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Can Dee Ford help the Kansas City Chiefs keep Tamba Hali fresh?

By MNchiefsfan
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Another day (ish), another Chiefs mailbag. Let me take a moment to compliment all of you. You've been fantastic. A real treat. I've got more mailbag questions than I know what to do with, and all of them are a blast to write about. So hats off to you. You're the real champions. More pandering statements.

Let's mailbag. As always, send questions to @RealMNchiefsfan. Or don't, because I've got a ton already and am having a tough time keeping up with you people.

I don't know if Hali really got worn down last year. He's a guy who keeps himself in good shape and works harder than anyone else on the team. Part of Hali's statistical "downslide" last year was Houston going on a tear and getting to quarterbacks before Hali did (or Hali chasing guys toward the rest of the pass rushers).

However, there IS a benefit to being able to spell someone occasionally. Hali will be turning 32 years old in November. Even the most disciplined athlete is going to feel the effects of Father Time, and there have been plenty of "he's playing nicked up" whispers about Hali over the last several years (often something that comes with age).

If Ford is able to spell Hali on occasion, that COULD theoretically keep him fresh throughout games and through the 4th Quarter (all players, even guys like Dontari Poe, get worn down as a game goes along if they're playing every snap). Being just as explosive in the late 4th as you are in the 1st is a big, big deal.

However, I'm not sure the plan is to consistently put Ford on the field in place of Hali. They obviously value Hali's services enough to keep him around, and as has been talked about recently, there ARE ways to get Houston, Hali, and Ford on the field at the same time often enough to give Ford some meaningful snaps.

A great deal of this is going to depend on Ford. If he flashes enough improvement in his overall game in camp, Bob Sutton is going to find a way to use him. I imagine at least some of that will be as a sub for Hali in certain situations. And if Hali is willing to accept that and roll with it (and frankly, I think it's doubtful he'll be anything but pure class about it if it helps the team win. He's amazing like that) it could absolutely help the team down the stretch.

Our own wonderful new hotshot contributor stagdsp did a fantastic writeup on these two, which can be read here. He covers the strengths and weaknesses of both guys better than I ever could in this limited space.

I like both prospects as guys who could develop, so if I had a choice I'd say keep both. However, as this question eliminates that option I'm forced to choose. And if I'm FORCED, I'd go with Wilson.

While Wilson is not as explosive as Alexander is on tape (he certainly doesn't hit with the same kind of "oomph"), he seems to have a better feel for the game. I saw Alexander get turned around by fakes a few too many times, with his aggressiveness being taken advantage of. That's interesting, because Wilson plays a little too cautious if anything. If only mind melds were an actual thing...

Anyway, I'm not a person who counts on mid-to-late round picks blossoming into Pro Bowl players. Yes, it happens. But what I'm looking for is a guy who is the most likely to become a contributor. Of the two, that's definitely Wilson based on the limited film available. He's not as flashy, but he gets to the ball and gets the job done.

Again, though, I like both based on what I've seen so far and reserve the option to completely change my mind 15 times by the time we're done with training camp.

I've answered this before so I'll keep it brief. Monday Night Football, Chiefs versus Broncos. I watched Joe Montana march the Chiefs down the field and throw the game winning touchdown to Willie Davis as I sat next to my dad in our couch (there's a whole back story here about rarely seeing him due to his work at the time, but I'll leave that out for the sake of brevity).

The funny thing is that my dad absolutely knew the Chiefs were going to come back and win it. We were kind of "transplant" Chiefs fans, as our family was living in Kansas City while my dad attended school. This was before the era of being able to watch whatever team you wanted all the time, so the only football action around was the Chiefs. Through that, we were rooting for them to beat Elway and the Broncos. When they went up late I started pouting like, well, a child.

My dad thought it was hilarious and explained to me that the Chiefs were going to win. "That's Joe Montana, son."

I had no idea what that meant, but the words proved to be prophetic. Watching Arrowhead go absolutely insane, I was hooked (or cursed, depending on how you look at it).

There is absolutely no way I'm going to get out of this without someone calling me uncultured swine. There just isn't. So I'm gonna go ahead and just steer into it. I don't even need a list.

Best condiment: ketchup.

Come at me, food snobs.

I'll try to redeem myself a little bit here (if the mob is done shouting. We'll see). This is another question that I can see leading to a non-football war in the comments, but that's what offseason mailbags are all about, people.

Here's the problem... I'm a person of habit, and I only get to go to Kansas City once a year or so. and when my wife and I DO go we usually are getting together with some old friends who don't like barbeque (other than that they're amazing people, I swear) for one meal, and the rest of the time is on the road or at Arrowhead (we have four kids. No time for long vacations).

And so every trip I get ONE shot at a barbeque meal of my choice. And since I only get that one chance, I've rolled with the same decision three trips in a row.

I have no regrets. The Z-man is about as close to perfect as food gets.

That said, I'm always open for suggestions if and when Mrs. MNchiefsfan and I make another road trip (I'm really aiming for the home opener. Feel free to start a gofundme site for me). But I'm all about that Z-man, boss.

I think we're at a good point to stop here. I need to go find something to eat. We'll do this again soon if you all aren't too mean about that whole ketchup thing.

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