Chiefs Offense: The Greatest Show on Smurf

As one of our favorite bloggers here at ArrowheadOne.com likes to say, “What we do here is all about laurels and limitations.” In fact, that’s why he even changed his blog name to that. Another of our esteemed bloggers has said he thinks there’s the possibility that the Kansas City Chiefs offense has the potential of becoming the “Greatest Show on Turf II.”

I, of course, have disagreed with that hypothesis because the Chiefs don’t appear to have even one piece of the offense that the 1999 St. Louis Rams had. So, while I’ll admit that the Chiefs offense could be radically better this year, the best I can do is bequeath thy name… “The Greatest Show on Smurf.” In other words, “The Greatest Show on Turf, LITE LITE LITE… and maybe one more LITE.”

Before you decide this is not a discussion path we should even be pursuing, let’s take a look at the comparisons.

First and foremost, there is runningback Marshall Faulk. I’d place Faulk in the top five of all running-backs in the history of the National Football League. Initially you’d look at the Marshall Faulk vs. Jamaal Charles and say, “Why would you even do that?” Because that’s what we do here.

Marshall Faulk averaged 39.0 yards receiving in his career. Jamaal Charles has averaged 24.0 yards receiving per game. That appears to be the major difference. Are you under the impression that if J.C. could have played his entire career for Andy Reid that his receiving yards per game would have been higher? I’m afraid not. In Charles’ first three seasons he averaged 22.0 receiving yards per game… so that’s not a big enough difference to consider. Faulk averaged 5.5 yards per game rushing in his best season, 1999. Jamaal averages 5.5 for his whole career. Fans can argue that Faulk did it for longer than Charles but were not comparing careers here… we’re just talking about whether or not J.C. could be as good as Faulk for one season. Teams have to plan for Charles, just like they did for Faulk, and teams will talk about making sure they take the right angels on J.C. because of his speed. Marshall Faulk may have had a better jump cut but, J.C. has world class speed and can break a long run at any moment.

The edge may go to Marshall Faulk here but Jamaal Charles has never played behind a decent offensive line, much less a line that included a Hall of Fame player like Orlando Pace. With the addition of RT Mitchell Schwartz, the improvement of Eric Fisher, the return of solid second year man Mitch Morse at center and with some stability at the offensive guard positions, Charles could have his best year yet. While we’re at it, the offensive line comparison goes to the Rams too. I’m not sure any of the current Chiefs can reproduce the efforts of Orlando pace and he was a big reason Faulk was able to ramble and run in space.

The quarterback battle will obviously go to the Rams Kurt Warner. I think Warner belongs in the NFL Hall of Fame. Alex Smith has been a very good game manager but he could be much better with improved play by his wide receivers.

Since Jeremy Maclin is the best wide receiver the Kansas City Chiefs have, we’ll compare him to the Rams best: WR Issac Bruce. The Rams #2 wideout was Tory Holt and when the Bleacher Report did a fan poll four years ago, 73.8% of their fans thought Bruce was the better receiver. However, we’re not comparing Bruce and Holt here, we’re comparing Bruce to Jeremy Maclin.

Issac Bruce averaged 14.9 yards per reception over his career. Jeremy Maclin has averaged 13.6 so far. Bruce ran a 4.53- 40 time (official). Maclin’s official 40 time is a 4.43. Over the first 6 seasons of Bruce’s career, he had 5,828 yards receiving. Maclin has had 5,859 total yards receiving his first six years. Issac Bruce ended up 3rd all-time in receiving yards so it’s hard to compete with that. However, that’s not what we’re doing here, we’re seeing if Jeremy Maclin is capable of what Bruce was at the same time of their careers and I think these stats show that Maclin is up to the comparison. Once again, I’ll take Issac Bruce over Jeremy Maclin but not by much. After all Bruce had the winning catch in a Super Bowl in 2000 so that says a lot. We can hope the same for Maclin, he’s certainly capable.

On the other side the St. Louis Rams had WR Torry Holt. There were times when Holt was better than Issac Bruce so once again, it would be difficult to choose any current wideout on the Chiefs roster who could perform at that level. However, for the sake of it, I will take the personally maligned (and rightfully so) rookie Tyreek Hill. On the field, Hill is looking like a veteran. Not just a veteran but someone like… say… DeSean Jackson. Am I saying Hill is capable of DeSean Jackson type output? That’s exactly what I’m saying. Tyreek Hill has already proven in 11 days of training camp (plus OTAs & mini-camp) that he’s going to be the Kansas City Chiefs new weapon on offense. Here’s a typical tweet about Hill, which by the way, happens several times per day.

https://twitter.com/TerezPaylor/status/762295236886458368″ xlink=”href

So, we’ll take DeSean Jackson’s numbers and plug them in here. In Torry Holt’s rookie year of 1999, the year the Rams won the Super Bowl, he had 788 yards receiving. In DeSean Jackson’s rookie year, he had 912 yards receiving. This is of course hyperbole on asteroids going super-nova, but from what I have seen up close and personally at training camp… and in the numerous responses of players… coaches… fans… and media… Tyreek Hill is capable of gaining Torry Holt type numbers in his rookie season. Why not? Still, I’ll name Torry Holt the winner of this battle… but there’s a chance that one year from now we’ll all be wondering how John Dorsey and Andy Reid could have known Hill would be so great. Here’s a throw that should give you a glimpse into the future of the Chiefs play calling.

https://twitter.com/pgsween/status/762382800628490240″ xlink=”href

To compare the rest of the St. Louis Rams wide receivers to the Chiefs collection of “others” begins with Az-Zahir Hakim. You’re going to love this memorable Az Hakim catch and run with an escort by Torry Holt. You’ll also enjoy the look on the face of Broncos HC Mike Shanahan as the Rams destroy Denver’s defense with their speed.

I think I understand now why Andy Reid throws so many balls into the flat… he’s having a  “Hakim-the-dream” moment. Az Hakim was 5-foot-10 inches tall and 178 pounds which is approximately the size of De’Anthony Thomas so if Thomas makes the team, he could fill that role. However, 1999 was Hakim’s second season and he gained 677 yards that year. Do the Chiefs have a 3rd WR capable of gaining that many yards? Mike Williams, should he stick, has gained more than that in each of his first three seasons in the league (964, 771 and 996). Still, I’m dealing out such outlandish optimism in these grandiose comparisons that even Don Quixote would blush so… once again I’ll have to give this one to the Rams.

Another significant wideout for the Rams was Ricky Proehl. 1999 was Proehl’s 10th season in the league, he gave them a veteran’s presence and he also made key catches at critical moments. He gained 349 yards in 1999. The Chiefs have Rod Streater to provide a little bit of a veteran’s presence and Streater is quit capable of gaining that many yards in one season. In fact, Streater averaged 736 yards in his first two season’s in the league so we know he’s capable. I’ll give this one to the Chiefs… because they deserve at least one win in this grand delusional comparagon (yes, I know, that’s not a word but did you know that Shakespeare made up over 1,700 words of his own so… I think he would approve).

It’s training camp and still time to be dreaming big dreams but I think I’ll just say this… we can expect the Kansas City Chiefs offense to be better this year. How much better? Well, not “Greatest Show on Turf” better… but they will be better.

What do you say Chiefs fans? How much better do you think the Chiefs offense will be this year?