The idea that he has players in layered tiers is not new, of course.
But here's the problem with it: in any tier you care to look at, the most valuable positions get drafted first, because of course they should. Quarterback, tackle, wide receiver, passrusher.
The last players to be chosen in any tier are going to be the lowest value players.
And here we are. That's been the Chiefs last four picks in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the draft.
It's just not a great approach when you're always at the end of the round, which the Chiefs always will be under Reid and Mahomes. You need to be able to be more flexible.
The Chiefs selected a linebacker (which we do desperately need) and a center (which we kinda needed) when there were really good players in a lower tier still on the board.
How much better is Humphrey going to be than Blythe? Really?
Because remember that when we struggle to get a passrush in December, January, and February. Remember that in the Super Bowl when the Bucs run out the exact same coverage that blanketed us the first time and we still don't have a WR2 that can break free of 1 on 1 coverage. Remember that when, god forbid, one of our corners go down with injury in week 7 and we have to watch Rashad Fenton get raked for 8 weeks.
That being said, the Chiefs did get better this weekend. They just could have gotten a lot better this weekend, with how sexy the board looked when they were up to pick.
Pick by pick reviews.
LB Nick Bolton, Missouri -- The Chiefs probably have the best linebacking corps now that they've had in a decade. Hitchens finally seems to understand the system, Gay looked really solid all year and came on until his injury, and Bolton's going to be really good. He's a smart player with limited athleticism, so really a perfect Spags linebacker. But he may be a two-down player, and I see a lot of Kawika Mitchell in him -- neither of those are deserving of the 2nd round pick we spent. C-
C Creed Humphrey, Oklahoma -- I think Humphrey has Pro Bowl upside, and honestly the Chiefs track record on 2nd round centers is stellar with Mitch Morse and Rodney Hudson. I think he's going to be a starter here for 10 years. I'd had preferred other players, but this was a good get. A-
DE Joshua Kaindoh, Florida State -- I really don't like this pick, and only talked myself into it the day of the draft because we are so desperate at the position. Kaindoh has every bit of the size you need, but he just has no feel for the game. This is a Demetrius-Harris-sized project. Harris turned out to be pretty good, but it took us four years to get there. Kaindoh may yield the same returns at a different position. D+
TE Noah Gray, Duke -- I really hope the loss of Anthony Sherman didn't mess with our heads badly enough to take this guy, as the team later was communicating he could be a flex fullback. It's hard for me to get too worked up about Gray, however, one way or the other. I think he's fine, but a poor fit, but the 5th round on was just garbage in terms of options. C+
WR Cornell Powell, Clemson -- The questions with Powell entirely will be between the ears. He is already physically maxed out and is pretty great with the ball in his hands. I imagine he will peak out in a couple seaons as a WR3 in our offense, but if the Chiefs continue to fail to find a really good WR2, he could ascend to a shrug-WR2, someone to play the position non-pathetically until we find the next Sammy Watkins. I think his ceiling is Chris Conley, which is nothing to write home about, but that's a really great get in a draft this garbage. B+
OG Tre Smith, Tennessee -- Home run. No question. This is why you don't burn $80m on a guard, or draft one in the 2nd round. Dorsey made his living finding really good guards late in the draft, and Veach has finally done it himself. Smith will not crack the lineup this year, but he's going to be our starting RG in 2022 -- bank on it. I have no idea how Veach landed this, when it was late in the 6th round and teams were just taking long snappers because there was no talent left on the board. A+ [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
I thought he was a legit top 20ish dude and if he fell yeah it wouldn’t be ideal but the value is too tough to pass. I don’t think they’d have taken him at 31 but you can’t pass the way it worked out
So, he actually became less of a stud? When the **** did that happen? [Reply]
Originally Posted by kccrow:
I'm in alot of agreement with RunKC and a little disagreement with staylor here.
I'm a huge proponent of drafting based on production. If a pick comes down to a player that produced versus a player that has all the athletic traits but didn't produce, I'm going to take the guy that produced every single time.
