Would We Have a Different View of 2015 If...

[PhataLerror 370]

...week one had ended without Derrick Johnson and Jeff Allen on injured reserve for the rest of the year? Would we still consider wide receiver and offensive lineman positions of need, but not positions that had appeared utterly neglected? Do we judge John Dorsey and Andy Reid's personnel evaluations adversely when we never really got to see the Chiefs play with their MLB1 or their LG1?

 

I find myself going into 2015 with a sort of confusion as to whether I should be confident or have doubts about the Chiefs being able to move forward during the maintenance cycle that is the NFL off-season. Do we not anticipate substantial forward momentum because injuries stole the reality that might well have been set up when free agency and draft decisions were made following the week 17 game in 2013 that saw extensive play from the backups?

 

How do you evaluate a team's off-season progress when injuries forced so many projected starters out of the lineup during the prior season? Have we evaluated the 2014 off-season unfairly, and will we go into the 2015 off-season skeptical of the Chiefs' front-office qualifications?

 

No, I'm going forward on the assumption that the Chiefs were broken through by injuries at their weakest links offensively (offensive line and receiver corps) and had the biggest strengths of their defense diminished in the loss of multiple Pro Bowl-caliber defensive players. We never got to see the team that Dorsey and Reid had setup for 2014. Perhaps in 2015, injuries won't hit so disproportionately hard as they did in 2014, and not in the areas where the Chiefs could least afford the damage. 2014 was a disappointment, but perhaps 2015 will be the ascension.

[Calichief 3,016]

Yes, the line sucked last year.

[kccrow 529]

You watched Jeff Allen play in 2013 and 2012 I'd assume? What makes you think, other than an off-season camp, that he was going to be significantly better than the bottom of the barrel offensive guard he was previously? To that extent, I doubt we would have seen much of any upgrade in offensive line play in 2014 than what we witnessed. If upgrading from about the worst guard in the NFL to the 65th rated guard in the NFL is an upgrade, then count me out amongst those that would have been jubilant.

 

As for losing DJ, yeah that was a blow. I think that hurt this team somewhat defensively. I think KC lost a player that would at least step up in run defense from the MIKE and make plays. I think they lost some ability to cover TEs from the linebacker spot. I think the combination of letting Akeem Jordan walk and Mays getting injured might have been worse though. That WILL position lacked significantly. There was no stack and shed backer that could even sniff stopping the run. I can't even judge adequately what the difference might have been, all I know is that it needs to improve significantly in 2015.

 

I'm guessing, with regard to WR, you are speaking of the injuries to Donnie Avery (primarily)? Do I think it made much of an impact? Well, it shouldn't have been much to replace Avery. It shouldn't be hard to make up for 2-3 catches and 37 yards a game, should it? I think it did hurt KC in that they really had nobody step up to replace such a paltry level of production. What really hurt, in my opinion, was the combination of Avery and Dexter McCluster being gone. Now what you add is another 3-4 catches and another 35 yards a game. I mean, you expect De'Anthony Thomas to be that guy and he was hurt early, he never became that guy. Albert Wilson, he didn't get involved until the end of the season but he showed flashes of being that guy. When you lose 5-6 catches a game for 70 yards, that's the equivalent of a starting wideout. In Reid's scheme, that gets split up a lot, but you get it. Yeah, injury and loss hurt when there was nobody to step up and replace these guys. Its sad that you can't find guys to replace those levels of production. Does it worry me that the Chiefs will find it for 2015? Yeah a little. You know you probably need to cut Avery. The production has to come from somewhere. Wilson, he might get you what you lost with McCluster. Thomas can be a boost. Now you have to replace Avery and hopefully gain something. Can KC do that? I think so.  Now you probably need to cut Bowe too, and that's where I get really worried. I don't like Bowe in this scheme, nor for his price tag. Can KC replace his production? That concerns me. I'm not confident they can do it with a rookie.

[PhataLerror 370]

You watched Jeff Allen play in 2013 and 2012 I'd assume? What makes you think, other than an off-season camp, that he was going to be significantly better than the bottom of the barrel offensive guard he was previously? To that extent, I doubt we would have seen much of any upgrade in offensive line play in 2014 than what we witnessed. If upgrading from about the worst guard in the NFL to the 65th rated guard in the NFL is an upgrade, then count me out amongst those that would have been jubilant.

I hadn't watched the Chiefs that closely before 2013. I paid a lot more attention to the Chiefs' offensive line in 2014 than I did in 2013. Would you compare Allen so closely to McGlynn? I understood all along that relative to all NFL offensive guards, Jeff Allen wasn't the best option. I also understood that he was superior to McGlynn or Linkenbach. If you think the difference would have been minimal, I can understand that assessment, but I'm pretty sure that with Allen on the field, Fisher's performance would have been better. I don't recall seeing Jeff Allen get as thoroughly bullied in either run blocking or pass protection.

 

To me, Allen's continued presence would have been the difference between serviceable and untenable.