The Kansas City Chiefs offseason is too interesting — already — so, I give you, a linchpin on the offensive line.
Could the Linchpin for 2018 Success Depend Upon an Offensive Lineman?
Honestly, I set out to write about the Senior Bowl practices I’ve been keeping up with. Day One on Tuesday had some intriguing footage of offensive linemen vs. the defensive linemen. The impressive performances of the OL led to me thinking about the need for the Chiefs to upgrade the OL at some point. Before going too far, let’s establish the Chiefs full frontal offseason needs list. I have separated them into, Primary Needs and Secondary Needs.
Chiefs Primary Needs
A Run Stopping DL– more than one. Bennie Logan was not the answer. So. let me say something about the order I choose to place they needs in: the Chiefs usually address their greatest need first… where there is no in-house solution. So, since Logan was not the answer to help stop the run — in fact the run defense got much worse with him in town… 7th at stopping the run in 2016 (with Dontari Poe) and 25th at stopping the run in 2017 — so it seems more likely to me that a Run Stopping DT is high on he list. So, a guy like Darrelle Revis could be re-signed and help the Pass Defense more than Logan could help the Run Defense.
A Starting Cover Corner– since they Chiefs have the option of re-signing Darrelle Revis, they could go that route one more season. However, they recognize that a cover corner is critical to their scheme and Marcus Peters is entering his 4th season.
A Rush Linebacker/Edge Defender– although it’s likely that the Chiefs give Dee Ford another chance and Tanoh Kpassagnon his first chance.
Chiefs Secondary Needs
An Interior Offensive Lineman– the Center and Left Offensive Guard positions. Much more about this below.
A Top Flight Tight End– if the Chiefs want to kick their offense into overdrive, they could draft one of the several excellent TE’s in this year’s draft.
A Backup Quarterback– Tyler Bray can not be counted on to backup your computer files much less your NFL team. Could Chase Daniel be on the short list?
Another Safety– Daniel Sorensen has proven that he should remain a backup Safety and if he has to be relied upon to play for extended periods of time… he shouldn’t. Eric Murray has proven he’s not a very good Safety.
A New Punter– if Dustin Colquitt can not be re-signed at a much reduced rate, he’s probably gone.
There’s nothing particularly exacting about this list. In fact, the Chiefs could end up ignoring their own prioritization completely… as I am sure they’ll ignore mine.
Take Defensive Tackle — a high need for the Chiefs — for example. In the past ten years, the DTs who made the Pro Bowl that were not drafted in the Top 13 of the draft, included 4 players: Kawann Short in 2013 at #44, Mike Daniel at #132 in 2012, Jurrell Casey #77 in 2011, Linval Joseph #46 in 2010. IOW, the vast majority of difference making DTs came from the Top 13 players chosen in the draft. Lofty heights unavailable to the Chiefs presently. Also, looking back over that list, only two were not taken in the top 46, which means, that if the Chiefs are to draft a DT who would make a difference for them in 2018 and beyond, the odds are that they’ll have to draft that DT in the top 46 players of the draft. As of this moment, the Chiefs don’t have a top 46 pick (the Chiefs first pick is at #54 as it stands now… at this pre-Alex-Smith-trade-for-picks moment).
So, unless the Chiefs clear out an incredible amount of cap space — which would require much more than just trading away Alex Smith — and then going after FA Dontari Poe and bringing him back, it doesn’t appear that fixing the run defense will be easy or fixed by some tricky-dicky scheme related move.
Another position not easily fixed is the Interior of the OL. Let’s look specifically at Zach Fulton. Zach Fulton is what you might call, the linchpin figure for not only fixing the OL, but the decisions that surround him, could either help the Chiefs move forward… or return to the middle of the pack. Plus, these same decisions could either end up crippling the Chiefs financially, or freeing them for future moves.
Zach Fulton is due to be a Free Agent having now outlived his rookie deal. Fulton was drafted with the 193rd pick in the 2014 draft. Here’s a review of his salary:
- 2014 – $420K
- 2015 – $510K
- 2016 – $600K
- 2017 – $1.78M
In 2017, Fulton earned more than he did in his first three years with the Chiefs. Why is that important? Do you remember a guy named Jeff Allen. He left the Chiefs because he could get a family friendly payday: 4-years for $28M with $14M guaranteed. Last year, Fulton sniffed his first million-dollar-year and more importantly, some team is out there and willing to pay him Jeff Allen-type money. Bank on it.
So… where am I headed with this? The Chiefs brass must decide if they want to stay the course by paying out a sizable contract to Fulton to keep him in the fold, or cast aside one of the most dependable offensive linemen they’ve had in the past 4 years. On one hand, why would you allow a guy like Fulton to walk when you are likely to need to maintain the protection you’ll be giving your QBOTF? On the other hand, is Fulton worth it? And, is he easily replaceable?
First of all, I have never thought Zach Fulton had even average NFL feet… feet that are good enough to pull and get to the second level. Is he good enough to fill in for an oft-injured Mitch Morse? Yes. But beyond that… I don’t see him being worth LDT money ($41.2M for 5 years).
Starting Center Mitch Morse is having trouble staying healthy so he may not end up being the answer long term. WHile that seems to increase the need for Fulton, this particular draft is stock full o good interior line prospects adn I think the Chiefs could look there for an answer or… answers.
Day Two of the Senior Bowl Practices focused almost solely on the QBs and ended with them throwing to some of the wideouts who will be playing in the Senior Bowl this Saturday. However, some camera work down on the practice field on Day One, showed some nifty work by several interior linemen.
The first to stick out was 6-foot-3, 330 lb Will Hernandez from UTEP. At the moment, DraftTek has him listed as the 53rd best prospect in this draft and since the Chiefs are drafting at #54, there’s a good chance he could be considered.
Mike Mayock says Hernandez reminds him of Richie Incognito. He said, “He’s 340 pounds, and he has a nasty streak. He’s a good football player and he plays through the echo of he whistle.” Hernandez played three years at Guard and played OT his senior year but is less known because he played for an 0-and12 team. I like his balance and quick feet (you know I’m all about the feet) and he is strong enough to latch onto a rusher on the inside of his jersey and not let go. Since offensive linemen are typically called for holding when they grab a defender outside the shoulder pad, this is a huge skill that many rookie rarely come into the league with.
Another interior lineman I like a lot is 6-foot-5, 319 lb Razorback Center Frank Ragnow. CBSSports ranks him their 32nd best prospect in 2018. Arkansas used Ragnow to pul on screen passes where he’s done an excellent job… which I’m sure hasn’t gone unnoticed at One Arrowhead Way. He has above average feet but his speed and willingness to pull makes him a good interior OL candidate in my book. Now, I’m aware that Ragnow will probably only be available to the Chiefs if they can trade Alex Smith for some high picks. However, that is becoming more and more likely.
With a number of positions for he Chiefs to focus upon in the 2018 draft, unless they make the right moves at one position — like the offensive line — they may, or may not, be able to address their needs at another position.
Here’s to hoping the Chiefs new general manager, Brett Veach, has all the right stuff and makes all the right moves… so he can make more right moves… so he can make more right moves….
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