Fmbl2187

None of us were wowed by the selection of Tyreek Hill in the 5th round. or Kelce in the 3rd. Truth is, you never know with these guys until they get on the field and the coaches work on them. Every single one of them has been playing against college competition. Projecting success and grading a player or even the entire draft is a fool's errand. Hindsight is 20/20, though. Veach likes guys who have high football IQ's. I think he is right. That's what separates these guys.

Veach got two day 1 starters of first round quality, both at our greatest positions of need. No projects. No maybe's. Day 1 ready. I am really happy with round 1, especially Karlaftis. Now the rubber hits the road tomorrow. So many good players and receivers. Have Veach's scouts found the gems?

Good points. My opinions are based more on recalling what the Chiefs have drafted over the years and what has happened with them rather than based on overall statistics, which I don't really follow. But after all, it is the Chiefs draft I am most interested in right now. I think about Travis Kelce in the 3rd round and Tyreek Hill in the 5th round. I seem to recall that most of our greatest draft successes have come in the mid rounds when it comes to offensive weapons. Even then, then, it is still mostly a crapshoot. Then I look at players like Aaron Donald, who was picked #1 overall by Houston in 2014. I still would prefer to use first round choices on top rated defensive players, even though many of those turn out also to be busts. Also, neither BPA or need are very accurate.

In my thinking, the difference is that the receiver problem can be handled next year with money in order to keep the guys we have now who we want to keep and also by drafting a couple in the mid rounds this year to coach up. We will need to get a top receiver most of all for the following year. We need round 1 and 2 for an edge rusher and a CB/safety in the first round or first and second who can be used THIS year. That's merely my opinion. The West has loaded up with weapons. We need to stop or slow them down this year - first priority. BTW, even if we were to land Jameson in the first, he wouldn't play this year because of his injury. Also, receivers are the most unpredictable of all the positions. There are so many great ones that come out of nowhere and so many "can't misses" who turn out to be busts. But a good corner and edge rusher need to be gotten early and are much more predictable like that.

I'm certain that Veach will pull the trigger on a trade up if someone high on his chart at a position of need is falling within his grasp. Biggest needs are edge, corner, and WR. I think that it mostly would be edge and corner. Of those two, I would guess corner, since there are so few top tier corners in any draft. If Daxton Hill is within reach, he would likely be worth a trade up. With Herbert, Wilson, and Carr in the division, it has to be someone who defends the pass that he would move up for.

Even funnier than the pre-draft recommendations are the post-draft grades for each team. I love saving those to look at a couple of years later...while enclosed in a car with Cheech and Chong.

I like donuts. A lot.

True.

Whattt???!! Sounds like a good move for the Raiders.

A guy like Veach at least understands that sometimes the best action is no action at all. The fans in Atlanta may like this sort of stuff, but it is a franchise crippler in the end...and I do mean "in the end." Kind of like a suppository.

I'm guessing that the successful teams have higher percentage of hits in each round because Coaches are better Scouting personnel are better The players are going to a strong team that allows them to develop and be coached up rather than be thrown into the fire out of need. The GM's are better draft strategists. The head coaches are not asshole taskmasters devoted only to themselves The chart is really an average of all teams including the bottom feeders. The top teams no doubt have a higher success rate, both by cause and effect.

I love it. It's truly eye opening to read these things. Yet, we have all these armchair experts spoutng their views based on what these brilliant sportswriters write. The run-of-the-mill GM's read the same things and make their decisions based on it. I will say that "character concerns" and "taking plays off" are something to be taken seriously. in the first case, we really lucked out with Hill. He grew up.

When you are sitting on two draft picks in each of the first four rounds and have the best QB in football, you only need create the impression that you are "in the mix." Being "in the mix" makes other teams panic and spend too much on FA's. Then, they are tapped out, and the Chiefs are the only ones left to snap up one or two of the few remaining FA's at a bargain in the summer. Meantime, we build enormous depth with all the draft picks. I have a sneaky feeling that we will get Ingram or Mathieu back in the summer. But the truth is that I have no idea what Veach is going to do or has up his sleeve. So much smoke and mirrors.

Of course, I did say "most." I was really ridiculing the current craze among sports writers to constantly describe players as "physical freaks." Unfortunately, most of those players are not "freakishly adept at learning" or are not "freakishly motivated." or emotionally healthy or non-abusive. And some go to teams that have freakishly bad coaching. I really prefer that the term be dropped, because it has become a worthless predictor when draft time rolls around.

There sure are a lot of "physical freaks" in the draft every year. It's too bad most of them are pedestrian players when they get to the NFL. When we draft one, I always "freak out." They usually become freakishly disappointing.

I don't think so.

He couldn't communicate with Jackson, often ran the wrong routes, and Jackson threw, expecting him to be there (he wasn't). Oft injured. Had one reception for 6 yards in 2021. Considered a bust by Raven's front office and released. Ravens tried to trade him, but there were no takers in the NFL. Not a good consideration. Oh... But he is big and is a good downfield blocker. Whoopee. I think if Veach were the least bit interested, he would be a Chief by now.

Yes, and the minds doing it in the front offices are way ahead of the limited views and simplistic preferences of any of the fans who are playing checkers every year. They understand that if they draft too many great players, they may be a dominant team but will not be able to afford half of their players each year and will find themselves in a rebuild constantly, whipsawing the allegiance of their fans. Even though we are a passing team with Mahomes, he makes affordable receivers good and slightly more expensive receivers great. So, go with the one or two great defensive players that any Super Bowl contender must have no matter who they have at QB. But the minds in the front offices also understand about attrition from injuries and age and that depth is as much the formula for success for any position groups as any single star is.

Are you talking about my wordiness or some weird computer code thing?

I agree. Hill can't be "replaced." That kind of draft capital should only be traded to move up if there is a phenomenal player at a position of need that simply cannot be had without moving up that far. Otherwise, why even make that trade with the Dolphins.? I trust Veach to move up only to get a guy like that only if it is worth that much. I think a good rusher would have more impact to justify so much capital. I also agree with Jet that Mahomes/Reid can make a deeper WR group work just as well using a slighly different scheme as the one that was so totally dependent on one guy who could disappear at any moment with an injury. We were plain lucky that didn't happen all those years with Hill, but I was constantly biting my nails before every game during the stretch that it might happen. We should always remember that receivers who turn out to be great can be found in the third and fourth rounds. This draft is particularly deep in good receivers. Unless we can get a "can't miss" edge, all that draft capital should be kept for deepening the overall team, not on one great WR with an ACL injury. I think Veach has a plan. If he doesn't, I would be totally shocked. This is a game of attrition. It is also won or lost in the trenches, and the trenches are where a great GM should be scheming.

I read somewhere that he has very good hands. I don't recall the reference, but are you sure that he has a problem with drops?

Half the visits teams make with players prior to the draft are smokescreens to manipulate other teams into making certain moves up or down. Its a huge chess game. The smartest thing to do is ignore all these bullshit visits.

You MIGHT be right. But MIGHT doesn't make right.

Yeah, the big stars all do that. It helps them not have to go to OTA's and do shit they don't really need to do. Then they can decide in the summer whichever team meets closest to his price. I'd sure like to see him next to Justin Reid, but probably won't be the money for that.