Everything you say COULD be true. But likewise everything I posted could also be true.

In my opinion, McIntosh is more of a finesse pass blocker than a mauling run blocker. If we had anyone better, I would have been more comfortable keeping him as the backup LT. But this year at least, we don’t have another good RT candidate. McIntosh, when he was healthy (which is a big question mark) did a servicable job. He’s not a Hall of Famer like we were used to with Willie Roaf, but he took care of his job. At the least, having McIntosh on the right side will keep a veteran presence on a very young O-line. I don’t think much of the idea of putting McIntosh at Guard, there really is no basis in it. He is not a run blocking guy, so why put him up the gut?

Barry Richardson could be a RT down the road, but from what I’ve seen of him, he’s extremely raw. He has good size and strength, but he lacks technique and some question if he has the nasty streak in him a good run blocking RT needs. In my eyes, Richardson is probably another couple of years away from being a starter.

The other guys you are so pessimistic about, Cottam and Albert, yes they are rookies and rookies make mistakes. The purpose of having the extra blocking TE on the left side though, is to support the LT so he is not going 1 on 1, minimizing the effect of whatever that players weakness is.

I’m always surprised how easily people slip into negativity during the offseason. The offseason is a time for optimism and hope.

There are quite obviously major concerns on the O-line. Its not going to be the best unit in the NFL like it was 3 or 4 years ago. However, there are alot of reasons, the top ones I mention above, why we can expect the line to be considerably better this year than it was last.

That is what we’re looking for in a rebuilding year. We’re not looking to instantly become the best O-line in the league overnight. We are looking to improve on the previous year, and next year we will try to improve some more.

So enjoy wallowing in your hopelessness if that is what you choose to do. I personally do not look at the Chiefs in terms of how good or bad they are immediately going to be this next year, but how good or bad the decisions they are making now will make the team 2 or 3 years down the road. Everything I see shows they are moving in the right direction towards making the offense a success by that time.

“We don’t have a "power running game". We tried that last year and it didn’t work, obviously.”

Even without a offensive line, much less one geared towards power running, we had some success until our power running back got hurt…LJ had three 100 yard games leading to 3 of our 4 victories. We were still running the Vermeil ground game, albeit with Solari making it worse by telling the other team’s defensive coordinator where we were going to run the ball. We now have a REAL offensive coordinator, and have made personnel changes to beef up the line.

didn’t analysts think Cottam was the one of the best run blocking TE’s available in the draft? And why would you think that playing in 42 games counted as “barely” playing in college? He was hurt his senior year and only played five games, but he played in 37 games in his first 3 years.

Finally, concerning Albert, no, he will not be Willie Roaf in Massachusetts week 1, but some rookies do succeed at LT (Joe Thomas did it last year with Cleveland) and you are wrong on one point, Albert has played LT before.

Your comment,

“It’s time to face facts. We don’t have a "power running game". We tried that last year and it didn’t work, obviously.”

overlooks a couple things. While it is true that we tried it last year and it didn’t work, you neglect to mention the reasons why it didn’t work, you also neglect to recognize that most of those reasons have been addressed in one way or another.

LJ is a power running back, he was out for half the year with an injury and not up to speed the first few games he was here. Solari was not an offensive coordinator, Gaily is. 4/5ths of the line is gone and 3 of the 4 replacements weren’t even on the team last year.

Saying we don’t have game this year because we didn’t have it last year is a baseless argument.

Albert is not going to the probowl is first season in the NFL. Let’s just get that out of the way first off. He will however be a force once he gets through the growing pains of the league. You obviously don’t know much about Cottam. He was a starter at Tennessee but spent his junior season injured and unable to play. He is mainly a blocker due to Tennessee’s focus on the running game. He was drafted for HIS BLOCKING ABILITY. Niswanger is going to be a beast at center. He couldn’t take Weigmann’s job because he was an undrafted rookie and Weigmann was getting paid. Also Solari was more comfortable with Weigmann because he was his O-line coach.

