Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

Losing Sammy Watkins While Making the Offense Better

LadnerMorse February 24, 2020 No Comments Gallery

 

Losing Sammy Watkins While Making the Offense Better – for some time now, even prior to the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LIV victory in Miami, I had come to the conclusion that the they would need to let wide receiver Sammy Watkins go this offseason to make use of the $14M they could save by parting ways. Although I am a big Sammy Watkins fan and love what he did in the postseason and believe he deserves our gratitude for his preparation, service, and ultimately, his big game performances… if the Chiefs hope to return to the Super Bowl next season, they will have to do so without him. Consequently, I’ve been of the belief that the offense would take a hit and may not be as good in 2020 as it was in 2019. I’ve even heard discussions (on K.C. talk radio) that the defense will be as good as the offense this coming season, simply because the offense will be taking a step backwards (a little bit) while the defense has already elevated itself to 7th in the league.

 

Bravos for the defense, however, that kind of talk has had me thinking about just how the offense would decline, and it certainly seems that it would, without Sammy making moves like the ones he put on the 49ers CB Richard Sherman late in the 4th quarter of SB LIV. However, then I came across an idea of just how the offense could get better yet. Even without Super-Sammy.

 

When you think of the Chiefs offense, what comes to mind first? It’s the passing game, obviously, and deservedly so. With Mr. 2018 MVP — Patrick Mahomes — at the helm for the next dozen seasons (or, to infinity and beyond) and… with the most dangerous wideout in the league in Tyreek Hill and… the best Tight End in football capturing passes and hearts across the middle of the field and America… why even ask such a question?

 

Why? Because it leads to the revelation that this offense has a weakness. Weakness, you say? Yes, one part of this offense is much stronger than another part and the weaker part is the running game (23rd in the regular season: 98.1 ypg). Even though many, including myself, thought that Damien Williams should have gotten consideration for SB LIV MVP… this 2019 Chiefs running game is not exactly what you’d call, a Power Running Game.

 

When you think of the Tennessee Titans offense, what do you think of first? That’s right, their Power Running Game, led by RB Derrick Henry. I’m not suggesting that the Chiefs go after Henry in Free Agency, because he is a Free Agent this year, but… could there be a RB in this draft who could fit the bill, and give the Chiefs that Power Running Game, when they need it most and give Damien Williams rest when he needs it as well? I say possibly.

 

Well, I’ve come across such a Running Back. In fact, I keep coming across him while executing the many mock drafts I do daily (yes, I realize am an addict) so it’s time to share. The best thing about this prospect is that he could be there for the taking in the 3rd, 4th, or even the 5th round of the draft.

 

His name is A.J. Dillion and he played his college ball at Boston College in the ACC. His yearly rushing stat look like this:

 

    • 2017 – 1,589 yards (13 games) – Freshman
    • 2018 – 1,108 yards (10 games) – Sophomore
    • 2019 – 1,685 yards (12 games) – Junior

 

Dillon averaged 125.2 yards per game over his three years at B.C.. The numbers are impressive alone but the fact that he is 6-foot-0 and weighs 250 pounds makes him an even more impressive specimen of a human being. [Note: he played in only 10 games his Sophomore year due to an ankle injury]. In his junior year of college Dillon showed he can catch the ball with 195 receiving yards, due to having a QB who could get him the ball, and he was named 3rd team All-American in 2019 as well. In high school, Dillon ran track, which included a 4.56-second 40-yard dash — I repeat, in high school. I can’t say why he’s not rated as a first or second round pick… but that possibly leaves the door open for the Chiefs.

 

Dillon can not only run through defenders but he made defenders miss too, and we know that Andy Reid loves that in his backs:

 

 

I don’t want to get too far down the line with this enthusiastic rant without giving you a look at the guy that has me excited. Here’s Dillon in his rookie season on a 53 yard TD:

 

 

It’s hard for me not to watch that play over and over again. I get hyped when I see someone throw a DB out of the way and then take four guys on his back for another five yards into the end zone.

 

As you might guess, I watch a lot of tape on running backs. I get excited about one RB or another for different reasons. In this case, I had watched tape on Dillon before but, when I found a video of him scoring a TD while jumping over someone and then bending his body sideways in half… I thought he looked like Gumby and when I double checked his size (6-0, 250), I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 

I watch some of A.J. Dillon’s runs and I just shake my head. Here he spins while at full speed and dances down the sideline for another TD. Dillon had 38 rushing TDs in his 3 years at B.C. (35 games):

 

 

Here’s another sweet tweet vid showing his balance going into the endzone:

 

 

DrafTek has Dillon ranked #143 overall and the 9th best RB in this year’s draft. I like what DrafTek does by showing an up arrow (in green) or a down arrow (in red) to indicate if a player has gone up the board or down the board in the past week. Dillon has jumped up DrafTek’s board 27 spots, which is about as big jump for any prospect that you’ll see there.

 

Here’s a fun little tweet showing what A.J. Dillon could do… and this is from his freshman year:

 

 

If Dillon can give the Chiefs a legitimate threat up the middle of the field on the ground, it would make all of Patrick Mahomes play-action even more effective and give the defenses they face, another thing to worry about. He’d also give Reid that banger he likes to use late in games, when all he wants is a first down and to run out the clock.

 

Here’s one of A.J. Dillon’s highlight videos. Go to the 2:05 mark to see the Gumby move at the goal line which I referred to earlier. 

 

 

This next video showcases Dillon’s ability to hit defenders… and hit them hard. It also mentions Christian Okoye up front, an apt comparison. Okoye was 6-foot-1 and 254 so we’re talking about nearly the same size of super human here.

 

 

Now, A.J. Dillon is carrying the load, not only on the field… but for his mother. When after all those years of raising him, she carried the load on her own:

 

“I had big goals myself. I had AJ when I was going into my senior year of college. The teachers told me, ‘Forget it. There’s no way you can carry this load. You miss three classes, and you’re going to fail the course.’ I carried my diploma and my child across that stage.”

 

 

Now we know where he gets it from. When he gets signed by an NFL team, he says the first thing he wants to do is buy his mother a house. Yes, he’s that kind of good hearted guy the Chiefs value. At the rate Dillon is rising in the polls, he could be a 3rd round pick by the time the draft arrives. However, CBS Sports has Dillon at #207 overall so maybe he’ll be there in the 4th. I sure don’t want to see Dillon end up in a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey because he’s exactly the kind of RB they like to select. I think it’s time the Chiefs bulked up at RB. With the combine this week, I’ll have my eyes out for this “man-beast.” Yes, I have a man crush on A.J. Dillon. Let me know what you think.

 

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

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