early quick thoughts

bored of education · 04-26-2009, 07:39 PM

hi guys hope you didnt miss me that much. i also hope you had a good weekend.

1st thought about this draft. it is not pretty on paper at all. but pioli got the book ends DE's for the 3-4. i feel that is enough for his first draft with KC. with that, pioli can take this year and see who fits around the bookends and prepare to a greater extent who currently on the roster fits and who does not.

2nd thought, who are some fo the guys we picked second day?

BPhilb · 04-26-2009, 10:00 PM

The one thing I noticed with the picks today is that it appears that the spread formations are here to stay. Brown played well in Missouri's spread and is a huge guy. I thought he might go a round later but it appears that Pioli wanted to ensure that he got him. Quin Lawerence appears to be the quick slot guy that also would fit ok in the spread offense though to be honest I don't know a ton about the guy. He also is a returner but I'm sure he is a guy that will fight to stay off the practice squad.

Obviously it was easy to see what the plans are for the defense. I'm getting the feeling that Dorsey may not fit in all which I'm somewhat suprised by. Could be reading that wrong though. I was suprised by the Washington pick and not because we took a DB as you can never have too much depth, but more for the problems he appeared to have at Ohio St. He appears very much a boom or bust prospect which for this draft it didn't appear we were going for.

I'm anxious too see how training camp goes and how all of this is going to come together. I also have to imagine that there will be a move or two that might suprise us. I was shocked that we didn't move around at all in this draft.

ChiefLee · 04-27-2009, 07:28 AM

Pioli and Haley spent a lot of time with Washington and the Ohio State coaching staff. And Washington's high school coach says he's a good character kid. Just made a kid mistake. Never said exactly what team rule he broke. He's got higher round talent. Might have been a steal in the 4th.

I like the Brown pick. Really bright kid. Athletic for his size. And he's big. Projects well at right tackle.

They drafted Lawrence because of his speed. We lack receivers with speed, and need a deep threat. And right now we don't have anyone in particular slotted for returns. He's certainly a project.

And while Jackson might not have been a great value drafted so high, I think with the transition to the 3-4, he's a very important piece to the puzzle.

bspen4 · 04-27-2009, 12:14 PM

Seems to me like we just drafted Will Franklin v.2

Splat · 04-27-2009, 04:32 PM

Reunited and it feels so good....

AJHawk50 · 04-27-2009, 04:39 PM

Yeah heard him talking about how he'd be reuniting with Dorsey. We must be set on the LSU campus watching players...lol.

villagewarrior · 04-28-2009, 01:47 PM

I'm not sure if I would have gone the directions that Pioli/Haley did in the draft, but, I am going to have faith in them and hope that they prove themselves correct. The draft seemed very New Englandy, which their track record speaks for itself.

Some people were decrying the Jackson pick as being a bit of a reach. If they didn't get the value they wanted for a trade down, and Jackson is the guy they wanted, then I'm glad they took him at 3. Better to take your shot with the guy you want then try to force a pick with another player based on the public perception. I will say Jackson better start and go through his lumps this year.

I think we'll probably see Magee, Dorsey and Boone all competing to start at the other end spot. Obviously, it would be best if Dorsey could win the spot, but I don't think he has the length to handle it. Would be nice if we could have gone through with an Atlanta-type trade and move him, as I think he is seriously out of place in a 3-4 defense. Hopefully Magee will be starting in a year or two.

My thoughts on Washington are in another thread. Brown is interesting. He played in the spread and they were pretty good, so that shows that he has some athleticism to go along with that size. He could very well end up being one of the better picks in this draft if he can prove to be a good run blocker. He may be the long term solution at right tackle, and I like the bookends of Albert and Brown.

Lawrence I expect to win the kickoff return duties. If he can be a slot guy too, that would be great. Williams I don't expect much from, but he looks like maybe he could be that intermediate guy between LJ and Charles. Everything I've read says he blocks real well, and if he can carry the ball and catch it he may have a role in shotgun packages.

O'Connell I imagine will be on the practice squad this year, but he looks like he could potentially be a flex TE kind of a guy. He has some impressive measurables. Don't know how well he can play, but something about him says L.J. Smith to me. Succop, I don't mind taking a kicker again, especially with the last pick in the draft. Apparently he can punt too. He better be better then Medlock.

