| 2008 | 2009 |
| Dwayne Bowe | Dwayne Bowe |
| Mark Bradley | Mark Bradley |
| Devard Darling | Devard Darling |
| Jeff Webb | Amani Toomer |
| Will Franklin | Bobby Engram |
| Kevin Robinson | Quinten Lawrence |
| Marques Hagans | Rodney Wright |
| Terrance Copper | |
| Ashley Lelie | |
| Taurus Johnson | |
| ??? |
Other than the offensive line, the wide receiver position is most often pointed to as the biggest position of need. A quick review leads to Dwayne Bowe and, um, uh....
Yeah, it's definitely the biggest (or second biggest) position of need.
After Bowe there's a lot of players that do one thing very well. Most, though, have a "but" problem. By that I mean this: "Bobby Engram can be a very productive player, but he had injury problems last year." Or, "Devard Darling is very quick but that's never really translated to the field."
You see what I mean? Everyone after Bowe has a "but" problem. However, there are only so many players available and wide receiver shouldn't be a high priority because the success of that group doesn't necessarily determine the success of the team like the offensive or defensive line does.
That said, the Kansas City Chiefs did make great strides at the receiver position. When free agents are signed, instead of getting in an uproar saying, 'This guy's not any good!', I usually ask myself this: Is this an upgrade?
In the case of the 2008 to 2009 Chiefs, Scott Pioli and co. made plenty of upgrades. We won't get there all in one year, but the way to get there (Where the heck is there?) is by continually making upgrades at each roster spot, year after year. This is part of the Patriot Way and something Todd Haley has preached time and time again.
Mike Vrabel helped explain this idea of continually making upgrades at every position.
"Guys are going to come and go, and there are going to be guys constantly brought in to challenge you at your position. That’s just the way it has been. … You’re going to get an opportunity, and if you make the most of it, chances are you’ll get a second opportunity. But if you don’t, you can bet they’ll be looking for somebody else."
It's not a finished product yet, but the goal is to make upgrade, after upgrade, after upgrade. Of course the Chiefs haven't played any games, but you'd have a hard time convincing me the '09 version of the Chiefs receivers isn't better than the '08 version.
It's about upgrades and that's what the Chiefs have done.