Oh, and when you respectfully disagree with someone’s opinion. You usually show them some respect.

We will not be good but we will be better. There should be fewer sacks, a big difference in overall performance. I say that because of not only the size an athleticism but the 2 TE scheme will protect McIntosh and his under development in the pass protection. The O should not be as predictable in Gaily’s scheme. If there is improvement hopefully the D will be as well, maybe around 8 wins, most coming late in the season.

I believe that last year, our O-line coach was Matsko, the guy who had been the assistant under Solari. He is gone and now we have Bob Bicknell, who was the assistant under Matsko. From the Mothership…

Bob Bicknell

Nice Job DJ

Absolutely nothing.

I couldn’t even make it through the last couple of games of the season it was so bad.

cautious optimism is different than blind optimism.

you want to see blind optimism go to prosportsdaily.com/forum for the chiefs forum and read some of the crap those people say. there’s at least a diverse opinion here.

and thank you for toning it down. I’m not a Christian, so my problem with your earlier post did not stem from that; rather, it was from the insulting and derogatory tone. However, that seems to have ended, so let’s move on.

It’s pretty obvious to me why D-Bowe, Tank and Turk didn’t start right away. In his first year here, Herm finagled a playoff appearance out of Vermeil’s roster. While recognizing that this team couldn’t continue to play at the same level forever, Herm stockpiled as many young guys as he could while gambling on one more year with the Vermeil guys. And we all know exactly how well last year went; the gamble obviously did not pay off. Now the rebuilding angle has come to the forefront because there was no other option.

As to Carl leading the team “right down the crapper”, please explain how. The Peterson-Schottenheimer years were some of the best years in franchise history, although there are no trophies or rings around Arrowhead to show for it. Gunther as HC was a bad move, but Vermeil did well and the jury’s still out on Herm – one good and one bad year.

The Chiefs, while not having won a Super Bowl since the ‘69 season, have been a fairly successful franchise (in terms of W’s and L’s) since Carl took over. You seem to have adopted a much too pessimistic attitude of “Carl and Herm had one losing season – the sky is falling, IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!” Not only is this a little too overly dramatic position to take, it’s also a premise adopted after only one bad season – certainly not enough to judge the situation.

If you post it respectfully, we will reply respectfully and can have a nice debate. If you don’t, then we will respond to you in kind.

There are alot of different opinions here at AP and we have alot of great debates about different topics. However, most of the people here are not bandwagon fans. We don’t jump on board with every complaint and criticism Jason Whitlock or other disgruntled fans spout and the flaws in those arguments are quickly pointed out.

So feel free to post your personal opinions at any time, as long as you do so in a respectful manner, we can have some nice debates.

Most of us are not blind optimists. We have a pretty good sense of where this team is going to be. But I would likewise caution you to not be a blind cynic and miss out on the good things that ARE happening and the huge changes that are taking place not just with the players but also with the coaching staff and administration. Don’t let mistakes that have been made in the past and the people you have scapegoated blind you from the fact that the Chiefs are FINALLY, for the first time in 15 years building the team in the RIGHT WAY. It is not going to mean immediate success, but the hope of all Chiefs fans is that a couple years down the road, the Kansas City Chiefs will be a dominant dynasty the likes of New England, Indianapolis, San Diego and Pittsburg (all teams who built their team the way the Chiefs are now doing).

big matt,

If Herm knew we were rebuilding right off the bat, then why was Dwayne Bowe buried on the bench behind Samie Parker and Eddie Kennison to start the season? I mean he was our first round pick, right? Similarly, our second and third round picks were stuck behind Ron Edwards. Hmmmm.

