Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 5/2

Alex Smith: "Accept What You Cannot Control" from The Mothership

Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith is used to impressing a packed-house audience, including the nearly 80,000 fans that fill Arrowhead Stadium, and he did it again on Thursday night. Smith delivered the commencement speech to the 2014 graduates of his alma mater, the University of Utah. After Utah president David Pershing, with the approval of its board of trustees, presented Smith with the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, the former Utes QB shared the following speech.

Chiefs Single-Game Tickets On Sale May 6 from The Mothership

Tickets will go on sale to the general public at noon on Tuesday, May 6. All single-game, group and partial plan tickets will be subject to variable pricing in 2014. Details on the club's variable pricing structure can be found at www.kcchiefs.com/variablepricing.html. Season tickets are not subject to variable pricing.

Ticketing Q&A With Chiefs President Mark Donovan from The Mothership

Where do the Chiefs rank in relation to the NFL on average ticket price?

"Not all of the teams have rolled out their pricing yet, so you can't do that comparison for 2014. In 2013, the average cost of tickets that we sold, we were about 29th in the league in terms of pricing and I don't expect that to change significantly. For Chiefs fans, in 2014, over 60% of our tickets are flat from last year. So, I would expect that we're going to stay in the bottom third of the league, in terms of average pricing."

KCChiefs.com Photo Gallery: Ft Leavenworth Play 60 Gallery

KCChiefs.com Video: Access Arrowhead: Eric Fisher's Draft Day

Utah Graduates Told To Embrace Imperfection, Learn From Failure from The Deseret News

During Thursday's University of Utah commencement ceremony, thousands of students, parents and school faculty stood and booed keynote speaker, alumnus and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.

He had asked them to, going so far as to give tips for effective heckling and suggesting a few names - Mendenhall, Kaepernick, etc. - to imagine in his place for a more emotional delivery.

"All jokes aside, that really happened," he said after the clamor subsided, "except times it by about 10. Imagine 80,000 people tearing you apart."

Alex Smith Can't Seem To Avoid Manning from ESPN

When Alex Smith made his first career NFL start for the San Francisco 49ers in 2005, the opposing quarterback that day was Peyton Manning, already well on his way toward establishing his own legacy as one of the NFL's all-time greats.

So perhaps it was Smith's destiny that the prime of his career will be defined by his, and his team's, ability to beat Manning and his latest team, the Denver Broncos. Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs aren't off to a great start in that regard. They failed to beat Manning and the Broncos in either of their chances last season.

Draft Needs: Kansas City Chiefs from ProFootballTalk

Given their free agent losses this offseason, the Chiefs could garner multiple compensatory picks in 2015, which could set them up to be a major player in next spring's draft.

However, the Chiefs enter the 2014 draft as a prime trade-down candidate. They have just six selections: one first-rounder (No. 23), one third-rounder (No. 87), one fourth-rounder (No. 124), one fifth-rounder (No. 163) and two sixth-rounders (Nos. 193, 200).

Here are the Chiefs' top draft needs:

Chiefs Install Variable Ticket Pricing This Season from Kansas City Business Journal

Donovan also harbors no illusions about avoiding criticism about the new pricing plan. The system obviously makes it likely that the Chiefs will make more money on ticket sales than they did previously because single-game tickets make up a large percentage of all tickets sold for any given game at Arrowhead Stadium. It enables the Chiefs to capture some money that now goes to ticket brokers and secondary ticket sales sites.

Faith, Football Align At Breakfast from The St. Joseph News-Press

"We have a very unique, very strong bond that has nothing to do with football," said kicker Ryan Succop as he spoke at the Civic Arena alongside punter Dustin Colquitt and long-snapper Thomas Gafford. "A lot of a times in life and in football, we feel like we have to do things on our own, but I'm here to tell that I can't do it on my own. I rely fully on my relationship with the Lord in my life."

Chiefs CB Parker Eyes Larger Role from Chiefs Spin

The students of Beaufort High School in Beaufort, S.C., receive an annual visit from a popular alumnus: Chiefs cornerback Ron Parker.

Entering his fourth NFL season, Parker, 26, makes it a point to bring a message.

