It’s hard to look at my grown daughter without also seeing all the many stages of her life from infant to toddler to teen years, college and so forth. I love and cherish all those stages. The same can be said for our Kansas City Chiefs. Yes, at this age many of the years begin to blend together in an endless stream of challenging seasons. However, this year the collection of talent the Chiefs have on their roster has as good a chance as any to challenge for a championship. The question is: will all the “stars” align? There was a time when Tony Gonzales, Trent Green and Priest Holmes all took the field at the same time for the Chiefs and it appeared that the “stars” on the team might align to bring home a title. However, it was a barren empty sky on defense and the lack of balance brought an end to each season with those stars in place.
Now, the 2017 Chiefs have the potential to field a dominating defense — if they can shore up that run defense — and have enough stars on offense to make their run to history.
The Kansas City Chiefs Groundhog Day
It seems as if we’ve been down this road before. What road? The road that leads to the land of same ole same ole. Are these Chiefs really in a place where their stars and depth are able to deliver on a title? A couple of years ago I would have touted the triad of Justin Houston, Dontari Poe and Tamba Hali but the window is now closed on those three.
The Defensive Stars Aligning
We will have to change the focus to defensive players like Eric Berry, Marcus Peters, and… and who? If you’re going to say, Justin Houston, we just don’t know how potent he’ll be in 2017. Yes, Bennie Logan should help stop the run but it’s more likely that Chris Jones will be that third defensive star. A player who makes other teams plan specifically for in preparation for facing the Chiefs. If Dee Ford begins to be a consistent force for teams to deal with, this could all change overnight and the Chiefs defense could make opposing OCs sick but quick.
The Offensive Stars Aligning
The offense seems on the verge. On the verge of what? Well, they seem to be reaching a point where they could dictate to defenses, what they want to do and when. Defining Tyreek Hill’s role will be key. I think Tyreek Hill is capable of DeSean Jackson type output. If head coach Andy Reid would place Hill as the number one wideout and Jeremy Maclin as the two, then both of those players could become stars as long as Maclin can return to form. Alex Smith, Tyreek Hill, Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce may be too much for most teams to handle… as long as the offensive line………..
Drafting an Offensive Aligning Star
If the Chiefs short-term goal is to win it all in 2017 then… they may be planning on selecting an offensive impact player early in the draft. Someone who can be one of their “stars” aligning. Players in that category may include: TE David Njoku, RB Dalvin Cook, WR John Ross, TE Evan Engram, and OT Ryan Ramczyk .
The Grand Canyon Wide Discrepancy
Grand Canyon. That may be overstating it a little but the difference is certainly noticeable. In listing players who could help the Chiefs win a championship in 2017, there has arisen a rather noticeable difference between the playmakers on offense and the playmakers on defense in the top 50 prospects. Here’s a list of the top prospects by CBS Sports. Below, the players in blue are offensive prospects and those in green are defensive. There are far and away more defensive prospects than offensive.
What is not shown here are the top ten and at CBS Sports, nine of the top ten are defensive. The Challenge for the Chiefs is… if they plan on taking an offensive player at #27, the odds go way down following prospect #21. From prospect 22 to prospect 50, only five of them are skill position playmakers.
Drafting a Defensive Aligning Star
So, based on the above information, the probabilities are much higher that the Chiefs will take a defensive player at #27… unless they move up and target a specific player. Malik McDowell, Marlon Humphrey, Charles Harris and Kevin King could all pitch in during 2017 without too big an adjustment.
What do you think? Do you see any possible offensive of defensive stars who could help the Chiefs in their first season… for their Super Bowl run?