Splat · 04-28-2009, 01:55 PM

Numbers

1.94 Jackson, Tyson

3.71 Magee, Alex

4.20 Washington, Donald

5.61 Brown, Colin

6.14 Lawrence, Quinten

7.40 Williams, Javarris

7.45 O'Connell, Jake

7.6 Succop, Ryan

John Preston · 04-30-2009, 07:39 PM

Personally, I think that Tyson Jackson is Ty Warren if he works out. I don't think that's enough to warrant his contract or his draft position. I know people like to talk about how we got our bookends for this scheme, but 3-4 ends are dirty work guys, they aren't the guys who you actually build a defense around. You build a good 3-4 around the nose and the rush backers. Ngata, Hampton, Wilfork, Jamal Williams...those guys are the backbones of their respective defenses, along with Merriman, Suggs, Harrison, Woodley, a non-washed up Vrabel, DeMarcus Ware, Joey Porter, etc.

It just seems like everything we did in this draft was contrary to value on the board.

As a Mizzou fan, I was highly unimpressed by Colin Brown. Remember, he's coming from an offense that didn't even have a goal line set. He's got stiff hips and slow feet, and if you look at some of the game tape of the Oklahoma and Texas games from '07 and '08, as well as both B12 Ch. games, he got absolutely abused around the edge in an offense where the ball was often out in less than two seconds, and nearly all of their run plays were slow developing zone reads in the interior of the line. They seldom, if ever, ran behind Brown. I think passing on Meredith and Robinson for him is indefensible.

Maybe Pioli's a magic man, but I also have an ever growing worry that he was merely a tagalong for the Belichick and Brady show. I'd love it if he was just Tom Dimitroff, but a lot of these moves he's made so far just look very reminiscent of Carl Peterson. Signing declining FAs from the good ole boy network and now picking up scraps that simply can't hack it, like Ghiaucic.

:(

TG-HoF · 05-01-2009, 03:45 AM

He signed Zac Thomas to a 1-year deal so we wouldn't have to live through another year of Pat Thomas and Rocky Boiman. Please stop with all the posts about how we are investing in old players. It is a 1 year contract and it prevents the Chiefs from putting another guy that should be bagging groceries in at linebacker.

nepg · 05-01-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Preston

Personally, I think that Tyson Jackson is Ty Warren if he works out. I don't think that's enough to warrant his contract or his draft position. I know people like to talk about how we got our bookends for this scheme, but 3-4 ends are dirty work guys, they aren't the guys who you actually build a defense around. You build a good 3-4 around the nose and the rush backers. Ngata, Hampton, Wilfork, Jamal Williams...those guys are the backbones of their respective defenses, along with Merriman, Suggs, Harrison, Woodley, a non-washed up Vrabel, DeMarcus Ware, Joey Porter, etc.

WRONG!

The Patriots' defense was completely built around the DE's and NT. The linebackers are an afterthought. The only players they've gone out of their way to re-sign are the linemen (DE's in particular...who knows if they'll re-sign Wilfork).

Ty Warren is one of the best linemen in the NFL. In the New England defense, the linemen aren't just there to clog up lanes and hold blocks. They rack up stats just as much as (often more than) the linebackers. They're 100% the most important players on the field for them.

They'll put out some cash for an elite talent like Adalius Thomas or Rosevelt Colvin, but otherwise, they'll just be content with cheap, smart players at linebacker. Especially in the early-building process... They can't waste time having the coaches teach everything to rookies. They have to have veterans that require as little extra work as possible. In a year or two when they have veteran linebackers who know the system well-enough to help others, they'll be more willing to bring in younger players.

Look at what the Chiefs are doing - who they're bringing in. No project players. Just guys who fill a role, and can execute it without much maintenance from the coaching staff. It's obvious for me because, as a lifelong Patriots fan, I've been through this already (twice, counting Parcells). So knowing that, everything they've done looks good and makes a ton of sense.

villagewarrior · 05-02-2009, 09:31 AM

There is a difference between what the Patriots and Steelers do and what other 3-4 teams do. The Patriots and Steelers seem to value their defensive linemen more then the linebackers, other then Mayo, who has either team drafted at linebacker in the 1st round? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Other 3-4 teams draft the so-called rush linebackers, and while those players (specifically Ware and Merriman) have been productive, which teams have won the Super Bowls? The Patriots and Steelers. I would be more than pleased if Tyson Jackson turned into Ty Warren.

vidae · 05-04-2009, 04:48 PM

Our defensive line will be very good in a year or two I'm thinking. Fresh faces plus some decent situational/rotation guys could make us very strong there.