The Ultimate Chiefs Team: Offense & Head Coach – The premise was simple enough when I first broached ArrowheadOne Editor-in-chief, Laddie Morse, with the idea for this piece. What if we compiled an Ultimate Chiefs Team comprising players from all 60 plus years of the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs franchise? Laddie suggested we pitch the idea to some ArrowheadOne writers and they came through in fabulous fashion. Within an hour of floating the idea, our crack AO Writers had snapped up all the position assignments.
This is a two-part article and this is Part-One. Today, we’ll cover the Ultimate Chiefs Team Offense and Head Coach. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on the Ultimate Chiefs Team Defense and Special Teams.
Offensive Line – by Price Carter
- Willie Roaf
- Will Shields
- Jack Rudnay
- Brian Waters
- Jim Tyrer
Willie Roaf – Kansas City has had some amazing offensive lines to create such great running back success. It was really difficult to narrow it down to just 5. Willie Roaf made the most of his 4 years in Kansas City being selected to the Pro-Bowl all 4 years. Roaf was also a 4X All-Pro and was induced into the Hall of Fame.
Will Shields is a 12X Pro-Bowler, 2X All-Pro. To this day, he is still the only offensive lineman that has ever played his whole career for this organization, to be enshrined in Canton as a K.C. Chief. The Kansas native was, and still is, an outstanding person off the field too, as he started a non-profit organization named, “Will to Succeed Foundation.”
Jack Rudnay was one of the best centers in football during his career being named to 4 Pro-Bowls and snapped the ball for 12 years for the Chiefs. His consistency and longevity makes him the best center in Chiefs history.
Brian Water – Though Brian Waters was a left guard, I have him slotted at right guard. Waters is one of the greatest undrafted free agent acquisitions that the Chiefs have made. We went from undrafted to a 6X pro-bowler.
Jim Tyrer – Last, is Jim Tyrer who earned 9X Pro-Bowl selections and was a 6X All-Pro. He is a Chiefs Hall of Famer and was a nominee for the NFL Hall of Fame.
OL Honorable Mentions: Mitchell Schwartz, Tim Grunhard, Rodney Hudson, Ed Budde and John Alt
Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes – by Alan Haupt
Len Dawson was a very popular Chiefs icon for many years, but now Patrick Mahomes is being observed as the (arguably) the greatest quarterback ever to play the game. Even though he has not (yet) accomplished what some of the other greats have, his potential to do so has no limits. We see WOW moments from him almost every game; we see him performing highlight plays at a level that no other player has ever shown the ability to do so. Game after game we see outlandish passing numbers from Patrick, as he is constantly assaulting NFL records. There is really only one question left to ask regarding Mahomes enormous potential: How many Championships will he win?
Honorable Mentions: Len Dawson
Running Back: Jamaal Charles – Price Carter
The Chiefs might have the best history at running back of any NFL Franchise. Jamaal Charles, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and Christian Okoye are about as dominant of a stretch of running backs there are. Not to mention significant seasons from others such as Kareem Hunt leading the league in rushing in 2017 and Marcus Allen having 3 straight seasons of over 700 yards. When it comes down to who is the best though it’s not difficult. Jamaal Charles was just different, and he still leads all running backs in yards per attempt in NFL history.
Not only was Jamaal a dynamic speed rusher with incredible vision he also was a versatile pass catcher making him perfect for today’s NFL. I remember watching games and just shaking my head at the way he found lanes to run through when seemingly nothing was there. He also had the disadvantage of being the main and only weapon for several years. Teams knew he was public enemy #1 and they still could not stop him. Chiefs fans can only dream of what Charles would look like in an offense with Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Charles is the franchise’s leading rusher and was a 2X All-Pro and 4X Pro-Bowler.
Honorable Mentions: Priest Holmes
Wide Receiver: Otis Taylor – by Travis Rose
First, let me get my obligatory “Otis Taylor belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame” comment out of the way. His induction is long overdue. While it’s been over 45 years since he last graced the gridiron, the imposing fleet-footed, 6’3″, 215 lbs. wide receiver terrorized defensive secondaries for 11 years. Chiefs teammate, safety Johnny Robinson said Taylor was, ” … probably the most feared guy in our league.”
