Chiefs Potential, Ceiling, Athlete: Curse Words

by Laddie Morse | May 11, 2019

Chiefs potential, ceiling, athlete: curse words all.

Yes, the draft season is done and so is free agency for the most part but fortunately, what has really come to a crashing halt is all the curse words fans are forced to hear from the organizational talking heads. Words like potential, ceiling and athlete have become a big part of the Kansas City Chiefs lexicon and that terminology has reached the level of nastiness to hear that, you can assume nothing when you hear them. Let’s take each word, one at a time, and see what the “H-E-Double-hockey-sticks” might be meant when they’re used.

A Potential Problem

When a football player is typified as having potential it’s not good news for the Kansas City Chiefs fan. In an era when more is expected from the team in terms of playoff outcomes, adding a player who “might” help at some point down the line is not the best news. No, I’m not saying it’s “Fake” news but… it is “Ache” news. IOW, it hurts. Six years ago when I was writing for Arrowheadaddict.com, another writer named Stacy D. Smith and I debated over whether or not the Chiefs newly drafted LB Nico Smith would be a good player. Here was the preface for that debate:

“Not everyone was on board the Nico Johnson bandwagon… Arrowhead Addict senior staff writer Ladner Morse absolutely despised the pick, while fellow staffer, Stacy Smith, applauded the move. The two have been sparring in the comments for a couple of weeks now and so we thought we’d let them have it out in a two-part debate right on the main page of Arrowhead Addict.” –Patrick Allen 

Although I will admit that Stacy D. Smith may have gotten the better of me in that debate, years later we can safely say that Nico Johnson’s “P-word”, potential, was not that at all. Whatever the Chiefs thought they had as a “developmental” player was never realized. A 4th round pick, #99 overall, Johnson was an Alabama graduate that looked good in situations but he was never a starter there and ended his pro career with 23 total tackles. 

Being given the “Potential” or “Developmental” tag can be a curse because it can also mean that a player is given time and not expected to produce right away, like most other players. Then, that tag becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and they settle into the mindset that they have time to get better. Then, later becomes never… as it did with Nico Johnson.

A Stained Glass Ceiling

For Chiefs fans this may sound like a word that should be on Santa’s good list because of a player like Patrick Mahomes II who has a ceiling that is stratospheric in terms of his place among the best to ever play the game at quarterback, and that’s saying something. However, “Ceiling” usually means, “He looks like he should be good” and so, who wants to deal with “shoulds” during a stretch when the Chiefs could be making a Super Bowl run.

He should be good. I’d rather that the Chiefs drafted players who are good… than players who should be good at some point because they appear to have a high ceiling. Now, I’m not saying the Chiefs made those kinds of picks this year, but someone like Breeland Speaks who should be a good fit for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is a prime example of what can seem frustrating about the Chiefs at times.

Sure, we have to be patient with a new defensive scheme coming in but that’s just the problem for the average K.C. fan: patience. Now, how are you supposed to cheer for patience? Yes, that paid off in the case of PMII but, not all prospects are Mahomes. In fact, a very small percentage of prospects actually work out. That’s one reason I remain a big fan of the Chiefs trading away their first round pick for Frank Clark, a known commodity.

“The ceiling is the roof” and other phrases like it can leave the fan with a lot of hope… but not much in the way of a player’s performance that can be witnessed. Don’t get me wrong, hope is a good thing… but, we need to see results (there’s that impatience of a Chiefs fans who last saw a K.C. Super Bowl victory nearly 50 years ago).

Athlete Foot in Mouth Disease

This may be the most loathsome and spurious of sports cuss words for me right now. You may know who I’m referring to here before I even mention his name: Tanoh Kpassagnon. He was the Chiefs second pick right behind Patrick Mahomes two years ago, the 59th pick overall, a second round selection who the Chiefs should expect more out of, in his first two seasons: 274 defensive snaps, 17 tackles and 2 sacks was not nearly enough. Kpass may well end up being a very good defensive front 7 player but, that’s just the problem with him isn’t it. Might. Maybe. Could be.

The Chiefs haven’t even figured out who, or what Kpass is. Meaning, what position he will play. In 2017, he was designated as an OLB and in 2018 he was a DL. The problem with Kpass was also that the Chiefs didn’t appear to be developing him either. He had 159 defensive snaps in 2017 and that number dwindled significantly in 2018, to 115 D snaps. So, where’s the “great athlete” in those numbers? It’s like the old commercial says, Starkist doesn’t need Tuna with good taste, Starkist needs Tuna that tastes good.

The Chiefs don’t need a player who is a good athlete… they need someone who’s a good football player.

On the flip side, I do like seeing a player like RB Darwin Thompson lifting more weight than seems humanly possible, but that’s because there’s plenty of proof that he can already play football at a high level. That means, I have higher expectations for him, the 214th pick, in 2019 than I do for the Chiefs 2nd round pick from two years ago. It looks like the Chiefs will be using Tanoh as a rush-linebacker because they’ve moved him back to LB on their main site. Kpassagnon runs the risk this offseason of being cut because Breeland Speaks and Jeremiah Attaochu are also listed as LBs on the Chiefs Team page. That’s worth noting because Speaks was in on 40.4% of the Chiefs defensive snaps in 2018 (476) and Jeremiah Attaochu was brought in as a Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme-fit. With Kpassagnon, it’s put up, or get out time, for this “athlete.”

Potential, ceiling, athlete… the Chiefs need to acquire talent that can’t solely be described with those three lousy little expletives. Chiefs fans deserve to see polished players, well-development talent and finished products. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. I just hope it’s sweet pudding and not that British meat pudding pie gunk.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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