K.C. Chiefs: How Rome Was Built
You’ve all heard the old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” but the Kansas City Chiefs current regime wasn’t asked to build a Super Bowl contender in its first season nor did anyone expect it would happen in their second year. Now, the third year has come and gone and they are into their fourth season and sitting at 5-2, so one may wonder: has this regime built the roster into a championship contending team?
The Chiefs naysayers would say, “Not yet” but I’m wondering if the team is ready to take that next step right now. A ten game winning streak… and winning their first playoff game in two-plus decades… has many believing this team has arrived. Winning 14 of their last 16 regular season games and dominating the AFC West — which produced the last Super Bowl Champion — doesn’t hurt either and neither does winning all your home game for the past 12+ months (the last home loss was on October 11 of 2015 to the Bears). So, have the Chiefs arrived?
While asking that question on the fifth of November, near the middle of the season, may not be able to produce the results were looking for, it would be great to know what to expect moving forward.
Perhaps the best we can do to answer that question is to take a look at how general manager John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid have built this team. Early in 2013, at the beginning of their administration, John Dorsey was clear that he intended to build the team, “through the draft.” While that’s nice to hear, we’ve also heard the proverb: “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
So, let’s take a look at whether or not each player the Chiefs have acquired was through the draft or by some other means. To keep track, I’ll give Dorsey a “D” for every player he drafted who is still with the team, an “O” for “other” means of acquiring that player, and a “P” for any player who was acquired prior to the time Dorsey and Reid came to Kansa City. Then we’ll tally all the Ds, Os, and Ps.
Key
P = Prior to JARD, they came to the Chiefs
D = Drafted by JARD
O = Other means of coming to the Chiefs (trade, UDFA, FA, waiver wire, practice squad signing…)
Of the 28 players the Kansas City Chiefs have on offense, only one of them, Jamaal Charles, was on the team when Andy Reid and John Dorsey arrived. Since he’s on IR, you could say that they’ve completely rebuilt the offense, from the ground up, during that time. What jumps out at you when looking at all the players that JARD (John-Andy-Reid-Dorsey) have drafted… the one position group where they have 80% (4 out of 5) of their starters who are drafted players is… the offensive line. What is more striking to me is that only 11 players out of 28 on offense were drafted players. For a team that has been 100% rebuilt on that side of the ball, you would think it would be more than that. Especially since they stated clearly that they would be, “Building through the draft.”
On defense, the draft focus has been on cornerback. Four out of six of the corners on the Chiefs roster were drafted by JARD.
10 out of 26 defensive players were drafted and five of the starters were with the team before JARD arrived on the scene.
So, 39% of JARD’s 100% rebuilt offense, has come from the draft. On defense, 38% of the players came from the draft but five of those players were on the roster when JARD came in: Tamba Hali, Eric Berry, Derrick Johnson, Justin Houston and Allen Bailey.
No, I’m not about to call for a protest for malfeasance of truth in advertising. In fact, if John Dorsey was here right now (and who knows… he could be)… I’d shake his hand because frankly, it’s the formula I have always espoused to: do the best you can with the draft but sign and trade like crazy to improve every position of your team.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what John Dorsey — and to a lesser degree, Andy Reid — have done. Does this formula work if you have a head coach who is ego-driven or gets tired of training every vagrant-free agent that his general manager signs? I doubt it but what Reid and Dorsey have not only looks like a positive working arrangement but one where each is excelling at what they do best. That’s a problem Andy Reid had in his last run in Philadelphia. Reid, who, like many head coaches — and according to Bill Parcells — they come to feel that… “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.”
Having been-there and done-that, Reid trusts Dorsey to shop… and shop, he does. Some days, I don’t think the guy sleeps. Another change that appears to have evolved for Reid and Dorsey is their being willing to admit a mistake in drafting, trading or a signing… because now they are perfectly willing to move on from a player… even if they just drafted him in the third round. On one hand, you’d wish they had not wasted their high draft pick but on the other hand, you have to be pleased that if they recognize a guy isn’t what they thought he might be, are willing to cut ties and move on without malice or projecting failure.
In the case of KeiVarae Russell, we certainly hope there were “Lessons Learned” because the other prospects they could have taken are well documented (paging Dak Prescott… and G Joe Thuney woulda been really nice about right now).
Speaking of players no longer with the team… 6 out of 8 players from the 2013 draft are no longer with the team. Only one player from the 2014 draft is no longer with the team (Aaron Murray). Only one player from the 2015 draft is no longer with the team (Da’Ron Brown). While it’s too early to evaluate the 2016 draft, it should be noted that two players from this draft are no longer with the team (the aforementioned KeiVarae Russell and QB Kevin Hogan, now with the Cleveland Browns). That being said, I would rate this draft just ahead of the 2013 draft but behind the 2015 and 2014 drafts. You just can’t waste picks. Even Kevin Hogan was not a forgivable sin because there was value to be had in 5th round of this most recent draft and players were still on the board who could have helped this team down the line. At least John Dorsey has fixed most of his drafting mistakes by signing free agents who have become mainstays and starters.
While utilizing the draft, maximizing the trade vehicle and pounding the free agent pavement is obviously something that is now a hallmark of the JARD era the big question is… is the team getting better? I’m convinced that the team is deeper than it’s ever been and hat’s off to John Dorsey and his band of merry evaluators. We could look into the depth chart but it would only confirm what we already hypothesize: team depth is solid and as good as it’s ever been.
So how about the hallowed home record, now getting lots of airtime? Since the beginning of last season — including their first two games at Arrowhead which were losses — the Chiefs have outscored their opponents by an average score of 20.5 to 16.7. This year the home victories have an average score of 22.8 for the Chiefs and 16.8 for the opposition. Now, these figures don’t sound like an impressive amount of improvement, but it does tell us what we already know… the offense is improved and the defense is about where it was last year. However, we’re not even halfway done with this season and the defense has gotten itself back to where it was at the end of last year… and many are expecting a bump when Justin Houston returns as well. The offense is on an upward trend too so looking at improved figures at mid-season should only give us hope and encouragement.
The next step for the Chiefs is to continue to beat the teams they should beat while taking on and beating teams that are supposedly better… teams considered championship contenders. No, Rome wasn’t built in a day… I get that… but what John Dorsey and Andy Reid are building is apparent. Now, bring on the Jags and let’s go snot knockers on them! This team needs a game like that and I hope they’re not taking them lightly!
What do you think Chiefs fans? How do you think the building process is going?
