The Kansas City Chiefs recent draft has some fans wondering why they didn’t take more players who could seemingly help them win a championship in 2017. In a draft that was reportedly deep and wide with talent at the cornerback position, the Chiefs decided to take zero CBs and only took one DB late, Safety Leon McQuay III out of USC, a relatively unknown prospect.
While the Chiefs general manager, John Dorsey, has stated that his team of evaluators is dedicated to the best player available process, it would appear that neglecting to draft a corner in a deep corner draft was a mistake. Not only that but in reflection, we know that Dorsey made several trades to move up the draft board to procure the players he wanted most so the question is, why didn’t he value a top level CB in this draft enough to select one?
in each draft, there are a number of factors that influence a team’s decision-making process and those influences can change from pick-to-pick. While the biggest influence at any given time during the draft may be “who is available” the BPA approach doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to influencing a pick. The loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Arrowhead in January was an especially painful one, not just because it was a home game but because the current roster had given Chiefs fans everywhere some lofty hopes, deserved or not. Why bring that up here and now when most Chiefs fans have moved past that loss… for the most part? I don’t know about you but, I went to work the day after that game… and so did Andy Reid and John Dorsey. “Doing what?” You ask. Evaluating the team. JARD didn’t just jump straight into clarifying who they might take in the draft when the Steelers game ended. That would have been missing a huge step they had to take: deciding what their team needs were.
Team-needs: that’s probably the biggest influence on who the team will draft at any given point in time during draft day weekend. Take this for example: were the Chiefs going to draft a top flight TE in the first round? No? Right, because they already have one of the best TEs in the league in Travis Kelce… if not the best, period.
We aren’t privy to the end result of those team evaluations upon which JARD sets their offseason goals. In fact, every time the offseason begins… right up until the last draft pick… I don’t trust a darn thing they have to say. Most of what they do share during that time span is generic anyway but knowing what they hope to accomplish in the offseason is a complete unknown… for the most part.
Once the draft has ended — which was preceded by weeks of free agency — then a much clearer picture of JARDs offseason goals comes into focus. Consequently, we are then given a much clearer picture of their player evaluations.
Enter Terrance Mitchell: we all know that Mr. Mitchell tore it up playing opposite Marcus Peters in the latter part of the season. Was that because Mitchell was lucky or was he guessing right on the men he was covering. I’ve watched enough tape on him to see that he was using his ample quickness while keeping his focus on the hips of the WR (a skill they teach) and mirroring his moves… enough to know he’s a good one.
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So, why didn’t Mitchell work in other systems he played in? After all, he was cut by Dallas, Chicago, and Houston. I can’t answer that but I would agree with Pro Football Focus’ analysis of Mitchell late in the season. PFF said a week ago,
“Playing right cornerback in Kansas City’s sub-packages, Mitchell played 295 snaps, allowing just a 55.5 passer rating into his coverage, defending five passes while allowing only 42.9 percent completion during that stretch.
Some of his best performances came against some bona fide NFL wide receivers, including Amari Cooper (just 24 yards against on five targets), Demaryius Thomas (14 yards on four targets), and Antonio Brown (zero yards on two targets).”
If I was John Dorsey and/or Andy Reid and I had just lost my best, or second best, CB… a guy like Sean Smith… I would go into the draft and think about taking 3 or four guys hoping that one of them would be able to fill Sean Smith’s role… and… that’s exactly what they did do… in the 2016 draft.
Although, one of those CBs they drafted was not the one to step up and take Sean Smith’s place, it doesn’t really matter who it was when it comes to evaluating team needs in January of 2017. At least it happened.
The great thing about the situation with Terrance Mitchell is that he’s probably not done ascending. Andy Reid said recently in OTAs that Mitchell is more confident this year. While it’s “nice” to hear a coach touting such positives, it’s far more meaningful when a player says it:
“The more reps and the more experience you can get, it definitely makes you more and more confident. Just being out there gives me more confidence. I thank the coaches for just giving me the opportunity. With all the places I’ve been in my career, going up against all the different kinds of receivers I’ve faced, I always knew I could play, I just had to wait for my opportunity.”
Although Phillip Gaines and Steven Nelson (who was second only to Ron Parker among Chiefs defensive backs in defensive snaps in 2016 with 1012)… will both get a chance to become the starter at CB#2 in 2017, it’s Terrance Mitchell that looks to steal that job and make it his permanently. He’s certainly proven that he deserves that opportunity.
It’s not Gaines or Nelson who affected this draft as much as it was Mitchell. His presence at year’s end gave the Chiefs a real shot at getting all the way to the Super Bowl. His presence in 2017 is likely to mean the same, given certain other team improvements.
While Terrance Mitchell’s late season performance helped determine that no CBs were taken this year, the health and performance of the Chiefs running backs also helped determine the drafting of RB Kareem Hunt. Many fans, including my self, thought the Chiefs might target Alvin Kamara, who went to New Orleans at pick #67. With Kamara gone… and the poor performance of Charcandrick West and… Jamaal Charles being released… JARD knew they needed to make a move for a running back and Hunt just so happened to be someone they liked… a lot. So, John Dorsey wrote his “Trade-Concerto-#2-in-D”… by bartering away the 104th, 132nd and 245th picks for the 86th pick to wrangle in Kareem Hunt.
Unless those influences existed… as well as the extra picks being available… Dorsey and company would not have been able to make it all happen. Eddie Vedder once said, “Our influences are who we are.” If that’s true, then the Chiefs are about to become every bit of who they think they are because influences had a great deal to do with the outcome of the 2017 draft of the Kansas City Chiefs.
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