Veach Zoom interview 3/1 (State of the off season)

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/videos/911538812990663/

I'll start by saying there were answers he gave that us Chiefs fans already knew without needing anyone to say it. ( i.e. there is limited cap room this offseason, and it affects half the league.)

And their was GM speak as well, which can be taken with grain of salt. ( i.e. he is proud of the development of Andrew Wylie and the young lineman)

I'll paraphrase a bit.

The position groups that appear to be the teams main focus this offseason are o-line, dline, and linebacker. 

WR - Is deep in free agency and the draft, and his tone didn't indicate Watkins was a priority at all. 

TE - They are well aware that they need a legit second TE to compliment and/or eventually replace Kelce.

LB - It's an area of focus, and FA will dictate what they do in the draft and vice versa.

CB - They love their depth here.

D line - They've dumped a lot of resources into this group and will continue to do so. 

O line - The drafts is super deep here in rd 1-4. He literally started smiling when he was talking about the depth here. He mentioned this position group at least 3 times when talking about the plan for the roster, and made it clear they will use both FA and the draft to add here.

The draft - Deep in o- line early, WR all the way through, and CB mid to late.

Injuries - He said 2 TIMES that the medical notes in front of him provided by Burkholder have projected a mid August return for Fisher. They are hoping to have him and Schwartz ready for camp. 

Extensions- Badger is a priority, and he sounded like it was only a matter of time.

Some of the opinions here are mine, and I don't want to jump to many conclusions. But I don't think Watkins will be here next year. And I honestly believe they want to have their starting tackles back for 2021. So in a week's time I've gone from thinking both may be replaced to both may be back. 

Free agency will obviously tell us how much truth there is in the statement regarding Fisher and Schwartz. But, to me, it doesn't sound like a ton of cap clearing moves are coming, and that the Chiefs anticipate being more active in the second wave of FA.

[Lamardirts 2,114]

“I certainly think it’ll be a combination of both,” Veach responded. “We do like some of the young players, their progress and their development. Andrew Wylie is showing he can play on a consistent level at that guard position, and [Nick] Allegretti took a step forward. We’re anxious to get [Lucas] Niang back, so we have a nice blend of young players that will continue to get better and will continue to improve — but certainly, our focus will be to bring in some new talent.”

The bolded and underlined part of this quote made me throw up a little in the back of my mouth.  I pray that is GM speak and nothing more.   Hear me out.  I don't mind the guy being depth but he isn't very good.   The only consistent think he did most of the year was play poor minus a couple games versus a poor dline.   

[Lamardirts 2,114]

17 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

I'll start by saying there were answers he gave that us Chiefs fans already knew without needing anyone to say it. ( i.e. there is limited cap room this offseason, and it affects half the league.)

And their was GM speak as well, which can be taken with grain of salt. ( i.e. he is proud of the development of Andrew Wylie and the young lineman)

I'll paraphrase a bit.

The position groups that appear to be the teams main focus this offseason are o-line, dline, and linebacker. 

WR - Is deep in free agency and the draft, and his tone didn't indicate Watkins was a priority at all. 

TE - They are well aware that they need a legit second TE to compliment and/or eventually replace Kelce.

LB - It's an area of focus, and FA will dictate what they do in the draft and vice versa.

CB - They love their depth here.

D line - They've dumped a lot of resources into this group and will continue to do so. 

O line - The drafts is super deep here in rd 1-4. He literally started smiling when he was talking about the depth here. He mentioned this position group at least 3 times when talking about the plan for the roster, and made it clear they will use both FA and the draft to add here.

The draft - Deep in o- line early, WR all the way through, and CB mid to late.

Injuries - He said 2 TIMES that the medical notes in front of him provided by Burkholder have projected a mid August return for Fisher. They are hoping to have him and Schwartz ready for camp. 

Extensions- Badger is a priority, and he sounded like it was only a matter of time.

Some of the opinions here are mine, and I don't want to jump to many conclusions. But I don't think Watkins will be here next year. And I honestly believe they want to have their starting tackles back for 2021. So in a week's time I've gone from thinking both may be replaced to both may be back. 

Free agency will obviously tell us how much truth there is in the statement regarding Fisher and Schwartz. But, to me, it doesn't sound like a ton of cap clearing moves are coming, and that the Chiefs anticipate being more active in the second wave of FA.

I understand wanting to get both of those guys back but the reality is 2021 could turn out to be deja vu of 2020 because neither of those guys are a sure fire 16 game starter.   If I was a betting man I would say Schwartz doesn't make the year and Fisher is going to be severely limited less than a year off a achilles tear.    Having a guy like Niang in the wings is huge but he can only play one side.   I hope the news of Fisher and Schwartz coming back doesn't keep them from drafting a future LT.

While I love making the big splash in FA we could use a couple of really good under the radar signings that don't break the bank but fill positions of need for us and give us freedom in the draft to go BPA each round.   I trust Veach and I'm sure they have a plan.

 

[jetlord 10,209]

6 minutes ago, Lamardirts said:

“I certainly think it’ll be a combination of both,” Veach responded. “We do like some of the young players, their progress and their development. Andrew Wylie is showing he can play on a consistent level at that guard position, and [Nick] Allegretti took a step forward. We’re anxious to get [Lucas] Niang back, so we have a nice blend of young players that will continue to get better and will continue to improve — but certainly, our focus will be to bring in some new talent.”

The bolded and underlined part of this quote made me throw up a little in the back of my mouth.  I pray that is GM speak and nothing more.   Hear me out.  I don't mind the guy being depth but he isn't very good.   The only consistent think he did most of the year was play poor minus a couple games versus a poor dline.   

