Vidae's end of year thoughts

[vidae]

The 2011 season is in the books and I think I can speak for most of us when I say it didn't go exactly as planned, but there is a lot here to be encouraged by. I predicted a 7-9 season at the beginning of the year in another thread, so I was right about that, but being THAT close to another division title and missing out hurts.

I'm going to touch on a lot of different things in this post so bear with me. It'll also be pretty jumbled but DEAL WITH IT, I wrote it at 3am.

Random thoughts

1. Romeo Crennel should be named Head Coach

He isn't a flashy choice but the defensive guys really respect him and it shows. Our defense, as a unit, has improved steadily every year under him and you can tell the difference. We're one or two pieces away from having an elite defense, and it's because of Romeo. He has previous Head Coaching experience too.

2. Josh McDaniels should NOT be named Offensive Coordinator

The days of "offensive genius" are over. You can make excuses for him all you want, but the Denver offense, while flashy, was never good, and the St. Louis Rams offense was the worst in the NFL this past season. Performances like that don't get you more coaching jobs, and they shouldn't. Blame injuries, blame their offensive line, blame their lack of weapons, I'm blaming him. And we can't forget one major thing: he is a douche. I'm not sure how the players here are going to respond to someone like him.

3. The Chiefs need a franchise Quarterback

It has become pretty clear that Matt Cassel isn't the long term solution at QB for this team. I'm not going to throw out a bunch of statistics here, you've all seen him play.. and it isn't pretty. Orton isn't much better, but he looks more like a QB than Cassel has in three years here. I'm not saying I want Orton for the future, but if I had to choose one going forward there is no question who I'm picking.

I'm tired of the way this team handles the QB situation. The Chiefs, as an organization, haven't drafted a QB in the first round since 1983. We took Todd Blackledge over Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. I'm sick of the same thing every year.. plug and play at QB just does not work. It isn't a recipe for long term success. Doing the same thing over and over has accomplished nothing. It's time to change. It's time to do whatever it takes to draft and develop our own QB.

I know drafting a franchise QB in this draft is a pipe dream at this point but if it were up to me I'd give up a good amount to make sure I secured Luck or RG3 (in the top of the first) or made sure I was able to trade back into the late first for Tannehill.

4. Injuries

Every team has them, but I'm not sure there was another team this year that lost so much young, exciting talent as the Chiefs. Our offense went from solid to stagnant with the losses of Charles and TonyMo but good news: they're both on pace to return for OTAs this year.

Losing Eric Berry was the worst for me. He is one of the most exciting young defenders in the NFL and our depth behind him was atrocious. Our defense really stepped it up this year, and that was WITHOUT Berry. I can't wait to see him back on that field and I can't wait to see the defense with him in it.

5. Barry Richardson

Not much to say here. He's probably the worst OT I've ever seen. He's good for at least two penalties a game and it's boneheaded mistakes that are holding him back. He had a ton of potential, but it's time to move on.

6. Re-sign Dwayne Bowe

This one is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. He's clearly the best receiver this team has seen in some time and when he's on he's hard to cover. He abused Champ Bailey before he got hurt in the Denver game, and he's always a matchup problem. This isn't the same Bowe that we drafted. That Bowe was lazy, selfish and a diva. This Bowe is a hard worker, humble and is exactly the kind of locker room guy that Pioli was looking for when he got here. Get it done.

7. Re-sign Brandon Carr

There might not be a more underrated defender on this Chiefs team. He still makes mistakes but I've been extremely impressed with him the last two years. Our pass defense might be our biggest strength on defense, and he's part of it, and there are some games when he outshines Flowers. They need to lock him up long term.

8. Thomas Jones

He's got nothing left. "Two Yard" Thomas is done. I'm over watching him run to the sidelines like his ass is on fire. Good riddance.

Shoutout corner

Derrick Johnson - This is the DJ we all knew he could be, and he has finally reached the top. I'm not sure there is a better ILB in the AFC right now.

Tamba Hali - One year wonder my ass. Still gives 110% on every play and still a player that people need to gameplan for.

Justin Houston - Started off slowly but really came on at the end of the year when RAC let him rush. I'm really excited about him next year.

Le'Ron McClain - Wasn't a huge factor, but neither was our run game when Charles went down. Still, he might be the most positive guy I've ever seen and is a GREAT teammate. He played hard every play and I'd love to see him back.

Kendrick Lewis - He might be the most improved player on defense. He really stepped up after Berry went down. These two are going to be an amazing safety tandem for years to come.

Ryan Succop & Dustin Colquitt - How amazing is it to have these two guys? Punters and kickers are largely overlooked until you don't have them. Colquitt is still one of the best in the business and Succop just signed a new deal, which was totally deserved.

Jonathan Baldwin - Missed a lot of the season and our QB play and offensive gameplanning in general was downright awful, but he showed flashes. With an entire offseason to work with the team and hopefully no more locker room fights I expect him to improve dramatically from year one to year two.

My dream coaching staff for next year

Head Coach: Romeo Crennel
I think Romeo has earned the job this year.

Defensive Coordinator: Todd Grantham, Defensive Coordinator, Georgia Bulldogs
Familiarity with Romeo and runs the same scheme. It would be a seamless transition.

Offensive Coordinator: Tom Clements, QB Coach, Green Bay Packers
I think he's about due for a jump. The job he has done with the Green Bay QBs is impressive. Rodgers is Rodgers, but Flynn is about to hit a huge payday too.

