Observations of a Canadian Idiot

I apologize to Texas Chief for the terrible play on his title but I liked it. I am pretty much a lurker on AP and very seldom do I post but after reading so many posts and comments for the last month I have a number of observations and questions to put forth to you fine folks for discussion.

1. Haley’s Choice to Start Palko

I have been reading on every second post (it seems) how Haley blew it by starting Palko for 4 games. I just want to go through the timeline and give my two cents as to why I agreed with Haley’s decision.

New England – Orton wasn’t on the team, Palko was the back-up all year, he starts, no questions

Pittsburgh – Orton signed on the 23rd and arrived on the 25th, so he wasn’t even allowed to be added to the active roster anyway (I think) since he wasn’t around for the Friday deadline. Regardless, he was actually only on sight for 2 days. No way in hell Haley makes the same mistake Huge Axon made by bringing Palmer in early. Palko starts, no questions

Chicago – Everyone is up in arms that Haley starts Palko with Orton on the roster. The point is moot, Palko won the game. Clearly Haley played the guy who gave them the best chance to win.

New York – Orton was injured from the Bears game. Why not Stanzi? First off Palko had the game winning drive against Pittsburgh in hand but missed, so it is not like we were blown out, he beat the Bears, and…

2. Ricki Stanzi

Did any of you see Stanzi on the sidelines of the Pittsburgh game? He looked absolutely terrified and he was the one holding the clipboard not standing behind center. The kid, and I emphasize 'kid' was/is not ready and you could see it in his eyes. I just remember me and a guy at work both saw the shot of Ricki on the sideline and both immediately asked why is he even dressed?

I don't know what you folks saw during the preseason games Stanzi played in but I saw a white Casey Printers. He had absolutely no poise in the pocket. He got the ball and immediately started scrambling. Sure he completed a nice pass to DMC but that is all I can remember. I do remember incessant sacks and lost yardage though. (I may be exaggerating here but I was thoroughly unimpressed.)

I think the kid needs a major offseason training program, he needs to put on 15 pounds of muscle so he doesn't look so slight compared to everyone else. I truly think he needs to cut his ridiculous girl hair and maybe get a tattoo or grow some facial hair to man up his look. Then ditch the handle Ricki and go with something older like Rick, Richard, Dick, etc. You have to be big and tough in my eyes to pull off a 'Ricki' in the NFL (Ricky Williams as an example)

I personally do not blame Haley at all for starting Palko over Ricki against New York considering he looks like a scared 14 year old girl and after watching his demeanor on the side line. Please don't get me wrong I am not a Stanzi hater, I am a Stanzi waiter. I would rather wait to see him develop than throw him to the wolves.

3. Quarterback Competition

I just about shit my pants when I flipped to the NFL network last week and under the ‘Headlines’ portion of the ticker it read ‘Chiefs to look for QB competition." Holy Shit, I can’t believe it!!!!

But then I gave my head a shake, looked at who our GM is and decided I may have misinterpreted this statement. Yes, Scotty is going to hold a QB competition but there is a 98.765% chance that the competition is for the back-up position and not exactly for the starter. Yes, I would love to see a big time franchise QB in KC but it is probably not going to happen this year but I still have to agree there should be a competition for a better back-up. Croyle, Huard, Thigpen, Palko….that is a terrible history of back-ups. I would love to see a legitimate back-up in KC this year. Cassel has never really had to worry about losing his job given who has backed him up for the last three years. So it would be nice to have someone breathing down his neck. I think Palko gets the boot on March 13 and rightfully so, I truly feel Dick Stanzi should be and will be part of the competition this year, and then I am sure Scotty will bring in someone who has started before like a Henne, or a Campbell, etc. Is this great news? Not necessarily, but it will truly improve the depth on the team so I am not against it by any means, I am just not excited about it. This leads me to my next thought…

4. Trading up to get RG3

Right off the bat, I am not for selling the farm to move up to 2nd pick at all. I know Fisher is entertaining offers and rightfully so since they have Bradford but I personally do not want to see us give up a 1st, 2nd, 3rd this year and a 1st next year or whatever this bloody pick will cost us. I would WAY rather see us use these same picks to get an exterior OL, an Interior LB or a DE, a DB for some depth, a receiving TE for depth, etc.

I think if we solidify our O-Line we instantly upgrade our QB. Matty plays way better with an extra 2 seconds. He proved it in 2008 and 2010. We upgrade our O-Line and we instantly upgrade our running game. We add a TE that can catch and we are off to the races. I think our team is literally a few players from being great. If we give up the picks we need to get those players, I don’t like where it would leave us. This team needs to build from within and not be dependent on Free Agency. We are too close to blow the whole thing up now.

I am from Canada so I watch the CFL rather than College so I personally know very little about Griffin. I caught a few minutes of one of the games earlier in the year and he seemed very Vick-esque to me. I may be wrong and someone please correct me if I am. But if he is in fact more of a mobile player, we would need to re-think our entire O-Line would we not? We seem to be building the line bigger and stronger for pass protection and for the run. If we get a mobile QB we need to get a smaller more athletic line to move with him. I think the whole move sets us back on the offense since we may have the wrong line and the defense since we would not be able to draft some good players at positions of need. Plus, who is to say RG3 even beats out Cassel in the competition? Again, this is my impression of the guy knowing very little about him. Personally I think this entire conversation is moot anyway because Scotty’s (and the Patriots) MO is to hoard draft picks not sell them off. So I give this option about a 1% chance of ever coming to fruition.

5. Barry Richardson and the O-Line

I hate BRich on RT but I am not ready to throw him under the bus yet. I think with his size and speed he is better served on the inside at guard. I think he took all of those false starts because he knew he was slow for tackle and he was then trying to get the jump on the DE every time. This made him jumpy and tentative and he seemed to play more scared than angry like last year. I think if we move him to RG he would settle back down and get his mean streak back. I miss the beast on the sideline beating up coaches. I want him back dammit! Then you draft the new RT in the first, Hudson at Center, move Asamoah to LG, and Albert at LT. Weigman retires because his pride is going to get in the way of him being a 2nd stringer, Lilja goes to 2nd string, O’Callahan comes back and I think he is serviceable in a back-up role, then we still have big bad Mims and maybe another draft pick. I like this line for sure. It will do nothing but get better in time considering the relative youth throughout.

6. Peyton Manning

For some reason the media is saying Washington is first on Pey Pey’s list if he in fact leaves the Colts. This makes no sense since they have no receiving corp, a weak o-line, and they just plain ol’ suck. I know the team likes to throw away money but I just can’t see Peyton leaving the Colts to go to a bad team just for money. He is a ring down on his brother now so he is not looking to help rebuild a franchise. He wants to pull a Favre and take over a good one and make a run for the Super Bowl right now. I am pretty sure Shanahan is more sensible anyway. I could see Shanny trying to get Orton to Washington. Peyton I would think is looking at teams that are almost there like KC. I personally am not against him coming to KC at all, do I think he will, no, but we wouldn’t lose picks for him so I am not against the idea. I would love to see him here for a couple of years.

So these are my observations and thoughts. Please feel free to tear me apart or agree with me. I am hoping to generate some discussion and learn a few things while I am at it.

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