2018 Season: Define Success?

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

The D being horrible in 2018 is a constant theme. Do we really think it will be worse than last year?

Hitchens for DJ is an upgrade

Berry back is an upgrade

Nelson/Amerson/?? for Nelson/Revis/T Mitch/Gaines is a push, maybe?

Fuller for Peters is a downgrade

Williams for Logan is a downgrade

Add in a full offseason for Ragland and Tanoh, I feel the upgrades significantly outweigh the downgrades... not enough for a top 10 defense, but certainly middle of the pack is possible.

And the team won 10 games (plus had multiple chances for game winning drives in the seven losses) with the 2017 d.

What am I missing?

I dont think Williams for Logan is a surefire downgrade. Going by the grades it shouldnt be at all. He doesnt have the track record of success but I dont know why you'd consider him a downgrade without seeing him as a starter first.

 

Fuller has been outstanding in his own right at CB. If he plays outside anywhere close the level he played in the slot, it wont be much of a downgrade either.

 

I guess I just dont understand calling these guys downgrades when they havent played a snap as starters here.

[Marleydawg 60]

I dont think Williams for Logan is a surefire downgrade. Going by the grades it shouldnt be at all. He doesnt have the track record of success but I dont know why you'd consider him a downgrade without seeing him as a starter first.

Fuller has been outstanding in his own right at CB. If he plays outside anywhere close the level he played in the slot, it wont be much of a downgrade either.

I guess I just dont understand calling these guys downgrades when they havent played a snap as starters here.

That’s fair. Honestly I personally consider fuller a relative push (don’t know much about XW), but I was trying to guard against my homerism and understand the case for doom and gloom about the D. I just dont see how it’s going to be worse than 2017 (lack of depth, maybe?)

[Calichief 3,016]

So far they've gotten worse at corner, now have a bunch of mystery for depth, maybe upgraded at ILB and got younger/cheaper at nose.

 

Berry will be back and maybe Dee Fords labia healed up. It's probably a push as of now.

Agree.

Anyone sign jr gallette?

[DefensiveMan 758]

Defense can't get any worse. Either way it's a win win if we suck Father Time gets canned.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Agree.

Anyone sign jr gallette?

Not that I'm aware of.

 

Defense can't get any worse. Either way it's a win win if we suck Father Time gets canned.

It could, but it can't get "much" worse lol

 

I think if they can at least land 2 decent new starters on the Defense from the draft, they will be in fine shape.  If they don't move up, they will have at least 5 chances to get it right in the range where you can reasonably expect it (2-4).

 

If they do move up, I anticipate some contract restructuring taking place so they can sign a FA or two after the draft.

[sith13 1,746]

I would consider our defense weaker in general. We have Berry back but other than that not enough bodies for a decent rotation in the secondary. Draft and the rest of the FA will dictate our expectations this season but with a couple good additions I think the defense will improve, besides after hitting bottom last year there's only one way they can go. 

[Fmbl2187 2,279]

The D being horrible in 2018 is a constant theme. Do we really think it will be worse than last year?

 

Hitchens for DJ is an upgrade

Berry back is an upgrade

 

Nelson/Amerson/?? for Nelson/Revis/T Mitch/Gaines is a push, maybe?

 

Fuller for Peters is a downgrade

Williams for Logan is a downgrade

 

Add in a full offseason for Ragland and Tanoh, I feel the upgrades significantly outweigh the downgrades... not enough for a top 10 defense, but certainly middle of the pack is possible.

 

And the team won 10 games (plus had multiple chances for game winning drives in the seven losses) with the 2017 d.

 

What am I missing?

Another point:  If the Chiefs are a high-scoring team, which is likely, the defense will be under less pressure and can play prevent most of the time.  That calls for a different type of defense that yields yards while eating clock time,  which is quite different than we have had with Alex at QB.  The defense can now force the opponent to throw desperation passes late in the game or hurry up offense during the second half most of the time. They can unleash KPass more in the fourth quarter when teams are having to throw and a lot of the mental complexity is not needed. I think that will be yet another thing that will help the defense be more successful. There will be more blitzing, also.  I think this defense may be well suited for that.  It will be a fast defense.

[DieHard 2,061]

I think this post is pretty spot on. I don’t see a problem projecting downgrades. If we can say Hitch for KPL is an upgrade and Watson for Wilson is an upgrade, why can’t we project Fuller for Peters or Williams for Logan as a downgrade.

 

We can say Henne for Bray is an upgrade even though Henne hasn’t taken a snap yet in KC, right?

[oldtimer 8,686]

Another point:  If the Chiefs are a high-scoring team, which is likely, the defense will be under less pressure and can play prevent most of the time.  That calls for a different type of defense that yields yards while eating clock time,  which is quite different than we have had with Alex at QB.  The defense can now force the opponent to throw desperation passes late in the game or hurry up offense during the second half most of the time. They can unleash KPass more in the fourth quarter when teams are having to throw and a lot of the mental complexity is not needed. I think that will be yet another thing that will help the defense be more successful. There will be more blitzing, also.  I think this defense may be well suited for that.  It will be a fast defense.

 

 

Prevent Defense does only one thing..Prevents you from winning. What you propose to do is much akin to our Vermiel/G-Rob years..we won games and it was entertaining till we lose 51 to 49

 

 Defense wins Championships 

[kkuenn 3,597]

Prevent Defense does only one thing..Prevents you from winning. What you propose to do is much akin to our Vermiel/G-Rob years..we won games and it was entertaining till we lose 51 to 49

 

Defense wins Championships

Balance wins championships. You can go back and see how often the seasons top ranked offense wins it all versus the top ranked defense. You could also see which team had the better offense or defense and won it. It is really close and not just defense wins it.

