Recent History Indicates the Chiefs Won't Draft a Linebacker with the #3 Pick

by Chris Thorman on Feb 13, 2009 8:16 AM CST in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Draft

Here is a better conversation starter than my lame post from earlier this morning.

Here's little statistical data for those of you arguing against the Kansas City Chiefs drafting Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry with the #3 overall pick.

Walter Football was kind enough to put together a chart of the top three picks since 1998 by position.

NFL Draft Year	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
2008	OT	DE	QB
2007	QB	WR	OT
2006	DE	RB	QB
2005	QB	RB	WR
2004	QB	OT	WR
2003	QB	WR	WR
2002	QB	DE	QB
2001	QB	OT	DT
2000	DE	OLB	OT
1999	QB	QB	QB
1998	QB	QB	DE

And for those that don't want to do the work of adding up the number of times each position was taken with those picks, here you go:

Position	Amount
QBs	14
RBs	2
WRs	5
TEs	0
OTs	5
G/C	0
DEs	5
DTs	1
LBs	1
DBs	0

This post from Walter Football was actually done in response to questions about why the crew there didn't have Aaron Curry being drafted by the Chiefs in their mock draft. This data was one of the main reasons the staff there chose Mark Sanchez for the Chiefs.

We're going to roll out the Mock Draft Tracker later today hopefully so make sure you stick around for that.

DJ talked about this same topic a few weeks ago.

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Comments

So what?

Past performance is no indication of the future, the value of your investment may go down as well as up, your home is at risk if you don’t keep up repayments.

Blame my wife!

by sir eccles on Feb 13, 2009 9:42 AM CST reply actions

You're behind the times Chris

I posted this three weeks ago. ;)

But that’s ok, I’d love to talk about it more.

Why are LBs not picked in the top 3? Because they are not the difference between being a good team and a Super Bowl contending team.

Why are QBs so frequently picked at the top of the draft even though so many bust? Because they ARE the difference between a good team and a Super Bowl team.

Derrick Thomas, fantastic HALL OF FAME Linebacker. As good as he was, he was not enough to push the Chiefs to be a team that goes deep in the playoffs. That is not an indictment against DT, it is simply a fact about the position.

A franchise LB will not make a good team a Super Bowl winner. A franchise QB does.

by ChiefDJ on Feb 13, 2009 12:44 PM CST reply actions

Ha

I thought this sounded familiar.

by Joel Thorman on Feb 13, 2009 3:29 PM CST up reply actions

A franchise LB will not make a good team a Super Bowl winner. A franchise QB does.

And I’ve been saying the same thing. You “build around” a player like that and you end up having a dynasty. We haven’t done anything remotely like that since we drafted Blackledge and then everyone in the org. had cold feet about drafting a QB prospect.

It’s OK if you get a bust in the draft. It happens. Good teams don’t give up on drafting a QB when it does. We need to change our mindset and do what Indy, Pit., NYG, SD and many more have done in the past. Try to draft a QB to make you contenders and build around his strengths.

Bill Parcell’s: "You are what your record says you are."

"My job is not to collect talent, but to build a team. Individuals make the Pro Bowl. Teams win championships. That is our goal."—Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.

by THE_TRUTH on Feb 13, 2009 12:53 PM CST reply actions

Exactly

Look at the other teams that picked the same year we picked Blackledge. You think the Broncos are sorry they drafted Elway or the Bills that they drafted Kelly? Hell no. The Chiefs picked the wrong guy, thats all there is to it. That doesn’t mean we should give up on getting that franchise guy though.

by ChiefDJ on Feb 13, 2009 12:59 PM CST up reply actions