"I try to show them that they can make it and that there's no excuse for them not to succeed in life," Parker said in a phone interview. "When I was their age, I didn't have any pro athletes talk to me and my friends. So I want to give the kids something that I didn't have when I was growing up."

Dorsey Won't Reveal Draft Strategy Today from ESPN

After going through the transcript of last year's predraft presser, the only thing of real interest I found is that Dorsey said the Chiefs had between 150 and 160 names on their draft board, or players they would consider drafting at some point. This year's draft is deeper than last year's, so I would expect the number to be slightly higher in 2014.

Chiefs Sign G Otis Hudson from Chiefs Spin

Hudson, whom the Bengals waived on Aug. 27, 2013, worked out for the Chiefs on Wednesday before signing a one-year deal to the league minimum, his agent Vinnie Porter told ChiefsSpin.com in a phone interview.

NFL Mock Draft 2014: NJ.com's First-Round Projection (Friday) from NJ.com

23. Kansas City Chiefs

Odell Beckham JR, WR, LSU

Head coach Andy Reid gets a player to pair with wide receiver Dwayne Bowe to help the offense. Reid had great success in Philadelphia with Jackson, and Beckham can do similar things for the Chiefs.

USC's Marquise Lee Says He'll Be A No. 1 Receiver In NFL from USA Today

Teams likely to bolster their wide receiver corps during the draft:

Kansas City Chiefs: Dwayne Bowe isn't playing like a first-round pick. They missed on Emmanuel Sanders in free agency and need more options around quarterback Alex Smith.

Steelers Schedule: Bengals Most Expensive, Buccaneers Least Expensive Home Games from CBS Pittsburgh

Week 16 vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Avg: $462.78 | Get-in: $73

It will be interesting to see if it's the 9-0 Kansas City Chiefs the Steelers get in this matchup, or the team that gave up over 40 points in a playoff loss to the Colts. Still, this is a well coached and balanced team, so Pittsburgh is likely in for a fairly tough game. This Week 16 battle should carry some playoff implications one way or another, as well, so the $462 average price makes some sense.

Which NFL Teams Have Been Best In Draft Lately? from The Boston Globe

The Chiefs drafted a Pro Bowler each year from 2009-12 and in seven of eight years overall. The Texans, Packers, Steelers, Browns, and Falcons have been good about selecting the right first-round picks and developing starters out of late-round picks.

The biggest takeaway point from all of this? The NFL is still all about the quarterback. Teams that have otherwise drafted well (Houston, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Kansas City) still struggle because they haven't found a top-flight quarterback.

Mind-Blowing Stats For The NFL Draft from NFL.com

Defensive tackle Caraun Reid from Princeton could be a Day 2 draft pick. Reid is expected to be the highest drafted player in the history of Princeton, an honor that currently belongs to Bob Hews who was selected 156th overall in 1970 by the Kansas City Chiefs. He could also be the highest drafted player from the Ivy League since Marcellus Wiley was taken 52nd overall by the Buffalo Bills out of Columbia in 1997. However, you don't have to be drafted as a Princeton grad to find success in the NFL - case and point, Jason Garrett, who passed for 4,274 yards as the Tigers' QB before becoming the head coach in Dallas.

Here Comes The Next NFL Superhero from Forbes

Scouts from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins were all in attendance for his Pro Day and have had communication with him as well.  As a result of his measurables, Couplin is now on the radar of other of NFL teams. The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals have shown interest and he has had workouts with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, and Baltimore Ravens.

Must See NFL Games Of 2014 from The Franklin Sun

Kansas City at Denver - Sept. 14

Week two brings the last two unbeaten AFC teams from last season together, as the Broncos host the Kansas City Chiefs in a heated AFC West showdown. Peyton got the better of new head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Alex Smith twice last season, but don't think for one second that the Chiefs forgot about those two games.

The first loss to Denver started a string of three straight losses for the Chiefs last year, so look for them to try and get a little early revenge on their division opponents.

All-Time Best Fantasy Players Drafted By Each Team from NFL.com

Kansas City Chiefs

Tony Gonzalez, tight end (1997): You could argue Larry Johnson deserves to be in this space, but Gonzalez was simply too good for too long. He revolutionized the tight end position, and is the Chiefs' all-time leading receiver. Only one other tight end (Ozzie Newsome) can claim that for a team.