[Legend of AC 269]

I think the Chiefs' offense can hit the ground running with Mahomes, but I worry the defense will be so bad they won't be able to win more than 10 games.

 

The draft could change my mind.

 

If the defense can improve, who knows how good this team could be.

This. We’ve seen before how destructive not having a defense can be to everything else.

[dksww 484]

This. We’ve seen before how destructive not having a defense can be to everything else.

 

flashbacks of eric warfield and william bartee 10 yards away in coverage still haunt us all

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Balance wins championships. You can go back and see how often the seasons top ranked offense wins it all versus the top ranked defense. You could also see which team had the better offense or defense and won it. It is really close and not just defense wins it.

What I been saying for years. The only time the Chiefs have had a balanced squad was when they were a truly awful squad.

[Legend of AC 269]

flashbacks of eric warfield and william bartee 10 yards away in coverage still haunt us all

Holy shit that was awful.

[kkuenn 3,597]

What I been saying for years. The only time the Chiefs have had a balanced squad was when they were a truly awful squad.

I am hoping for top 10 offense, closer to top 5 and middle of pack defense around 15 to 17. Defense may feed off the offense if we are scoring a lot and stopping them then forcing them to become one dimensional. Of course teams will try then to run on us to control the clock and we need to really stop that.

[West 6,713]

Our biggest problem the pat few years has been a very mediocre defense.

 

I am not convinced it has improved.  I am not convinced Sutton is the right guy to take it to an improved level.

 

That said,  I do think Mahomes and the Offense will be able to put up 30 pts a game if we can block at all.  There are just too many weapons at this point.

 

Barring Major injuries, It's going to come down to turnovers.....they can cut both ways and if KC  can stay on the positive side of the equation this team could make the playoffs.

 

w

[Calichief 3,016]

Not that I'm aware of.

 

It could, but it can't get "much" worse lol

 

I think if they can at least land 2 decent new starters on the Defense from the draft, they will be in fine shape. If they don't move up, they will have at least 5 chances to get it right in the range where you can reasonably expect it (2-4).

 

If they do move up, I anticipate some contract restructuring taking place so they can sign a FA or two after the draft.

Do you think gallette is worth the flyer?

[CranjisMcbasketball 780]

Anything less than afc champ game and its a disappointment. Super Bowl would be success

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Do you think gallette is worth the flyer?

If they don't add anybody in the draft, yes.

[Biggjliv4 1,292]

I have low expectations this year because we don't really know what we have at QB. We can project all we want, but time will tell. Our D will be ordinary as we have scarcity in depth and Bob "play on your heels" Sutton still leading the way. Everyone predicts 30 points on O a game, but Andy has yet to prove he will step on anyone's throat for the win and continually forgets the run game so the game is never really secured as long as time is left on the clock. In my mind, success in 2018 has just as many questions in coaching philosophy as it does player personnel.

[Mloe68 1,521]

That’s fair. Honestly I personally consider fuller a relative push (don’t know much about XW), but I was trying to guard against my homerism and understand the case for doom and gloom about the D. I just dont see how it’s going to be worse than 2017 (lack of depth, maybe?)

Dline is about the same as I think it’s become clear Veach will try to upgrade this unit slowly through the draft the next few years. And it needs attention.

We start this season in clearly better shape at ILB than last we started last year where we had major questions at both positions. DJ was slow but solid in the end and Rags was playing well, but I still see this as upgraded unit.

Pass rush or OLBs have chance for modest bump too with development of Tanoh and return of Ford.

Secondary really lacks depth but return of Berry and legit potential of Fuller on the outside makes this a wash. But will Berry be Berry, can Amerson revert back to 2016, is Sorensen a legit starter and what do we do if anyone goes down are scary type legit questions for this group.

In the end it’s not so much about a downgrade from last year, because that defense wasn’t good enough. I just think Veach knows it’s going to be at least a two draft process to really bump this unit and it’s potential back where it needs to be. And that’s okay.

[oldtimer 8,686]

Dline is about the same as I think it’s become clear Veach will try to upgrade this unit slowly through the draft the next few years. And it needs attention.

We start this season in clearly better shape at ILB than last we started last year where we had major questions at both positions. DJ was slow but solid in the end and Rags was playing well, but I still see this as upgraded unit.

Pass rush or OLBs have chance for modest bump too with development of Tanoh and return of Ford.

Secondary really lacks depth but return of Berry and legit potential of Fuller on the outside makes this a wash. But will Berry be Berry, can Amerson revert back to 2016, is Sorensen a legit starter and what do we do if anyone goes down are scary type legit questions for this group.

In the end it’s not so much about a downgrade from last year, because that defense wasn’t good enough. I just think Veach knows it’s going to be at least a two draft process to really bump this unit and it’s potential back where it needs to be. And that’s okay.

 

 

YUP

[robgar 1,046]

so three first round picks leave... and we think its going to be a quick fix? Sure two of those guys where getting a bit older, and one wouldnt tackle a fly. 

 

My expectations next year are to see an offense grow up,  and a team gell ...

 

RG

[Legend of AC 269]

Next year we have two 2s, which will help immensely at least in theory. Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I feel pretty good about this years draft even without a 1st. We have three picks on day two which we need to nail, however. 2018 is all about building; if we exceed expectations, great, if not, that’s okay too.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Well if it's any consolation, 2018 off to a good start since we avoided drafting Foster in last years draft.