Draft needs

We're not all going to agree on our needs, but here is how I see it:

1. QB - This is our biggest need by far. Matt Cassel and Kyle Orton are not franchise QBs. They like Ricky Stanzi, but I don't know if he's the answer longterm. There are QBs in this draft with much more upside.

2. RT - Barry Richardson sucks. Enough said.

3. NT - I have no idea what is going on with Jerrel Powe, but Kelly Gregg wasn't as advertised. Some young blood there could go a long way for us.

4. RB - We need someone to pair with Charles next year. Jones isn't it. Battle isn't it.

5. ILB - Jovan Belcher isn't bad, but he isn't great either. The spot next to DJ could be upgraded, but I'm not sure if it's a top 15 glaring need.

6. TE and S depth - TonyMo is coming back from an ACL tear so grabbing a young TE to back him up is key. Leonard Pope isn't a longterm answer and Jake O'Connell is the very definition of meh. Jon McGraw at S is solid, but Sabby Piscatelli sucks and should be cut already.

7. 5 Tech - Tyson Jackson improved as the year went on but Glen Dorsey regressed from last year. I'm not really sure what to make of either guy anymore.

Mancrush corner

Every year I seem to lock onto a specific prospect (or prospects) that I want more than any other in the draft. A few years ago it was Brandon Flowers (go me)! Then Aaron Curry. Ugh. Then it was Eric Berry or Rolando McClain. Last year it was Phil Taylor. This year? Robert Griffin III. I can't help it. Gimmicky system, short, whatever knock you have against him I can't help but really like the kid. Every time I watch him play I'm impressed. I'm definitely not going to be the one that bets against him. It's just too bad there is no way in hell we have a shot at drafting him.

Well, that's all for me. Thanks for reading it. And if you didn't, **** you! :D

[nepg]

I don't think it's fair to McD to judge what he did with the Rams this year. Everyone on that staff was there the year before. None of them was a McD hire. He was plugged in to the OC/QB coach role, but wasn't given a staff or an off-season to implement his system with the current players and staff.

He had almost no control, and that's the vibe I get from what I've heard about that situation. It's like they expected him to come in and run Shurmur's offense and didn't take into account when they hired him that he has his own system. Similar mistake to Denver hiring McD as the HC instead of a defensive coach to work with the offensive staff that they already had. With the big exception that McD was able to revamp the coaching staff to suit his needs and run his offense in Denver, but not in StL.

There are a lot of misconceptions about Josh McDaniels.

[vidae]

Sorry, you don't get a pass for an entire year of NFL coaching. You just don't.

[nepg]

Originally Posted by vidae

Sorry, you don't get a pass for an entire year of NFL coaching. You just don't.

There were a lot of factors for the Rams that were out of his control.

*The coaching staff situation that I already mentioned.
*They had one player on offense that started every game.
*Steven Jackson missed one game, Jason Brown missed two. Everyone else missed four or more.
*Amendola & Hoomanawanui (the safety valves) missed the entire and over half the season respectively.
*Brandon Lloyd was brought in in the middle of the season and was the leading receiver on the year in every category (except YPC)

Not sure who you want to blame the OL on, but they gave up 55 sacks and were riddled with injuries all year aside from Harvey Dahl.

[King Carls 5 Year Plan]

i got a random thought that i have been waiting to talk about. when the Chiefs go into their nickel package in late game passing situations, they are primarily running a 4-2-5. the 4 down lineman in this lineup, in recent games, has been Hali DE, Gilberry DT, Bailey DT and Houston DE. the athleticism and pass rush ability these 4 guys display is awesome. all 4 are capable of taking over a game and becoming dominant. it maybe a poor comparison scheme wise, but it reminds me alot of what the Giants have been doing when they lineup with 4 DEs late in games. every offensive lineman has to lineup and just **** their pants knowing that the guy lined up across from them can whip their ass and kill their QB. i love that! that type of lineup instills fear into an offensive player that cannot be takin away. OCs have to plan and scheme around this. taking away possible targets (RBs, FBs or TEs) to help block. this type of aggressive pressure oriented defense is the calling card of many winning defenses. i'm really glad that Romeo and the defensive staff put together an aggressive package that takes advantage of the athletes and talents we have.

and that type of pressure has to just bring a smile to the secondary players face. Flowers, Carr, Lewis and soon to be Bery will just absolutely thrive and quick throws and batted balls.

[KCStud]

I like it vidae, but I just don't think we're in a position to get RG3. The asking price will skyrocket with so many teams wanting QB.

I think our best chance is to build the OL this year.

[bored of education]

Hell of s post sir. I appreciate your effort's in this. As you know, and as we have discussed I agree with you on almost everything.

Who do you think they tag, Bowe or Carr. I think it's Carr, he may get one year more than Flowers but Bowe will get a 5 year 60-72 mil type deal.

I didn't even think about Grantham(wow you ***** thanks for never telling me), but one thing he is the 2nd or 3rd highest paid coordinator in college making about 2 mil a yer. If we offer more than that then he is a sure thing but he is sitting pretty at UGA.

Clements is my ninja. I'd love him. If we get him that does not mean we have to get Flynn either. Even though everyone will say that lol.

Agree with draft needs for most part.

Agree with Justin Houston being the sexiest ninja ever besides Hali and DJ :)

[vidae]

I think they have to tag Bowe, not Carr. Carr seems like he'd be more willing to work on a deal and sign here long term. I can't tell with Bowe.

[nepg]

LeRon McClain didn't really do that much this season, but there were times where he stepped up huge. I love having him on this team. He made a couple big plays in the passing game. Hope they bring him back. He needs to take the off-season to get back to the form he was in in Baltimore, though. He looked like a blocking TE this year.