Around Kansas City, I don't think this statement is much of a surprise: The Chiefs cornerbacks are really, really good. Brandon Flowers will soon be a Pro Bowler and Brandon Carr, while not a household name, represents among the best values in the NFL draft in recent years.
Recently, NFL analyst Mike Detiller of the Daily Comet asked around the league for the best starting cornerback duo in the NFL.
For some this may come as a surprise, but the team with the top starting cornerbacks in the NFL was the Cincinnati Bengals. The duo of Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph got four of the 12 first-place votes and beat out the New York Jets’ Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. Revis and Cromartie received three votes.
Also receiving votes were the Cowboys' Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman as well as the Panthers' Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall.
Both Flowers and Carr were selected in the 2008 draft which means they're just two seasons into their career with plenty of room to grow. One AFC personnel scout tells Detiller that the 2008 draft class is among the best in recent memory when it comes to cornerbacks.
"What is amazing is that Porter, Leodis McKelvin with the Buffalo Bills, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with the Arizona Cardinals, Aqib Talib with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mike Jenkins with the Dallas Cowboys, and Brandon Flowers with the Kansas City Chiefs all came out in the 2008 draft. Every one of those guys will end up being a Pro-Bowl player. That is as strong a group of cornerbacks as I have seen in one draft in the past 20 years."
Am I saying the Chiefs are the best? Not necessarily, but they're in the conversation. The Chiefs have placed an emphasis on the secondary in recent years. Herm Edwards had a knack for picking good defensive backs and Scott Pioli and Todd Haley have continued that trend with the selection of Javier Arenas, who is having a strong spring.
Maybe in a few years the Chiefs will be the model secondary but, for now, they need to at least be included in the conversation.