Veach said he was consistent, not that he was good.  😉

[kkuenn 3,601]

Just now, jetlord said:

Veach said he was consistent, not that he was good.  😉

Consistently bad is stil consistent.

[Lamardirts 2,114]

Just now, jetlord said:

Veach said he was consistent, not that he was good.  😉

This is true.

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

12 minutes ago, kkuenn said:

Consistently bad is stil consistent.

Good point.

[Biggjliv4 1,292]

We may get both back, but I imagine they are going to be on IR first part of the season.  Regardless, it's time to look to the future and draft replacements whether for this year or next.  

[sith13 1,746]

Extension to HB is a no brainer, saves as much cap space as needed. Glad to hear Veach understand how consistently Wylie sucks, I don't want to contemplate the alternative. 

[Palangi 788]

2 hours ago, Lamardirts said:

I understand wanting to get both of those guys back but the reality is 2021 could turn out to be deja vu of 2020 because neither of those guys are a sure fire 16 game starter.   If I was a betting man I would say Schwartz doesn't make the year and Fisher is going to be severely limited less than a year off a achilles tear.    Having a guy like Niang in the wings is huge but he can only play one side.   I hope the news of Fisher and Schwartz coming back doesn't keep them from drafting a future LT.

While I love making the big splash in FA we could use a couple of really good under the radar signings that don't break the bank but fill positions of need for us and give us freedom in the draft to go BPA each round.   I trust Veach and I'm sure they have a plan.

 

My fear is that we rely on 2 older players coming off serious injuries.  

A guy who took the year off to be a doctor,  who was below average and had injury issues himself

I fear they bring back the 2 who should not be (AR, AW)

 

It will stunt the young guys we have. 

Niang

Allegretti

Durant

Rankin

Prince

 

Or stop us from drafting what we should. 

[Palangi 788]

1 hour ago, Biggjliv4 said:

We may get both back, but I imagine they are going to be on IR first part of the season.  Regardless, it's time to look to the future and draft replacements whether for this year or next.  

We've drafted one already

[Lamardirts 2,114]

I could see them drafting a LG and C and rolling with that they have at LT.     Which is great on one hand and scary on the other.  Maybe they think between Niang, Wanogho, and Rankin they have enough depth compensate for injuries.    

 

[Palangi 788]

1 hour ago, Lamardirts said:

I could see them drafting a LG and C and rolling with that they have at LT.     Which is great on one hand and scary on the other.  Maybe they think between Niang, Wanogho, and Rankin they have enough depth compensate for injuries.    

 

I would be opposite.  Draft LT and roll with what we got at center. 

Allegretti

Williams

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

Just now, Palangi said:

I would be opposite.  Draft LT and roll with what we got at center. 

Allegretti

Williams

I think they need to add 1 viable option at both spots. 

[Palangi 788]

1 minute ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

I think they need to add 1 viable option at both spots. 

4 sho.

Nick Martin would be a good signing.  Let him and Allegretti battle it out for center

[xen 1,010,220]

11 minutes ago, Palangi said:

I would be opposite.  Draft LT and roll with what we got at center. 

Allegretti

Williams

This.  Andy obviously doesn't value guards as much but he depends on those tackles not needing much help.  

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

1 hour ago, Palangi said:

4 sho.

Nick Martin would be a good signing.  Let him and Allegretti battle it out for center

From what Ive read on Houston blogs, he's pretty much the definition of average. He got way overpaid. Wouldn't be much of an upgrade. 

[kkuenn 3,601]

1 hour ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

From what Ive read on Houston blogs, he's pretty much the definition of average. He got way overpaid. Wouldn't be much of an upgrade. 

Well average, sadly, would be an upgrade. 

[Palangi 788]

31 minutes ago, kkuenn said:

Well average, sadly, would be an upgrade. 

So sad,  and so true

[sith13 1,746]

8 hours ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

I think they need to add 1 viable option at both spots. 

Yep, IMO it's a matter of which one to draft first and which one second and that's basically up to whomever is available in what round. 

[Lamardirts 2,114]

EB not getting hired hurts in t he draft department.  That extra third this year could have gotten back up in the second round to grab another plug and play OL.  Oh well.

[jetlord 10,209]

8 hours ago, sith13 said:

Yep, IMO it's a matter of which one to draft first and which one second and that's basically up to whomever is available in what round. 

If Vera-Tucker drops to the Chiefs, it would seem ideal.  He can play OG or OT.  How about the small school guy that flashed at the senior bowl, Mienerz?  He can play equally well at OC or OG and might be available in the fourth.  There are plenty of guys that can plug in their rookie years if needed and that the Chiefs can draft. 

[sith13 1,746]

8 minutes ago, jetlord said:

If Vera-Tucker drops to the Chiefs, it would seem ideal.  He can play OG or OT.  How about the small school guy that flashed at the senior bowl, Mienerz?  He can play equally well at OC or OG and might be available in the fourth.  There are plenty of guys that can plug in their rookie years if needed and that the Chiefs can draft. 

And they sure are needed. 

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

3 hours ago, jetlord said:

If Vera-Tucker drops to the Chiefs, it would seem ideal.  He can play OG or OT.  How about the small school guy that flashed at the senior bowl, Mienerz?  He can play equally well at OC or OG and might be available in the fourth.  There are plenty of guys that can plug in their rookie years if needed and that the Chiefs can draft. 

Would love Meinerz in 3.

[jetlord 10,209]

10 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

Would love Meinerz in 3.

Man, he's all over the various draft boards.  It will be interesting to see how the teams actually evaluate him.  He sure pushed a lot of division 1 players around during senior bowl practice.