First, Bowe missed a substantial portion of training camp so he was behind the curve a bit on learning at the NFL level. Second, rookie receivers in the NFL rarely do that well in their first season. Look at Marvin Harrison, for example. It was three years before he got a starting gig. The curve for Calvin Johnson (if his back holds up) looks to be similar. Learning to run routes effectively and beat defensive backs takes time and three years is considered standard development. Finally, the Chiefs didn’t start out the season with the idea of rebuilding…Peterson apparently thought that the Chiefs were good enough to compete for a playoff spot (he was obviously wrong, which I was pretty sure of starting out) so he didn’t think it was a good idea to start a rookie receiver when that might cost the Chiefs a game or two (same with starting Huard over Croyle). Foolish in retrospect, but that’s what it was. Very little of it had to do with Herm…in fact I suspect he would have preferred to start this process from the beginning last year.

Similarly, our second and third round picks were stuck behind Ron Edwards.

Same thing with d-linemen. Development takes time and the Chiefs thought they had a better shot at winning with vets in at tackle (plus, Turk’s really too small to be a regular DT). Once the Chiefs realized they were out of it, the rookies got more playing time.

UCrawford seems to have a more reasonable perspective. Kudos.

Thanks, althought several of the regulars here I think were ready to string me up when I bagged on Croyle a couple of weeks back. For the record, I try to walk the line between being an optimist and a cynic. Falling too far to either side isn’t good. So while I may think the Chiefs have some problems, I also try to keep it in perspective and recognize that Peterson, Herm, Kuharich and Clark Hunt probably have some positive qualities too, so it’s important not to miss them (although King Carl shows fewer and fewer of them these days…but that’s mainly because he’s just been around too long). The others are right when they say that you shouldn’t wallow in defeatism. But you’re right when you say they shouldn’t let optimism overwhelm the realities of the situation. Balance is the key there.

For what it’s worth, I thought you brought up some good points and I don’t think most of the commenters wanted you to banish yourself. They were mainly taking issue with your tone. But I for one appreciated your willingness to take the high road and apologize and I hope you comment here again. Nothing wrong with disagreements between Chiefs fans as long as we’re willing to hear each other out.

And the more perspectives, the better.

HBO showed it on “Hard Knocks” last year (a show where the Chiefs were given final editing authority)...Herm Edwards was pushing to start Croyle and Carl Peterson openly shut him down because he felt the team had to compete for a playoff spot. So while I don’t think every game roster runs through Peterson, there is documentary evidence of him telling the coach who should be starting. To be fair, though, I think the same thing happens on many teams…just usually not on successful ones.

By the way, I think they’re going to be a very interesting team this season. Not sure if they’ll make it into the playoffs (I think their QB situation is going to kill that) but I think they’ll be spoiling the hopes of a couple of AFC East teams this year.

Ratz – sorry if my post didn’t make sense and appreciate the blunt opinions you’ve posted as your first drop here on AP. My point was meerly to show Matt that the power running game isn’t meant to be effective by a large YPC stat, but to wear out defenses and that LJ is great at it. My stats may have been confusing I’ll admit that.

I do however disagree with one thing: I don’t think we all just listen to Carl and Herm talk about their great rookies and all the rosy things that came out of OTAs, then report on it like it’s fact. Most people on here do their due diligence and come to the table with statistics to back up their points (which I know you are aware of). The bias reporting from the Star and Carlpetersen.com (aka KCChiefs.com) meerly gives us topics from which to discuss.

If you can’t have hope in the offseason, when will you? I personally am not going to root for any other team, so I want the Chiefs to do well. I personally do not have the power to get rid of Herm Edwards or Carl Peterson, even if I wanted to. So what good does all the negativity do?

Have you seen Niswanger, Albert and Cottam to KNOW they won’t be great players? You know no more than the optimistic fans do, but you make us sound ridiculous for hoping for the best when you could be just as ridiculous for being down on them.

I’m not a homer, but I love my team and want them to do well. Since there are things I can’t change, I look to the positive things and hope for the best. I do not care what the national media say and am not embarrased because I’m from a smaller city and feel inferior to the big ones.

So what benefit do you get from being negative about the team and why is it that anyone who agrees with your negativity is “level headed” and anyone who is optimisitc is drinking kool-aid? If the team wins, we both win, if the team loses, we all lose. So why put yourself through the angst and negativity of things you can’t change? Just seems like a recipe for frustration to me.

