Would You, Could You, Chiefs Fans? 4.5.19

Would You, Could You,

Chiefs Fans? 4.5.19

by Laddie Morse | April 5, 2019

Like any other fan at ArrowheadOne, I dream dreams about the Chiefs signing sensational Free Agents and offseason dream drafts coming true simply because I once went to Disneyland (FYI, I have a doozy of a behind the scenes story at Disneyland). I also daydream of dominating defensive designs dancing in my head — I know, “Dream on” — producing a plethora of endless little zeros followed by… more zeros (when in reality, we see far more zeros on the contracts of defensive players than we do on the scoreboard).

Yes, I have spent a lot of time in the land of “What if?” Like, I used to think about… what if the Chiefs hadn’t drafted Steve Fuller in 1979… they could have had Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana his whole career. So, let’s take a look at some moves the Chiefs could make this offseason… and of course… most importantly… whether or not you would like these moves.

Would You, Could You: Give Brett Veach some major credit for a great trade: Emmanuel Ogbah for Eric Murray? Emmanuel Ogbah is a 6-foot-4-inch, 275 pound, 25 year old Defensive End with 12.5 sacks in his first three seasons in the league. Eric Murray is a 5-foot-11-inch, 199 pound Defensive back who has 1 INT and 7 passes defensed in three years in the league. While Ogbah still has upside, I am beside myself wondering how Eric Murray is still in the NFL?

I’m not about to compare Justin Houston to Emmanuel Ogbah because Ogbah would lose out, even in a comparison of the last three years of service… Ogbahs first 3, and Houston’s worst 3. While Ogbah has averaged 179 snaps-per-sack in that span, Houston averaged 85 snaps-per-sack. So, let’s not go there right now, not until we see how the Chiefs new coaches plan on implementing these new players.

However, comparing Eric Murray to Emmanuel Ogbah is nearly as ridiculous. Why John Dorsey would want his DB draft pick back from 2016 is anyone’s guess — ego maybe — but we’ve seen enough of Eric Murray to be wishing the Chiefs had someone else back there for the past two seasons.

By the way, does Emmanuel pronounce his last name… OOGH-buh… or… OG-buh? Let me know if you find out. I’m miffed, because Farzin Vousoughian says, “Oogbah.”

Would You, Could You: Be at all worried if Jon Gruden is able to draft QB Kyler Murray? Jon Gruden talks about Kyler Murray the way a father talks up his own son, and while this is the season for Coaches and General Managers to call in the s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r when truth gets a concussion on the field, it does concern me that Jon Gruden could end up with the 2018 Heisman Trophy winner.

As much as I was happy to see WR Antonio Brown leave the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was also not happy he went to a long time division rival like the Oakland Raiders. HC Jon Gruden also has signed huge and talented LT Trent Brown. While 4 years for $66M is an even “huger” contract for a Left Tackle, he is another piece that should help Oakland get better before they exit the Sunshine State and head to Vegas… can you say “out of the frying pan….” While the signing of WR Ryan Grant is not as bothersome, he does give Derek Carr — or whoever the QB will be — another target to worry about.

Now, that brings up the issue of QB. If Gruden decides to go with Kyler Murray, who is a combination of a: as-slippery-as-Russell Wilson, as-quick-as-Michael Vick, and as-tricky-as-Patrick Mahomes… it could work out to be a problem to defend for any defense. Would you be concerned at all?

Would You, Could You: Be satisfied with the Chiefs current CB corp if… they neither signed nor drafted anyone else this offseason? I’m sure you’re aware by now that Brett Veach has signed the best CB to come out of the AAF: former Chief, Keith Reaser. That gives the Chiefs these players at Cornerback: Kendall Fuller, Bashaud Breeland, Charvarius Ward, Tremon, Smith and now, Keith Reaser. Do you think those five CBs are good enough to begin the season with? Should the Chiefs be looking at that group and thinking: we need a major upgrade still?

I hear the Andy Reid voice ringing inside the hallways of my mind, “You can never have enough of those guys” when referring to DBs. That leads me to believe that neither Reid nor Veach is done with the corner’s room.  I’ve been following the Chiefs draft day preparations for enough years now that I can see the patterns unfolding each year in a similar manner: sign the free agents necessary to allow them the freedom to not be painted into a corner when it come to their early round picks.