It's a reason I was much higher on guys like Joe Tryon and Ronnie Perkins over guys like Odafe Oweh and Kwity Paye. Tryon and Perkins don't lack athleticism, they just don't show that "supreme" athleticism that you see with Oweh and Paye... yet both were far more productive than either, and, really, both combined.
I want football players, not track athletes. That's one reason I gave Bolton an A grade and have been high on him through the process. Bolton is a football player. He makes the plays and the hits, he aligns and diagnoses, all that. He doesn't run a 4.40 as an MLB but he's ahead of the curve with a 4.58 as an LB.
Yeah, if it's about production, Bolton and Humphrey were great picks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kccrow:
I'm in alot of agreement with RunKC and a little disagreement with staylor here.
I'm a huge proponent of drafting based on production. If a pick comes down to a player that produced versus a player that has all the athletic traits but didn't produce, I'm going to take the guy that produced every single time.
It's a reason I was much higher on guys like Joe Tryon and Ronnie Perkins over guys like Odafe Oweh and Kwity Paye. Tryon and Perkins don't lack athleticism, they just don't show that "supreme" athleticism that you see with Oweh and Paye... yet both were far more productive than either, and, really, both combined.
I want football players, not track athletes. That's one reason I gave Bolton an A grade and have been high on him through the process. Bolton is a football player. He makes the plays and the hits, he aligns and diagnoses, all that. He doesn't run a 4.40 as an MLB but he's ahead of the curve with a 4.58 as an LB.
I think we took production high, and we took athletic traits low. When you have a stacked roster that makes sense. It's how you get the occasional stud late in the draft. We don't really need any more mediocre guys, we need to hit on some late round gold. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chris Meck:
I think we took production high, and we took athletic traits low. When you have a stacked roster that makes sense. It's how you get the occasional stud late in the draft. We don't really need any more mediocre guys, we need to hit on some late round gold.
And last year we did the opposite at those positions.
We went for the high upside great size/athleticism LB in the 2nd last year. This year, they went with the productive guy with all the intangibles and baseline athleticism.
Last year they took a safe high floor guy at DE in Danna on day 3. This year, they went for the HR with elite size/athleticism at the position on day 3.
We didn’t need another Gay and Danna this year. We needed Hitchen’s future replacement, and we needed an edge rusher with legitimate starting upside. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chris Meck:
I think we took production high, and we took athletic traits low. When you have a stacked roster that makes sense. It's how you get the occasional stud late in the draft. We don't really need any more mediocre guys, we need to hit on some late round gold.
We couldn’t do it due to Orlando Brown Jr, but I would love for us to trade down and/or trade players and load up on mid/late rd picks.
There’s always good value falling.
Charles Omenihu
Darnell Mooney
Trey Smith
Hakeem Adeniji
Jon Runyan Jr
Mike Danna (what our staff saw)
Bryce Hall
So much value there. I know people say “there’s not enough roster spots” but I don’t agree. There’s lots of guys like Neimann, Watts, Wylie, Pringle, Saunders etc at the back end that can absolutely be replaced. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Gay is going to take Wilson's snaps. I'd be willing to bet at this point that we see a lot more of Niemann than most here want to see.
But Bolton is going to play.
So you think Niemann will continue to play over Gay? [Reply]
Originally Posted by MahomesMagic:
High picks should have both production and elite traits.
Both Humphrey and Bolton were considered to be fringe first round picks with at least some elite traits plus a ton of college production. They were picked at the end of the 2nd round. It's not like we're talking about taking Bolton at #17 like the Tardinals did with Collins. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
Absofuckinglutely this.
1. Nick Bolton had elite production and his ability to play downhill and knock people the fuck out is absolutely an elite “trait” along with his instincts, football IQ, and leadership qualities.
Originally Posted by staylor26:
1. Nick Bolton had elite production and his ability to play downhill and knock people the fuck out is absolutely an elite “trait”.
2. Joshua Kaindoh was not an “early pick”.
Nick Bolton was the 58th overall pick.
People have lost their fucking minds.
This all comes down to not picking a certain person. It has nothing to do with the value of the pick because people are talking out of both sides of their mouth. [Reply]