Kansas City Chiefs Second Draft - Bring On the Undrafted Free Agents
The Chiefs held their “second” draft today - and if it’s 0.00001% as successful as their first draft, then the 2008 season may not be the total disaster it is shaping up to be.
(Please note, Chiefs fans - I’m not a doomsday-type person. I’m just being realistic. Young teams traditionally don’t do well in the NFL. Especially young teams with questions at quarterback, cornerback, offensive line, kicker and head coach. So when I say 2008 will be a disaster, I mean we may finish worse than 4-12 this year.)
The Chiefs added more depth to their depleted positions, and appear to be throwing as many darts at the target in an attempt to hit a bullseye on at least one spot. Here’s a quick rundown on who the team signed:
DT Derek Lokey (Texas)
QB Ricky Santos (New Hampshire)
LB Steve Octavien (Nebraska)
WR Luke Swan (Wisconsin)
FB Mike Cox (Georgia Tech)
K Connor Barth (North Carolina)
DL Johnny Dingle (West Virginia)
WR Sean Bailey (Georgia)
LB SirDarean Adams (Michigan State)
G Chris McDuffie (Clemson)
RB Kalvin McRae (Ohio)
WR Jabari Arthur (Akron)
Some intriguing prospects are Santos, Dingle, and Adams. Here’s a quick breakdown on each:
Ricky Santos:6′1″, 209 pounds. Has a great arm (from all accounts), but may suffer from “Joe Flacco Disease” - where his draft position suffered because he didn’t play against top competition. In fact, if Flacco was 6′1″ instead of 6′6″, then we may be talking about him as an undrafted free agent, rather than being Baltimore’s first-round draft pick.
Santos threw 123 touchdowns against only 33 interceptions in three years as a starter at New Hampshire. More encouraging is that he completed over 68% of his passes. However, he played almost exclusively out of the shotgun, so he will have to get used to the pro style of offense. I’m not saying he’s the next Tony Romo, but he could present some challenges for a backup gig - soon.
Johnny Dingle: 6′3″, 270 pounds. Another guy described as someone with a “high motor” and “rarely takes plays off”. He was once named Big East Defensive Player of the Week - and finished his senior season with 47 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Dingle could make an impact on special teams, and honestly could compete for a spot in the defensive end rotation. Durability is a huge question with him, though - he suffered an ankle and a hip injury on separate occasions during his senior season.
Sirdarean Adams: 6′0″, 230 pounds. Aside from having one of the greatest first names of all time, he sounds like someone who could be a cross between linebacker and safety for Kansas City. He played a position called the “bandit” at Michigan State, where he would cover tight ends and slot receivers, depending on the offense’s formation. He had seven career interceptions, along with 108 career tackles. He’s had some injury problems, too - so he needs to stay healthy to make an impact on special teams.
Let’s be honest - if any of these guys make the team, it’s a bonus. But these three guys could offer the most potential out of any of them. Remember - going undrafted can push a player two ways - either they get down on themselves and flame out, or they get motivated, get a chip on their shoulder and try to prove to the Mel Kipers of the world that there are not 232 better players than them in this year’s draft class. Hopefully the Chiefs can hit the jackpot.
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12 Responses to “Kansas City Chiefs Second Draft - Bring On the Undrafted Free Agents”
April 28th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
yes Luke Swan…my boy….The next Chris Horn.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Disaster?! Give me a break, Ryan.
I understand the logic of keeping your expectations low so you will be delighted when the outcome is better…but disaster?
The 2007 season was a flat out disaster. The 2008 team is already infinitely better.
1. Getting rid of all the trash players. There were so many roster spots being taken up by complete bums. All those wastes of space have been told to hit the bricks. Herb Taylor probably could have been a better option at CB than Ty Law.
2. Only ONE key loss - Jared Allen. We know now that he didn’t want to play for us anymore anyway. He probably would have gotten a fat contract and pulled a Randy Moss on us. Good riddance. He’s been replaced by Dorsey anyway.
3. Upgrade to the offensive line. Last year’s line was a joke. A bad one. However the lineup shakes out, it will be greatly improved over that garbage.
4. Upgrade to an already good defense. Chiefs Defense - Ty Law + Dorsey = instant improvement. What were the weaknesses last year? Corner and DT. Fixed.
5. Upgrade to the WRs. I won’t say that DVD and Franklin are all-stars but wouldn’t you take them over Parker and an over-the-hill Kennison? Me too.
6. Two words: Eddie Drummond. Anyone that thinks the return game won’t be about 300% better this year is out of his mind.
7. A real offensive coordinator. When the play calling is so retarded that Herm has to step in (go back and watch - it’s true) you know you have a huge problem.
I will be very surprised if the Chiefs don’t win at least 7-8 games this year. That will be mostly due to inexperience of the young guys, but it looks like a pretty cake schedule.
Four losses last year were by a touchdown or less. Seven losses were by 10 points or less. Can the offense score 10 more points a game than that pitiful excuse last year? I think that’s doable.
Also, I’m going to make a prediction. We will all be pleasantly surprised by Brodie Croyle this year. I know none of you believe me, but sit back and watch.
