On Sinking Ground

I however don’t agree that the late hire was the reason Pioli (arguably) had a shitty draft last year.

If Arrowhead Pride can do 1,000,000,000,000 mock drafts in an offseason, surely to hell Football Czar Pioli can make a big board with a couple Oline men on it in the 5 months he was on the job. I didn’t get the 3rd and 4th round picks last year, and I certainly don’t get them now. Those were perfect positions to draft interior linemen and if all goes well those picks (Magee and Washington) won’t see the field for the next 2-3 years.

The Giants had a really, really, really good DL/front 7. I think it’s kind of hard to come to the conclusion that that OL was bad because they got beat by a DL that came to play the way those Giants did. It’s also kind of hard to argue that the Pats OL isn’t one of the best in the NFL.

With that said: I would really, really, really like to have a good to above average OL and a bad-ass, one-of-the-best-ever DL.

because he probably takes the best player available whenever he can. Before getting into a long debate over T-Jax and “the reach”, remember that Pioli/Bellichick similarly “reached” for a guy named Richard Seymour at the beginning of the Patriots rebuild. It remains to be seen whether or not Jackson will be another Seymour.

I think that Pioli picking guys that are the best available is why we see picks from different rounds securing spots on the OL. So, who knows what Pioli is going to do? He might take Okung. Or McClain, or Berry. Trying to nail down what the Chiefs will do in this draft is almost impossible.

and OL takes time to get it together, learn what it takes to play at this level, gel with the rest of the line, etc …

if you also realize that Waters is getting up there agewise … now you have 3 positions to upgrade … and I think for the FUTURE of the team we should get as many potential OL as we can (within reason) starting with our #5 pick (Okung) and yes, 2nd Round as well

of him dejected on the bench. The Chiefs line dominated him so much they had the announcers talking about how Ray might be getting older.

That was a great game.

But he still plays with the same firece mentality as always, even if he doesn’t make all the plays. He’s the QB of that defense and is one of the main reasons its been good for so long… Much like Peyton is for the Colts.

He deserves to celebrate every tackle his team makes. Loved the way we handed it to em, though :-)

but I hope not.

I guess it would depend on what each of us defines as a “hole”. Does serviceable count as a “hole”.

The line and WR need some work just to get to 8-8. TE, fullback, and a second tailback upgrade is needed to get beyond.

But you cannot do it all in one year. Which is why I hope fans don’t get upset when Pioli does not go “their way” first.

I like the message…and to clarify…I liked your post.

how productive that could be this year with the way the league is with the collective bargaining.

1. picks usually come in right away and start though. Not sure about the rate of starting with #2s and o-line.

Branden Albert. Joe Thomas. Jake Long. Michael Oher. Ryan Clady. Those are all first round picks off the top of my head. All of those guys came in and contributed immediately, all of them starting all 16 games of their rookie season (as far as I know; barring injury, etc.).

2nd round OL:
Chilo Rachal (SF) started the last 6 games of his rookie year. Matt Light (NE) stared 12 of 14 played. Mike Pollak (IND) started 13 games. Aaron Sears (TB) started 16 games. Justin Blalock (ATL) started 14.

There tends to be a drop off in games started for guys from the 3rd round. They’ll generally start maybe half a season at most.

Point being, drafting OL can still produce immediate effects. Look at the dominant OLs in the game right now: NE, IND, NYJ, BAL, MIN, etc. All of those teams’ OLs are built through the draft, with one, or maybe two at the most, free agents holding spots on the OL. Drafting is more often than not THE PROVEN way to build a contender quality OL.

Cause he’s got the golden ticket…… la la la la

Now egg him on until you justify calling him a retart. Then, when Joel asks you about the whole thing, you blame it on Jcomp. I do it all the time.

in my comments where I said anything like that. We already have Albert at LT so if there is not an o lineman in the draft that is better than him to put at LT then picking an o lineman with the 5th pick would be a wasted pick imo

I’m not saying I want to draft Okung at #5, I’m leaning Berry or McClain if we can’t trade down and pick up some more picks. But I think it would be hard for Pioli to lay off a starting LT. Outside of QB, 34NT, thats as hard a poisition to get as there is and it would help us.