Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 4/13

Maurice Jones-Drew: The Chiefs Are My Super Bowl Favorite from The Mothership

"I'm going to go with the Kansas City Chiefs, a team I have winning the AFC West," he said. "The reason being is this. Alex Smith is there. (Jeremy) Maclin is there. You get Jamaal Charles back with the running backs you already had."

Jones-Drew went on to address how the offensive line is still in tact, and although the Chiefs did lose Sean Smith in free agency, he likes the prospects he sees in the upcoming draft later this month.

2016 NFL Draft Preview: Five Intriguing Wide Receivers from The Mothership

In his three years as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, John Dorsey has drafted three wide receivers.

In 2014, he selected former Oregon standout De'Anthony Thomas in the fourth round with the No. 124 overall pick.

Thomas spent time at both running back and receiver in his rookie season before making the transition to working solely with the receivers group in 2015.

Last year, Dorsey traded up in the third round to take former Georgia Bulldog Chris Conley with the No. 76 overall pick, then selected Northern Illinois' Da'Ron Brown in the seventh round with the No. 233 overall pick.

Chiefs offseason issues: Decide on a No. 2 quarterback from ESPN

The Kansas City Chiefs gather on April 18 for the start of their offseason program, though they won't be on the field for their first full-squad practice for about a month. Still, the offseason program gives them a chance to at least start to settle several of the issues that confront them.

We're looking here at one of those issues: Is Aaron Murray or Tyler Bray going to be the primary backup to starting quarterback Alex Smith?

The Chiefs' depth chart at quarterback has been determined before training camp in each of the past three seasons.

Braxton Miller-to-Chiefs sentiment continues in latest Todd McShay mock draft from ESPN

In his latest three-round mock draft, ESPN analyst Todd McShay has a new first-round choice for the Kansas City Chiefs, but stayed with Ohio State wide receiver Braxton Miller for them in the second round.

His new first-round pick for the Chiefs is defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson of Alabama. In his previous mock, he gave Houston cornerback William Jackson III to Kansas City with the 28th pick. In the new mock, he has Jackson going No. 25 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Cornerback continues to make most sense for Chiefs in first round from ESPN

For those with ESPN Insider access, Louis Riddick has a look at six players he would be positioning his team to select in the upcoming draft if he was an NFL general manager.

Riddick, a long-time NFL scout, has ties to Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid. He was the Philadelphia Eagles' director of pro personnel for three seasons with Reid before the coach moved on to the Chiefs.

Of the six players, three will be gone by the time the Chiefs make their first pick, at No. 28 in the first round.

Wentz Watch 2016: Kansas City Chiefs from KDAL

Why It Won't Happen

The one time any player has had over 1,000 yards receiving with Smith as the primary QB happened last year. And it nearly happened with two players for the Chiefs.

Jeremy Maclin, a free agent singing in the off-season, had 1,088 yards receiving in 15 games last year for the Chiefs. Tight end Travis Kelce had 875 yards receiving and was named to the Pro Bowl.

Perhaps the issue is not with Smith but the talent around him. It would appear those pieces, Kelce and Maclin respectively, are in place for the Chiefs.

If Charles can come back healthy, that is a large if, then this offense could flourish. Flourish enough to make noise in the playoffs.

Moritz Boehringer has visited with Chiefs, Packers, Vikings from NFL.com

"It's been crazy," he said on his visit to NFL Media headquarters in Culver City, Calif., on Monday. "Everything has happened so fast. Everything has changed."

It's been a whirlwind for Boehringer since his pro day. Last week, he was in Kansas City, Minneapolis and Green Bay for team visits. On Monday and Tuesday, he spent time getting to know the Rams in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, he will fly to Seattle to visit with Seahawks officials. And next week, it's off to New Orleans, Atlanta and Carolina.

Somehow he was able to fit in a second open workout last Friday with receivers coaches from nine NFL teams who wanted a second look at his route-running.

#Illini players inspired by staff's NFL pedigree from Pantagraph

Tim Watson, the father of Illini linebacker Tre Watson, was watching a recent spring practice from inside the wall of glass that separates the recruiting lounge from Memorial Stadium's north end zone.