I could be crazy (a very good possibilty) but I think the team will be a lot better than anyone expects. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not talking about playoffs (Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?!) but I think we should give them alot more credit than “disaster”.
GO CHIEFS!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Ricky Santos is a 4 year starter Ricky played every game his Freshmen year excpet the 1st 3 quarters of game 1 when there starter went down against Delaware Ricky won the game for the Wildcats. Ricky then went on to Play Rutger the following week who where coming off beating number 5 Michagin State and Santos tossed 5 TDs in the shocking upset and the rest is History. Spanked Big Ten Northwestern oh yeah 5 TDS for Ricky AGAIN!! and what did he do toMarshall? ah 5 TD’s I am now a Chiefs Fan!! I have renamed by Dog Brutus.. he is now called Hank Stram!!
April 28th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I think we went form a 4 win team to a 6 win team with this draft and UDFA signings. Cox will be our starting fullback and Dingle will compete with Johnston and Turk for the DE job.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Scott -
Aim low, and you can never be disappointed. If I go in expecting a 2-14 season, then a 6-10 year seems 300% better.
Thanks for reading - your comments are appreciated.
RB
April 28th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I know they have also invited former UCLA fullback Michael Pitre into the mini-camp. Great college player when healthy, but missed a couple full seasons due to various injuries.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Congrats to the Chiefs for sticking to their board and getting both quality and value with their picks, a refreshing change from the DV years. I feel the key to any kind of respectable season in 2008 will be the play of Brodie Croyle.
If he struggles, continues to make poor reads or turns the ball over beyond acceptable standards, the Chiefs will be back at the head of the line for the 2009 draft. In the final analysis, the QB is still, by far, the most important position on the team.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:20 am
The two guys I want them to bring in are:
1) Todd Blythe, WR, Iowa State
2) Art Carmody, K, Louisville.
Blythe is, supposedly, slow. But he’s also 6′5″ and 215lbs, set ISU’s career touchedown record (31 - more than double the previous record), gained 3,096 yards (4th all-time in the Big 12) on 176 receptions (another ISU record). Those numbers put his Big 12 career on a level comparable with Roy Williams (Texas) and Wes Welker (Texas Tech). And, he’s give Brodie a big target, which Brodie seems to need.
Carmody’s nicknamed ‘Art-o-matic’ because he holds the college football accuracy record (95.45%), holds nearly every Louisville kicking record, and is the NCAA’s kick-scoring record holder. He hit 255 of 257 PATs and 60 of 73 FGs, was rated the second best kicker in the Draft, and is dead accurate from 45 yards in. Given our kickers are ‘old’ and have a decreasing range, it couldn’t hurt to bring Carmody to camp and see what he can do.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Ron, I think a lot of people have looked at Croyle’s 2007 season far more pessimistically than they should have. With the offensive line he played behind, Croyle’s season could easily have been much worse. The key to me is that his TD/INT ratio was a very respectable 6/6. Sure, he fumbled 4 times, but Huard couldn’t hold onto the ball behind that line either.
TD/INT ratio is huge for a young QB, and Croyle passed that test. If his o-line can give him any kind of time, then he has a real chance of developing into a starting-caliber QB.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I think this will be a big year for Bowe, Croyle and Herm. Bowe needs to shore up his route running and hands to make sure he is more than the immense raw talent we saw last year. Brodie (with help from the O-line and LJ) needs to master the playbook to the point that Chan lets him open things up a bit. Not saying Brodie is Brett Favre, but if he is going to be successful that is the type of gun slinger he is going to need to be. Which will give Herm heartburn and lead to the last piece:
HERM NEEDS TO LET CHAN RUN THE OFFENSE. Herm has a nasty habit of making his offense run the same conservative play over and over and then ask them to pick up a third and very long. Early in the year it was LJ up th middle, later it was passes to the WRs in the flat.
While I am still typing, I think we should also see if Tampa would be willing to trade Chris Simms for a 4th/5th round pick to bring in to push Brodie.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Phil, I agree with you. If you followed Croyle’s college career you would know how tough he is. His senior year at Alabama was stellar. They had a good run at a national championship and were ranked 2 at one time. During the season he lost his speedster receiver (broken leg), best running back, center (broken leg) and another top lineman. In essence he was running for his life much like last year with the chiefs. In fact he was playing the last half of the season with a seperated shoulder injury. Yet he still managed to break the passing records of Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler and Bart Starr to hold almost every record possible at Alabama.
Give him a chance to get his rythm behind a decent line. At least an average running game and you will be surprised.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
In the one game where it seemed that Croyle wasn’t running for his life on every passing play (probably because Freeney was hurt) he looked good…really good for essentially a rookie QB (wasn’t Indy his first start? hey Brodie, we are going on the road against the defending Super Bowl Champs and finally, you get to start…sounds fun, huh?)…he made the right reads, and if we either didn’t have an o-lineman for a coordinator, or had a place kicker who was better than a turnip we would have beaten the Colts on the road in Croyle’s first start.
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