Don't forget that Desmond King was a 1st team AP too.
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Look around at the "big hitting safeties" and their records of health. You just can't really be that size, play that way, and stay healthy.

Being what, 6"1 ish, 215-225 and flying around hitting RB's, TE's and WR's, having to take on OL in the screen game. You just can't keep guys healthy that way. It's the same thing I think when people want big bruising RB's that will run over people. They're great for the 7 or 8 games their healthy, but you just can't play that way.

Give me the guys that can avoid getting hit, or the safeties that can tackle but don't make their living being hitters.
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The Charger defensive backfield was just really really good. Front 7 too.

That's a really solid defense that should improve, or hopefully not.

I think the offense is about to hit the wall with Rivers looking closer and closer to the ledge.
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Sure would not hurt to stumble onto an all-pro defender in the 5th round...

King kinda proves my point a little, though. Do you think he'd have performed at anywhere near that level if he were here?

I hated seeing James fall to the Chargers because I worried that he'd be exactly the kind of force multplier he became. That guy is just so damn good and from his very first NFL game when he made that play on the Mahomes deep ball, you could see it.

But then again, the fact that he HAD to be that good to prevent that play showed us a lot about PM pretty quickly, now didn't it?
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Well, to be fair, we did at WR so i'm sure some are pretty pissed at that.

They really need a few of these defenders to really hit. Speaks, DoD etc. need to become pro bowl players at best and just solid defenders at worst.
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Gotta find a difference maker soon.

Houston's moving past that if he hasn't already and Ford's likely to price himself beyond it. They have one guy on this roster who is likely to be here and still move the needle in 2020 and that's Chris Jones.

Chris Jones and a bunch of JAGS will still be a pretty 'meh' defense. If you can get Chris Jones, another dangerous player and then a bunch of JAGS, you'll be in nice shape.

I just start to get worried that a lot of this stuff just hasn't synced up as well as you'd like. That we might be in a cycle of chasing/fixing/chasing/fixing. If we spend 2-3 years throwing resources at the defense we're going to find ourselves needing to replace Kelce and most of our OL in 2022 with an uphill climb on our hands.

There's nothing the Chiefs could've really done about it; the prodigal son wasn't available when Houston, DJ, Berry, Poe, etc... where young and decent. It's just bad luck in that regard. I just hope it doesn't keep us trapped in a rocking chair.

And that's why I try to avoid considering need all that much in the draft. In all likelihood, everything is need over the course of 2-3 seasons.
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Yeah, that's kind of what I come down to when looking at the draft and using some hindsight.

Frankly, I don't know that you can really know what your "needs" are until the bullets start flying and it changes every year. I think you just keep stacking as many good players in as many spots as you can and see what you come up with.

Plus with injuries and such.

My hope is that with this new coaching staff on defense we can start getting more out of less
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Plus, so much changes from year to year, it's tough to think to much about 2022 right now. I know you always need to be forward thinking but fuck man, we've got what, like 6 players left on the squad from 2015?
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I don't even need that much - I just need the whole to be at as good as the sum of its parts.

I spent this whole damn season saying "no, the D won't stay that bad because there's more talent than one of the 3 worst defenses in football..."

And I still firmly believe that. Houston, Ford, Jones, Nnadi, Bailey, Fuller and Nelson (yes, even Nelson) are all average or better NFL starting caliber players. Hitchens had certainly demonstrated that ability in the past. Sorensen had been part of solid defenses though admittedly he was likely over-exposed. By the playoffs I would've considered Ward in that average range as well. I just cannot convince myself that 2 or 3 players on a defense were so bad that they managed to sabotage the whole damn thing.

I mean sure, they can hold it back and in a matchup league they can be big problems, but still...it can't be just those 3 guys were that bad.

I keep telling myself that this defense didn't have top 10 talent last year, but its talent was enough to be firmly average. And if we can supplement it enough to make up for the almost certain loss of Houston, surely we can keep its overall talent level at/near average as a whole and can get the defense to play to that average sort of level.

And then hope we get lucky and find a way to replace Ford over the long haul that doesn't cost $16-$18 million/season...
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This simulator worked for me, on my first go went like a dream

1. Oruwariye
2. Samuel
2. Rapp
3. Tillery

I didn't adjust any settings, just clicked start. Maybe I had it on ridiculous fantasy mode.
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I’m pretty firmly on the adderley bandwagon now
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Keep a close eye on TE Dawson Knox out of Ole Miss

I think he's gonna time well and really would be talked about a lot higher if the Rebels Offense wasn't a total abortion. If you're looking for a stronger #2, I'd be looking there.
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I always have been. He's the one guy that I think could be a top-tier starter, at a position of need, at 29.

They're going to have to trade for a #1 CB and then get a #2/3 in the 2nd round.
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id be really happy if we could somehow trade for Rhodes or Peterson and grab Adderly in the first
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Probably gonna have to trade some of those picks for a corner tbh.

Gonna have to coach up someone.
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