Round 1
Dwayne Bowe was our run away pick in the mock draft tracker and to be honest with you, I'm surprised it worked out that way. Bowe was touted as the most "pro ready" wide reciever before the draft and that was more than likely the reason the Chiefs took him over another wideout, such as Dwayne Jarrett. For those touting the depth of the recieving corp in this draft and that the Chiefs could potentially wait until the second round to grab a WR, that was not the case. Before the Chiefs pick came in the second round at #54 overall, Dwayne Jarrett, Sidney Rice, Robert Meacham and Steve Smith were all gone. The recievers taken in the third round were Jacoby Jones, Yamon Figurs, Laurent Robinson, Jason Hill, Mike Walker, Paul Williams and Johnnie Lee Higgins. Everyone but Higgins was gone before the Chiefs drafted again in the third round. I think its pretty obvious in hindsight that if the Chiefs did truly want a worthy WR in this draft, they had to grab one in the first round. Probably the only other way I would have gone in the first round was taking Joe Staley, the OT from Central Michigan. Staley ended up going to San Francisco at the 28th pick. Regardless, I agree with Adam at Arrowhead Addict that Bowe has the potential to be the greatest WR the Chiefs have ever had. And thats not saying a whole lot but it still has some meaning behind it. Overall, I would have been happy with either Bowe or Staley in this spot.
Rounds 2 and 3
Despite making a couple of off season signings at defensive tackle, it was obvious to any Chief fan that our defensive line problems did not magically disappear. Aside from Alan Branch, Amobi Okoye and Justin Harrel who all went in the first round, Turk McBride (and fellow Chief draftee Tank Tyler) was rated as one of the top 6 or 7 defensive tackles in the draft. Personally, I think we took him a little high but we made up for it when we drafted Tank Tyler as well. Between the time the Chiefs drafted McBride, there was only one other defensive tackle taken before the Chiefs chose Tank Tyler in the third round. One way to look at this is that the Chiefs snagged 2 of the top 6 defensive tackles in this draft in two straight rounds. While McBride may not have been the sexiest 2nd round draft pick of all time, he does fill a need in an otherwise average defensive line.
Throw Tank Tyler into the same boat as Turk McBride. The Chiefs defensive line is weak so we drafted based on need. Its so weak in fact that we grabbed two DTs in the first three rounds. While I didn't necessarily immediately agree with the Chiefs taking two DTs so soon, the more I looked at the board the more I realized that they didn't really have much of a choice. The two remaining decent cornerbacks in the third round were taken long before the Chiefs at #82 overall. Ray McDonald from Florida, who went 15 picks later to San Francisco, would have been a good choice here too.
On the first day of the draft, the Chiefs did pretty well with what they were given. Unfortunately, picking late in each round results in either taking a guy too early or having to settle with other team's leftovers. I would have loved to see Aaron Ross drop to us in the first round but the Giants got him at #20 overall. The thing about this draft is that the Chiefs have so many legitimate needs- offensive line, secondary, defensive line and wide reciever- that you can't really knock the Chiefs brass for going in any direction but improving what needs improving. There was no throw-your-hands-up-in-the-air moment for the Kansas City Chiefs, where fans were screaming at the television asking what were they thinking.
On to the Brady Quinn theoreticals. As I'm sitting there watching Brady Quinn fall pick after pick, the more I became excited about Quinn possibly being a Chief. I think that if Quinn was there for the Chiefs, we had to take him. Brady Quinn is a potential franchise QB that would have been a friggin' steal at #23. Brodie Croyle, however beloved by Herm Edwards he is, was only a third round pick. Despite the hope for Croyle, the Chiefs don't really have much invested in him and could easily replace him with Brady Quinn as our future QB. If Quinn was there, I think the Chiefs should have taken him, shopped him around for an offer we couldn't refuse, then made him our franchise QB.
The first three rounds of the 2007 draft for the Kansas City Chiefs were a lot like the franchise themselves- ever hopeful but vanilla enough to make everyone else concentrate on other teams. We didn't make any huge splashes mostly because we couldn't.
Grade for the first 3 rounds - B
Stay tuned for analysis of the last four rounds of the draft later today and why the Chiefs took a Division 3 tight end.