Not that I agreed with everything. For the most part I appreciated people reigning in Matt a little.
But good job expressing yourself and welcome to the site.
Another example of the self-policing that keeps things lively but civil ‘round here.

Oh… but then you had to tack on that little PS giving Statman Crawford a big head. (grin, wink)
Going to be just that much tougher to spar with Sgt. Just-the-Facts Friday now…

Left Tackle requires a combination of size, speed and intelligence that is difficult to find at the NFL level, talents that you can’t really coach up. You either have it or you don’t. The requirements for a Guard are a little more forgiving, which is why you generally don’t see Guards drafted until the later rounds.

As Chan Gailey said, in college “Branden Albert was a LT playing Guard”. He had played LT in High School and the only reason Al Groh (head coach of Virginia and a former NFL coach) put him at Left Guard was because they already had a very good LT in D’Brickshaw Ferguson (who would be drafted 4th overall in 2006). Groh had intended to move Albert to LT after Ferguson left, but they had another player that had come to the team that was capable of playing that position as well, but would not have been as good a Guard as Albert. Instead of having a great LT and a mediocre Guard, both learning new positions, they kept Albert at LG and put the new player at LT and had two great players at those positions. When the other player got hurt during the season, Albert filled in for two games at LT, the first game with only 2 days notice to get used to the LT position and played admirably in both games.

The point is, its not as though they plucked Albert out and are putting him at a position he is not physically capable of playing or that is all new to him. Look at his stats compared to Jake Long, they are almost identical except Albert is much quicker. Physically it doesnt get much better for a LT than Albert. Experience wise, he has played LT before. Both in high school and filling in in college. He DOES have alot of technique to learn to play LT in the NFL, no question about that. But that is something that can be coached and will be learned with experience, you can’t teach size and speed.

Once they do another round of roster cut-downs there’s usually a player or two of interest that shakes loose. There were a lot of linemen taken in this draft, so I imagine that a lot of linemen are going to see waivers. Perhaps a rookie that we liked for the draft that someone else grabbed or a young vet that fits rebuilding will be available. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind seeing us snag them.

Our primary back is coming off of a season-ending injury and he’s 28 (going to be 29 mid-season) and Charles was a first-second round talent. Cottam I’m less pumped about (I would have preferred an offensive lineman) but so far the feedback’s been decent about him. There are enough question marks about Pollard and Page still to justify taking more DBs (and, let’s face it, our secondary needed some major revamping). I think the team went best player available for most of the draft and best player available just rarely happened to be a lineman. But yeah, there’s a lot of work to be done in the trenches on this team.

and have 13 draft picks, the worst mistake you could possibly make would be to draft based on need. We drafted best player available and because of that, we got some serious steals.
Flowers – most people thought he was first round talent, some thought he was the best CB in the draft (at the combine, Flowers was Maycock’s #7 player in the entire draft)

Charles – only a bit slower than the fastest running back in the draft with the added bonus of playing for Texas, not East Carolina. The guy should have been drafted in the First round, so when he fell to Round 3, we grabbed him. Charles will not be a “back-up” he will be a change of pace, 3rd down back. if LJ needs to be spelled for part of a series, it will still be Kolby -Wan who comes in.

Morgan – some people had him ranked as the #1 safety in the draft, but most people had him ranked at, I think, #37 and we got him at #82. Huge Steal.

You also have to account for the fact that some of these non-linemen we drafted will help special teams immensely. Morgan is a missile on coverage, and Charles may end up as the KR.

If we are in this rebuilding thing for the long haul we will continue to draft BPA, as we have done with almost all of Herm’s picks, and after the 2009 and 2010 drafts, some of those best players available in Rounds 1 through 3 will be the o-linemen we may need to complete our line.

That Brian Waters has been passing along alot of the stuff Willie Roaf taught him to Brandon Albert and helping him out with alot of “What Willie would do is….” type stuff. I guess if you can’t have the man himself, the next best thing is the veteran pro bowler who played right next to him for several years.