The Chiefs Youth Movement

Every revolution has a revolutionary-in-chief and in this case that would be the Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach. When the Chiefs announced on Tuesday that Derrick Johnson would not be extended for the 2018 season, Johnson said in an interview that the reason was that the Chiefs were “going younger.” Why is that important to note? Well, because it should inform us to a greater degree about what direction they’ll be headed this offseason and why. Sam Mellinger at the KCStar put it this way:

“Veach’s emphasis on youth and the Chiefs’ institutional stance that their problems on defense are the fault of the players and not coordinator Bob Sutton mean a massive roster turnover is likely.” 

While many Chiefs fans have been waiting for the snit to hit the fan for DC Bob Sutton, HC Andy Reid set the record straight two weeks ago. In an interview with Terez Paylor when Reid was asked specifically about whether he had any plans to let Bob Sutton go, to which he responded:

“There’s nothing going on there. “I know everybody has their opinion on everything, just like they did when they wanted me to bench Alex (Smith). That turned out pretty good. So (replacing Sutton) is not where I’m at or have ever been. I don’t listen to any of that. I do what I think is right for the Kansas City Chiefs.”

While it has always been… Reid’s way, or the highway… it does give us some parameters for the changes the Chiefs will be making this offseason. So, look for the Chiefs to let go of some more of their older players like:

• Tamba Hali- 35 years old in November
• Ron Parker- 31 years old in August
• Dustin Colquitt- 36 years old in May
• Frank Zombo- 31 years old in March

It’s clear, if you want to get younger and faster, then cut the aging and slowing. Look at what Brett Veach has already done in terms of who he’s acquired since Dorsey’s exit:

• Kevin Pierre-Lewis- 27 years old in October
• Reggie Ragland- 25 years old in September
• Cameron Erving- 26 years old in August
• Harrison Butker- 23 years old in July

If you trade the above group of four players for the lower group of four players you save 32 years. That averages out to 8 years per player. Does that sound like a youth movement to you? Me too. Brett Veach has justification for such a youth movement too. Consider Derrick Johnson is 2015 (the year after his first Achilles) and DJ in 2017 (the year after his second Achilles):

2015 Snaps: 1,063 ÷ 95 (tackles) = 11.1 snaps per tackle

2017 Snaps: 848 ÷ 48 (tackles) = 17.6 snaps per tackle

You can see DJ’s production took a bit of a nose dive in 2017. However, I don’t believe you can use the “youth movement” ideology to discount the BPA methodology. It might be more correct to say that Veach is taking the best “value” for the money. So, while we may be witnessing a trend in younger players coming to the Chiefs roster, you can also expect to see those players making less money than their predecessors… by design.

Consider the quarterback position. One of the big reasons the Chiefs may have moved on from Alex Smith (besides the fact that he’s 33 and Kendall Fuller is 23) and are going to Patrick Mahomes is his value-window. If Mahomes can win big — including playoff victories — in the next three years, why pay a QB $18M to $25M per year when you can use a “youthful” talent for a fraction of the cost (Mahomes is set to make approximately $3.7M in 2018). If you’re Tom Brady and your wife make millions like you do per year, then you can take a huge discount on your salary giving your team room to improve the roster to keep on competing for championships. If you’re the rest of the league… you face the same problem the Chiefs are facing: how to maximize their youthful-value while making a run for a ring.

A youth movement is fine but… you would never say, if you were the GM, that you are going to take the YPA (Youngest Player Available). It sounds ridiculous when you put it that way. Now, while the BPA (Best Player Available) makes some sense… neither of these methods truly describes what’s really going on inside the draft war room. Consider this comment by Andrew Brandt for Sports Illustrated:

“… there was a traditional personnel-based room featuring sorted player cards with scouting measurables: height, weight, speed, vertical, hand size, Wonderlic, and so on. Then there was a financial-based room… featuring sorted players cards with business measurables: salary, prorated bonus, cap number, dead money acceleration, expiring contract year, age, agent, etc.”

While Derrick Johnson may be comfortable explaining away his eventual release by saying the Chiefs are “going younger” we should be hoping that new GM Brett Veach — still in his honeymoon year — is selecting players for more reasons than the lingering smell of pubescence.

If the Chiefs are going to jump whole heartedly into a youth movement then Chiefs fans should expect a couple of years of learning on the job. They can compete for the AFC West this year but the real strides will likely have to come in 2019 or 2020.

What do you think of a youth movement Chiefs fans?

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/the-chiefs-youth-movement/#disqus_thread)

…