanding game against Tennessee. The Chiefs finally took the kid gloves off him and let him play. They didn’t moronically run the ball on every 1st and long or 2nd and long opportunity; instead, they let him take the chances necessary to achieve those big gains. What I saw was a young, very raw quarterback keep the team in a game in spite of his teammates’ repeated efforts to lose the game for him. I’m surprised the Chiefs didn’t get rung up for holding at halftime in the locker room. I mean, how many times in one half can you possibly get rung up for holding? You can tell Croyle was frustrated. In fact, he was furious. And who wouldn’t be? He had to have had almost 100 yards of passing yardage annulled because of boneheaded penalties.

In the second half, Croyle came undone, but that’s okay. He’s young. He’s learning the game. At least he proved to us that he has upside. That’s important. Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer looked anything but impressive in their first starts, but they showed a ton of upside and that upside eventually translated into consistent performance. Eventually, you expect that as he learns the game, you’ll see more of the positive moments and they will begin to outweigh the negative ones. Hell, Brett Favre is a mistake machine, but he’s proven over time that his successes far outweigh his failures. Also, in Croyle’s defense, the Chiefs’ offensive coaching staff has become notorious for their inability to make adjustments. Few quarterbacks would succeed when the playcalling puts the team in a position to fail.

The reason why I get excited over upside is because that’s a term we haven’t heard much of in the Chiefs’ organization. High draft picks like Siavii, Downing, and Freeman never showed even a hint of upside in all their years. I think the mistake we often make as Chiefs’ fans is that we create way too idealistic of expectations for our young players. We expect that each young player will come in and play consistently and that they are garbage if they are not borderline pro bowlers. And so, we fail to see Samie Parker’s potential as a slot receiver. We assume that Will Svitek is a failure because he only proves to be a marginal starter and fail to see that his quality play today has solidified his role as a strong, future back-up (a very underrated role, if you ask me). We expect Pollard and Page to play mistake-free football and so we shrug off plays where they explode to the play and only pay close attention to the plays that they blow.

I have always believed that mistakes are critical to success. It has become human nature, at least in America, to always categorize failures as negative. But I truly believe that those who succeed are those who know how to fail well. And so, I once again assert that the Chiefs are going to become a better team because they make mistakes.

Is Brodie Croyle the answer? I don’t know. But I’m very encouraged by what I see so far.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 6:59 am and is filed under brodie croyle, Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.