While Taylor epitomizes not only the standard by which we measure all Chiefs wide receivers, his toughness stands as a testament to the grit and determination of all Chiefs, past and present. When Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson speared Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson on a late hit in a 1970 Chiefs-Raiders game, it was Taylor who first jumped into the fracas, even though Davidson outweighed him by 50 pounds.
Len Dawson on his clutch wideout,
“Otis made my job easy. If you got the pass to Otis, you knew he’d catch it.”
Honorable Mentions: Tyreek Hill, Dwayne Bowe, Stephone Paige, Chris Burford
Tight End: Travis Kelce – by David Bell
I debated about this one because of Tony Gonzalez’s durability. However, Travis Kelce has surpassed Tony in all most every category. Kelce was a 3rd round pick in 2013 but had to sit out to heal from preceding injury. From 2014 to 2020, Kelce is an MVP candidate most years for the Chiefs, a constant Pro-Bowl nominee as well as All-Pro. I am not subtracting out what Gonzalez accomplished. I truly loved Tony, but Kelce is head and shoulders above all other candidates in my view. Barring an early end to his career, Travis Kelce will be a first ballot NFL Hall of Fame Tight End. Since he began play with Kansas City, Kelce has added a threat that no other Tight End can offer. He can run routes and get open deep, his speed and route running are beyond what most other men can do. Once he has his hands on the ball, his YAC is through the roof.
Travis now has 5 successive years with over 1,000 yards receiving and he ranked at the top of all receivers in 2020, coming in 3rd among all… receivers (not just tight ends). A look at his numbers tells the story:
- In 2020, he had 1,416 yards, averaged 94.4 YPC with 11 TDs (in 15 games). He took catches and gained yards downfield, broke tackles and moved the chains for his QB Patrick Mahomes.
- In 2019, Kelce had had 1,229 Yards
- In 2018 he garnered 1,318
- In 2017 it was 1,038
- In 2016 Kelce caught balls for 1,125.
Call him Mr. Consistency. In his first two seasons, he had 862 and 875 yards, respectively. There has been baseless criticism of his blocking and that analysis is absurd based on the evidence. In 2020, Kelce’s 1,412 yards broke George Kittle’s record (which Kelce had held a few hours before Kittle broke it in 2018). At the same time, Mr. Kelce set the NFL record for a TE, having multiple 100 reception seasons.
Travis Kelce is also extremely active in the local community and aids public events and citizens all year long, hence deserving recognition in the running for NFL Man of the Year. He also might win the NFL Offensive Player of the year in 2020. As far as I see it, as much as I love Tony Gonzalez, Kelce is my ultimate TE.
Honorable Mentions: Tony Gonzalez (who held the honor until Kelce’s 4 year run), and Fred Arbanas, who played under Hank Stram.
Head Coach: Hank Stram – by Ladner Morse
Hank Stram is in the NFL Hall of Fame and got the Chiefs to two Super Bowls including a victory in SB IV. Once Andy Reid is inaugurated – and he will be soon after he retires — into the HoF, he can join Stram as the best co-coach in Chiefs history. For now, I’ll stick with Stram. Hank also led the Chiefs to an AFL Championship in 1962 when the team was technically called the Dallas Texans. Nevertheless, Stram knew how to lead his teams to victory and was 124-76-10 as the Head Coach of the Chiefs/Texans, a .640 winning percentage. Add to that, four times he led the Chiefs to 1st place in the AFL (West), besides the Super Bowl victory, a year in which the Chiefs made the playoffs as a second-place team. For those of you who are younger and never got to see – or hear – Stram coaching, he was far ahead of this time in play calling and creative play sets. ESPN ranks Hank Stram as the 16th best head coach in NFL history citing him as an “innovator.” Stram players in the Hall of Fame include: Lenny Dawson, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Emmitt Thomas, Curley Culp, Johnny Robinson, and Jan Stenerud.
Honorable Mentions: Marty Schottenheimer, Dick Vermeil and Marv Levy (who is in the Hall of Fame for his coaching in Buffalo).
Tomorrow, we’ll complete our selections for our Chiefs Ultimate Team, presenting our picks for all Defensive positions and Special Teams. Until then, please weigh in on our offensive picks along with Laddie’s selection of Hank Stram as the Chiefs ultimate head coach. How’d we do? What choices were on target? What choices were complete misses? Better yet, tell us why? Voice your pleasure or displeasure in the Disqus comments below.
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