I know that Free Agency is less than a week away now, but whomever they sign won’t make a bit of difference if they don’t get the draft right in April. I’ve spent some time on DrafTek today and one of the features that I like about their ranking system is, they show prospects who have risen or fallen over the past week and designate how many places they’ve gone up or down in the process. While I recognize there is a bit of futility to trying to figuring out who — or whom — the Chiefs might draft, it’s clear to me that there are draft risers and fallers who could hurt or help the Chiefs when the 2018 seasons begins.
It may sound strange to begin this conversation talking about quarterbacks but that’s precisely what could hurt or help the Chiefs the most in this draft. On one hand last year’s first round draft move for a QBOTF may have taught Andy Reid — and to a lesser degree Brett Veach — a lesson they obviously had not learned in their four previous drafts with the Chiefs when they: 1) signed a useless UDFA QB named Tyler Bray and, 2) made two 5th round draft choices into worthless endeavors by taking QBs Arron Murray and Kevin Hogan.
If on one hand… Reid, Veach and company think it’s important to have another QB who can be developed into a starter — like perhaps, the 6-foot-5, 229 lb. Mason Rudolph from Oklahoma State — then the question becomes… where do they want to draft him? If he falls to pick #54 — the first pick for K.C. — then the Chiefs would have used their 1st round pick last year AND their first pick this year on the Quarterback position. Now, that doesn’t include the other picks the Chiefs gave up in the move to jump up and take Patrick Mahomes II with the 10th pick in the first round (the Bills traded their 1st-round pick to the Chiefs in exchange for KC’s 1st and 3rd-round picks as well as their 1st-round pick this year) but it would signify a marked turnaround in drafting philosophy.
If the Chiefs do that I think it would hurt the team overall. Sure, we don’t know if Mahomes is worth his salt… even though everyone is banking on him to come through. In the meantime, the defense is filled with so many needs that taking their first pick to address a position they had addressed early in last year’s draft would be shooting themselves in the foot.
If… by some strange chance Mason Rudolph is still there in the third round at pick #78, then don’t be surprised to see Veach and Reid to make Rudolph a Chief.
Another “hurt or help” prospect is OT Orlando Brown. Just a couple of weeks ago Brown was a first round pick. Now, he’s dropped to #53 on DrafTek whereas CBS Sports has Brown at #26, although they recently had him ranked much higher. By now, you may have heard that Orlando Brown had a bad Combine showing. Normally, I’d say don’t pay much attention to the Combine numbers but Orlando Brown’s combine performance was historically bad:
Oklahoma's Orlando Brown ran the 40-yard dash in 5.85 seconds, the 5th-slowest time by any player at the Combine since 2003 pic.twitter.com/rc8DRsY436
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) March 2, 2018
NFL Network’s anchor for the Combine event is Rich Eisen who ran a 5.97 40-yard dash, just 0.12 seconds slower than Orlando Brown. Eisen will be 49 years old in June. Orlando Brown’s results for the number of bench presses he could do at 225 lbs. was 14 (fourteen). That was lower than any other offensive lineman at the combine this year. I’m sure I don’t need to remind many of you that an offensive lineman must use his arms to punch the defender to either drive block him during a running play or knock him off balance when the defender is attempting to rush the QB. When an OL doesn’t have the strength to do that, it’s not good at all. The bench press is to a lineman… what the 40-yard dash time is to a wide receiver. I could live with Brown’s slow 40 time but his whole workout was bad except for his 3-cone shuttle. He says he’ll do better at his Pro Day. He’ll have too.
There’s another reason it would be a mistake to take Brown at any point in the draft. He was found to have on-field coaches yelling at him during the combine events trying to encourage him to not loaf. When you have a job interview in front of the world and you not only tank but then loaf (by the way, his excuse for a bad showing in the 40 was, “my breathing plan” was off)… teams need to stay away from him. Especially the Chiefs. I have read an article touting that Brown may have fallen enough in the draft polls so that the Broncos might be able to take him. Please God, please.
Then again, maybe if he falls to the 7th round….
I don’t want to spend half the time talking about quarterbacks today but, for some reason QB Mike White from Western Kentucky, has fallen about 15 spots in the past week to #90. Since the Chiefs pick at #86, I think he could help K.C. in that department. I love what he did in the Senior Bowl and have been a big fan ever since.
A prospect who is moving up the ranks is ILB (OLB) Jerome Baker from Ohio Sate University. I put OLB next to his name because that’s what DrafTek has designated him as. However, he played ILB at Ohio State and he played that position well, so, I’m not sure why he’s been changed. His size certainly isn’t in line with other edge rushers. He stand 6-foot-1 and goes 225. Not the ideal of what the Chiefs would be looking for in an OLB.
Jerome Baker can help the Chiefs though. Especially if they can get him in the 4th round with pick #122. Baker is up 20 spots to #113 but if he should level out around that spot and the Chiefs can snag him, it would be a good deal for them.
Jerome Baker has excellent lateral movements. His move to go underneath blocks is reminiscent of DJ, which is a huge compliment. One challenge that Baker has is allowing OL to get their hands on him. Once that happens, he’s usually unable to disengage which takes him out of the play. However, most of the time, he’s able to read and react. Baker can be seen reading a play as it’s developing and make his move towards where the ball is headed BEFORE it gets there. Some will call that instincts but you can tell he’s just ahead of the game — smarts wise. That’s the kind of guy we need being the successor to Derrick Johnson. While Jerome Baker is a little light in the britches, I can see him putting on some muscle without losing his quickness to the ball. His numbers are not half bad: in his last two years (he’s coming out as a junior) combined he had: 159 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, 2 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries.
There you have it. A couple of guys who might hurt the Chiefs draft if they go that route… and a few who could help. Anyone you’d like to see the Chiefs steer clear of… or wish they’d take?
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