Talk of Glenn Dorsey Has Slowed Down, Which is a Good Thing

Remember all the talk of trading Kansas City Chiefs DE Glenn Dorsey over the offseason?  As far as we know that was just fan conjecture but there were plenty of reports out there indicating that the Chiefs brass were willing to part ways with him.

There were a couple of reasons reports flared up over the offseason. First, he doesn't have the size of a prototypical 3-4 defensive end.  Second, he showed up to training camp very over-weight. 

After Tony Gonzalez was traded, I would say the majority of the talk centered on trading Dorsey (and LJ, too).

These days, though, it's not brought up very often.  Dorsey isn't a Pro Bowler (yet?) by any means, but he appears to be doing what the coaching staff expects him to do.  Pro Football Weekly has a feature on the Chiefs coaching staff warming to Dorsey as a future piece of the defensive line (Thanks to stagdsp for the link):

"The way we hear it," Michael Blunda of PFW writes, "Haley and his staff have done nearly a complete turnaround on Dorsey and now view him as part of their future along the defensive line. Formerly a D-tackle, Dorsey might not have the speed or body type to be a prototypical 3-4 end, but he's gotten his weight down below 300 pounds and has proven to have a better grasp of the position than many thought he would, creating a good push up front and holding the edge against the run."

Interesting.  Have any of you noticed that we're not talking about Dorsey nearly as often as we used to?  To me, that's a good thing.  He seems to be proving at least some of his critics wrong with a season that demonstrates he can play the position.

Per PFW, of all the position groups the defensive end is one that they feel confident about heading into the future.  Tyson Jackson mans the other side and there's hope that he can turn into a player worthy of a first round pick.

It's tough to grade a 3-4 defensive end since his job isn't like a speed rusher.  I know a few of you have focused on Dorsey throughout the game and noted that he played pretty well.