"The opportunity these guys have is unbelievable," Tim Watson observed. "To have Lovie Smith and Hardy Nickerson and these coaches with NFL backgrounds come in here, it's an unbelievable chance for these players to get this kind of coaching."

Tim Watson is more than a happy and enthusiastic father. He himself played the game, moving from Howard University to a five-year career in the NFL as a safety for the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

He is convinced his son has hit the coaching lottery.

Northern Illinois linebacker Perez Ford visiting Raiders today, visited Chiefs from National Football Post

Northern Illinois linebacker Perez Ford is visiting the Oakland Raiders today, according to a league source.

He previously visited the Kansas City Chiefs.

He led Northern Illinois with five sacks and ranked second with 6 1/2 tackles for losses.

He had an interception and a forced fumble against Toledo.

He started every game at defensive end as a junior and had 57 tackles, five sacks and nine tackles for losses.

Worst draft move for every NFL team since 2011 from ESPN

It's one thing to draft in the first round a player who doesn't live up to expectations, and it's another thing to pick a bust. But that's what first-round wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin became after the Chiefs drafted him in 2011. He had 41 catches and two touchdowns in two seasons for the Chiefs before they unloaded him in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. -- Adam Teicher

Agent's Take: Here's four big trades that make sense for contenders from CBS Sports

RB Jamaal Charles from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Miami Dolphins for conditional 2017 fourth-round pick

C.J. Anderson was Miami's first choice to replace Lamar Miller, who received a four-year, $26 million deal from the Texans, at running back. The Dolphins were unable to pry the restricted free agent away from Denver because their four-year, $18 million offer sheet was matched.

Surprisingly, Kansas City won eleven straight games (including the playoffs) after Charles suffered the second ACL tear of his career five games into the season. The Chiefs finished fifth in NFL in rushing (127.8 yards per game) with Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West operating in place of Charles for a majority of the season. The team was 10th in the NFL with 119.8 rushing yards per game in 2014 when Charles was healthy.

Lamar Hunt Saved MLS From Folding In 2001 from CBS Local

Lost in all of this growth and success is the fact that the league nearly closed up shop at the advent of the millennium. According to FC Dallas president Dan Hunt, talking to the Soccer Today podcast, the league had decided to cease operations back in 2001.

"We were having a league call in November and the league folded," Hunt said. "It went out of business, they were preparing the documents and that was it."

So essentially, MLS had closed up shop. But, if that was the case, why didn't we hear about it and how is the league thriving today? Well, according to Hunt, it was his father, long-time Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt who saved the league.

"My dad was able to call everybody, get them back and within 48 hours, everybody was back, all in," said Hunt.

Two weeks out mock draft from The Observer-Reporter

28. Kansas City, Noah Spence, OLB, Eastern Kentucky: The Chiefs need somebody to replace Justin Houston this season and Tamba Hali down the road. Spence has red flags, but he can rush the passer.

Griffon Notebook: Women's golf finding the range on program history from The St. Joseph News-Press

Four Western football alumni kept themselves in front of NFL scouts this past week.

For some, like Michael Jordan, it provided a chance to position themselves for possible selection in the upcoming draft. For others, like Travis Partridge, it was an opportunity to keep fresh and take advantage of opportunities.

"You don't want to be out of sight, out of mind," Partridge said after working out for the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday. "You try to throw the ball well, run well and you never know what could happen."

Partridge and recent Griffons Raphael Spencer and Arbanas Elliott participated in the Chiefs' pro day for Kansas City area players on Friday.

Analytics meets sports at ‘Dorkapalooza' from The Williams Record

The conference offered much more than just on-the-court applications of analytics in sports. One booth demonstrated an interactive map of New York City that showed changes in taxi ridership to Yankees and Mets games based on the weather or starting pitcher. A speaker from the Kansas City Chiefs described the use of social media to track the effectiveness of marketing strategies during last season's game in London. Even professors showed their ability to impact sports, with a professor from Northwestern describing how he implemented a modified Dutch auction to increase ticket sales.