Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

2019 Chiefs, A Few Inevitabilities: Decisions, Directions, Availability

LadnerMorse January 28, 2019 No Comments

 

 

 

 

2019 Chiefs, A Few Inevitabilities:

Decisions, Directions, Availability

 

by Laddie Morse | January 28, 2019

 

We live in the land of the brave and the home of the free. We grow up being told that, “You can be anything you want to be,” and “You can do anything.” The realities hit closer to home once you leave it and find out, you’re only so strong, you’re only so gifted, and you only have so many resources or connections. If they made a movie of your life, it would likely be closer to the Bruce Willis flick called, “Armageddon” than the Bradley Cooper movie, “Limitless.” The same potentialities exist for our favorite franchise, the Kansas City Chiefs each offseason as well. There are just a limited number changes they can exact and a maximum degrees they can turn the ship to get the organization pointed in the right direction, a Super Bowl direction.

 

In the case of the 2019 K.C. Chiefs, there are a few inevitabilities, based on decisions, directions, and availability of players.

 

Looking at Team Speed in 2018

This could be illustrated by the Chiefs stating over the previous offseason that they wanted to improve team speed. Now, there are actually only a few positions where team-speed is important, but no positions where it is absolutely essential. Why? Because being a good football player trumps any given player’s speed. Take third round pick CB Phillip Gaines for example: 4.38 – 40 speed but, he couldn’t stay healthy nor stay with the WR he was asked to cover. So, what did the Chiefs do in the offseason of 2018? Release Gaines, who’d been with the Chiefs for 4 seasons, then draft CB/KR Tremon Smith in the 6th round. Smith used his 4.30 – 40 speed to serve as the team’s primary kickoff returner and also received some needed experience as a part time corner. 

 

Improving Team Speed in 2019

You have to believe that if the Chiefs were wanting to amp up team speed in 2018, they’ll be keeping a close eye there again this offseason. Since HC Andy Reid has made the decision to go with Steve Spagnuolo as the Defensive Coordinator many have speculated that Safety Landon Collins, a Free Agent, may be interested in following Spags to KC. If that happens, it will not only be because Collins is an excellent player, having made the Pro Bowl in his second season (2016), but because he had the fastest 40 time at his position (4.53) in the 2015 NFL Combine. The fact that Spagnuolo has a connection with him helps a lot of course. I’ve heard that Collins “loves” Spagnuolo and so, it looks like a possible reunion is, well, possible. 

 

 

 

Improving Team Speed in This Draft

While it is common knowledge that during NFL Combine week, GM’s and coaches alike, ogle over the 40 times of certain players, they also don’t place a premium on that feature of a player’s skill set. Nevertheless, no one will deny that the drafting of Tyreek Hill three years ago was controversial. When a good football player comes along with that kind of speed —  Hill’s 4.21 – 40 — you must reconsider that player’s football abilities. Here’s a look at two web sites’ rankings of the Top 10 Fastest players in this draft:

 

 

 

 

 

 

First of all, you need to know, there are no players as fast as Tyreek Hill in this year’s draft. The player who has shown up the most when executing a mock draft at either Fanspeak.com or FirstPick.com is Bryce Love, the running back from Stanford and he’s also one of the players who shows up on both of these Top 10 Fastest lists. Although the Chiefs are likely to take a running back who is more of a “between the tackles” ground and pound kind of guy, which Love is not, he could turn out to be a possible pick because of his ability to convert to wide receiver. Both Tyreek Hill and De’Anthony Thomas were running backs in college and the Chiefs converted both to wideout. So, there exists that possibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce Love in College

The story on Bryce Love is that he had a great junior year with 2,118 rushing yards as a junior, 8.1 yards per carry… and then fell to 739 yards as a senior, 4.5 ypc. So, why the disparity? At the beginning of the 2018 college season, Bryce Love was a Heisman candidate. Once the season began and San Diego State packed the box on him limiting him to 29 yards on the ground, other teams figured they could do the same. If you give Bryce Love an inch, he’ll take it a mile, but teams had figured out how to take away his space and angles. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t make a wonderful wide receiver in the NFL. When Love was a freshman and Christian McCaffrey was the starting RB, Stanford used Love as a pass catcher out of the backfield and he had 250 yards receiving that year. Getting players in space is Andy Reid’s specialty and if the Chiefs decide to bring Love to KC, it will be as a wide receiver. One that can move. This is from September of his junior year but it displays his speed well:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t know all the reasons why Bryce Love has fallen so far from last season to this, but there will likely be an adjustment once the NFL Combine and his Pro Day have concluded. However, if he’s still there in the 5th round, I’m hoping the Chiefs jump all over him!.

 

 

Improving the Run Defense

It takes a lot more than speed to be a good run defending linebacker. Being instinctive and physical and having the ability to beat a block is a skill set that is unique to few who play the game. I recall when Derrick Johnson was coming out of Texas and the knock on him was that he could run around blocks but not through them. After a few years in the league, DJ was doing it all and is now the Chiefs all time leader in tackles. DJ in his prime… that’s what the Chiefs need again. That player just might be had in a relative unknown, Buffalo University’s ILB Khalil Hodge. In his three years as a starter (psst… Reid loves 3-year guys) — Hodge had 419 tackles averaging 140 per season and 11 per game. Chris Trapasso of cbssports.com writes of Hodge:

 

 

“…everyone knows speed is important for linebackers in today’s NFL. Another vital aspect of playing the position is the ability to defeat blocks, and do so quickly. Fast linebackers can make plays when they’re given a free lane to the ball carrier. Fast, block-shedding linebackers are difficult to find and typically become stars at the pro level.”

 

Trapasso gives examples of Hodge being able to, “stack-and-shed” and usually keeps from getting “washed out of plays” and uses his “quickness and hands to swim around blockers.” That’s exactly the kind of “toughness” and “skill level” that Brett Veach was looking for last offseason.

 

DrafTek has Hodge ranked as the 57th best prospect in this year’s draft. DraftScout.com has him as the 221st best. CBSSports.com doesn’t have him listed in their top 100 but you can expect that to change as soon as more people find out about him. Khalil Hodge can not only hit, he can cover:

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/JUCOFFrenzy/status/916763787058925569

 

 

 

So, let’s take a look at Khalil Hodge’s ability to read, react, go get em… then hit!

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime in the next couple of weeks Andy Reid will have a media session and announce what his goals are for the offseason, in very general terms. It’s a good bet that “speed” and “toughness” come up in the conversation. I just hope that when those offseason decisions are made, that the two players listed here are available when the Chiefs turn to draft swings around.

 

 

Some fans may like the sample draft posted above. The juice to the offense with Reid being able to use two excellent tight ends could be another level of incredible for this offense. Others may look at that sample draft and notice the missing link, a Defensive Lineman. These players, this sample draft, all of it, is so precarious because there are so many intangibles, signings, restructuring contracts, releasing players, countless decisions and directions not yet determined, that it makes projecting moot or meaningless. Meaningless, I guess, unless you’re a Chiefs fan.

 

 

 

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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