FanPost

The Highest Drafted Bust To Come To The Chiefs Since Len Dawson

That's right, even Lenny Dawson was a bust before he got to Kansas City (Dallas Texans). Egadst. Another post comparing Alex Smith to a great quarterback when he's going to turn out to be Matt Cassel...wrong! Reid said he wanted to find the next Len Dawson and historically speaking, Alex Smith is the closest thing we could find to a Len Dawson story to bring to the Chiefs.

Len Dawson was drafted 5th overall in the 1957 NFL Draft and was a BUST. He started 19 games in his first three years and totaled 96 yards. Not yards per game, yards total. Sure the NFL was different back then, but Johnny Unitas, Y.A. Tittle, and Norm Van Brocklin all passed for over 2,000 yards and are currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 4th best quarterback in 1957 was Earl Morral for the 49ers who passed for 1,900 yards, and then went on to become one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL. So even back when the NFL was all about running, 96 yards from the 5th overall player in the draft was considered a major BUST. He then went to Cleveland where he threw for 108 yards over the course of 2 seasons. Then, he became a Kansas City Chief (1st year was as a Dallas Texan) and he passed for 2,759 yards in his first year and took the Chiefs to their first AFL Championship, and is now inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD AV
1957 22 PIT qb 16 3 1 0-1-0 2 4 50.0 25 0 0.0 0 0.0 15 6.3 6.3 12.5 8.3 69.8 0 0 1
1958 23 PIT 16 4 1 6 16.7 11 0 0.0 2 33.3 11 1.8 -13.2 11.0 2.8 0.0 0 0 1
1959 24 PIT 16 12 3 7 42.9 60 1 14.3 0 0.0 32 8.6 11.4 20.0 5.0 113.1 0 0 1
1960 25 CLE 18 2 8 13 61.5 23 0 0.0 0 0.0 23 1.8 1.8 2.9 11.5 65.9 0
1961 26 CLE qb 18 7 1 1-0-0 7 15 46.7 85 1 6.7 3 20.0 17 5.7 -2.0 12.1 12.1 47.2 0
1962*+ 27 DTX QB 16 14 14 11-3-0 189 310 61.0 2759 29 9.4 17 5.5 92 8.9 8.3 14.6 197.1 98.3 0 2 18

The trade for Matt Cassel was a flop. He's a great guy, but not a great football player. Fast forward 4 full years and we are making the same trade for Cassel again...except Cassel was a 7th round backup he played one season with one of the best offenses in the history of the league, and Alex Smith started for teams that ranged from downright awful to Super Bowl Caliber Teams. Alex Smith's first seven years are posted below as reference to show Alex Smith's comparison to Len Dawson when he was 27.

Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD AV
2005 21 SFO QB 11 9 7 2-5-0 84 165 50.9 875 1 0.6 11 6.7 47 5.3 2.4 10.4 97.2 40.8 29 185 3.56 1.11 14.9 1 2 -2
2006 22 SFO QB 11 16 16 7-9-0 257 442 58.1 2890 16 3.6 16 3.6 75 6.5 5.6 11.2 180.6 74.8 35 202 5.64 4.80 7.3 1 2 10
2007 23 SFO QB 11 7 7 2-5-0 94 193 48.7 914 2 1.0 4 2.1 45 4.7 4.0 9.7 130.6 57.2 17 121 3.78 3.11 8.1 2 2 0
2009 25 SFO QB 11 11 10 5-5-0 225 372 60.5 2350 18 4.8 12 3.2 73 6.3 5.8 10.4 213.6 81.5 22 134 5.62 5.17 5.6 7
2010 26 SFO QB 11 11 10 3-7-0 204 342 59.6 2370 14 4.1 10 2.9 62 6.9 6.4 11.6 215.5 82.1 25 140 6.08 5.61 6.8 6
2011 27 SFO QB 11 16 16 13-3-0 273 445 61.3 3144 17 3.8 5 1.1 56 7.1 7.3 11.5 196.5 90.7 44 263 5.89 6.13 9.0 6 6 13
2012 28 SFO QB 11 10 9 6-2-1 153 218 70.2 1737 13 6.0 5 2.3 55 8.0 8.1 11.4 173.7 104.1 24 137 6.61 6.76 9.9 7

Len Dawson was a BUST with a capital B until he was 27. Alex Smith was considered a BUST with a capital B until he was 27. When Matt Cassel was 26 and came off the bench to play for the Patriots did anyone consider him a BUST? NO, because he was a 7th round draft pick. Will Alex Smith turn out to be the next Len Dawson, very doubtful, but will he turn out to be as bad as Matt Cassel? Only time will tell. But I think Alex Smith's past success makes me way more excited than I would have been had I been alive and been a Texans fan in 1962 when they picked up Len Dawson.


This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.