So, what is meant by that?

Brett Veach likes to have all the options in the world if possible. Veach Goals:

• He’d like to have the most talented roster ever going into the draft.
• He’d like to have the most cap space ever going into every part of the season.

Brett Veach has already turned this team around because the Chiefs are not only already 12th in the league in available cap space, but the offense is generally considered the best around right now. Sure, that leaves a bunch of questions on the defensive side of the ball, but even Brett Veach will tell you, he doesn’t want any other team to be able to predict what he’ll do once draft day arrives. Once a team becomes predictable, they lose their leverage to achieve what they really want to achieve.

So, while the Chiefs may not be done cooking up this batch of cornerbacks, he’d also stand pat with this set of CBs if it means he can improve the team dramatically elsewhere.

Would You, Could You: Be happy if the Chiefs drafted TE T.J. Hockenson with their first pick in the draft? Sure, the tight end from Iowa has been compared to Rob Gronkowski in pre-draft circles, and although the Patriots may jump up to draft him, especially with the recent retirement and departure of their long time TE, Hockenson could also end up in a red and gold uniform playing in Arrowhead Stadium on Sundays this Fall. The question is, if tight end T.J. Hockenson fell to the Chiefs at #29, and the Chiefs took him there, would you be happy?

Using John Cooney’s “Eye in the Sky Report,” which came out this past Saturday here at AO, as a template, the Chiefs have made approximately 35 moves since January and 20 of those moves have been defensive. It’s reasonable to assume Andy Reid told Steve Spagnuolo when he came on as the Chiefs Defensive Coordinator, that the Free Agency period would be his to set fire to the roster or acquire the players he needed to make his defense work… but… when it came to the draft, both sides of the ball would get equal consideration from pick 1 through 256. No, I have no inside information that this is the case, but it does seem feasible. We all know how Andy Reid likes to “take care of his offense” and in this case, if Hockenson was to fall to #29, I see no reason for Chiefs fans to be upset with the idea that long after Travis Kelce stops being Travis Kelce for the Chiefs, T.J. Hockenson will still be stabbing at pigskins over the middle for K.C..

There’s the “In the Meantime” that should be considered as well: the real reason we could see this happen. Can you imagine how much “extra juicy sauce” the Chiefs offense could offer with another pass catching, road grading tight end in the mix? Just how much better could the running game be with an extra blocking TE in the mix, one who can also provide the defense with another playmaker to worry about. That would also take the loss of Chris Conley into account. Conley was a very good blocking WR and without him, you can expect Andy Reid to make a move to fill that void. Hockenson does that.

Yes, I get the idea that the defense has needs. However, at this point, no one… and that likely includes the Chiefs defensive coaches… no one knows what they’ve got on defense already. Yes, I get the idea that it looks like the defense still has depth needs. However, until training camp rolls around, we’ll never be able to answer any of the following D-hype questions:

• Just how much of a role can Safety Armani Watts play this year?
• Will Spags new scheme have a big positive effect on Anthony Hitchens?
• Is a DE rotation of Emmanuel Ogbah and Breeland Speaks on one side and Alex Okafor and Tanoh Kpassagnon on the other, enough to make a difference vs the running game, as well as enough to pressure opposing QBs.
• How much can Dorian O’Daniel contribute as a LB in pass coverage and can he be effective vs the run?
• What does Damien Wilson have to offer as a full time LB?
• Will Jordan Lucas be good enough to win the starting spot next to Tyrann Mathieu?
• Where does Reggie Ragland fit in this defense?
• Will Chris Jones suffer without the edge pressure that Justin Houston and Dee Ford could provide?

For almost every member of the defense, there is a key question tied to them. What that means is… until the Chiefs put it all on the field, no one knows for sure if they need to add to the existing roster: on that side of the ball. Which also means… we could see an offensive player taken with the first pick in the draft. In that case, would you be happy with that?

Would You, Could You, Chiefs fans?

Laddie Morse  —  ArrowheadOne

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