AussieChiefsFan
04-21-2009, 01:55 AM
Daily download | Maybe Chiefs won’t take Curry after all
So a few things happened at Chiefs minicamp that made me, at least for this moment, change my mind that Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry is the obvious, slam-dunk choice for the Chiefs to draft Saturday if they hold on to their No. 3 overall pick.
In fairness, I get the feeling that the Chiefs’ draft board was completed weeks ago. Things are always subject to change, but the way it works is that general managerScott Pioli and his staff of merry men would generate a list of players, all ranked by how much the Chiefs want them. It was under a different regime, of course, but as it happened last year, the top overall player on the Chiefs’ board was Glenn Dorsey. He fell to No. 5 and Kansas City got him, but the point was that if the Chiefs had the No. 1 overall pick, they’d determined that Dorsey was the best player out there and they’d have taken him.
So who’s at the top of the Chiefs’ draft board this year? For months, I’ve written that it must be Curry. Has to be Curry. Needs to be Curry. And maybe it still is Curry.
But here are the things that make me think that, well, it might not be Curry.
•Brian Waters was a no-show. His absence underscored how far the Chiefs’ offensive line still has to go. It’s unclear yet whether Waters will be on this team when it lines up in the fall, and at the risk of speculating, Waters’ decision to skip Todd Haley’s first minicamp was a bad sign for a team whose first priority is to get everyone on the same page.
•Curry’s agent was in Detroit this weekend. This is almost definitely a negotiating ploy to quarterbackMatthew Stafford’s agent. It’s designed to give the Lions a little more negotiating power as they try to seal a contract with whomever they’ll make the No. 1 overall pick. They want that player signed before Saturday, and sometimes teams have to play dirty. But it wouldn’t be a shock if Detroit did take Curry.
•Pioli’s close eye on the offensive line. Pioli was measuring everything during the three practices reporters were allowed to attend this weekend, but no unit got his attention quite like the offensive line. It’s possible that Pioli was sizing up exactly what the Chiefs have — and probably finding out it’s not as much as most NFL teams would like.
•Matt Cassel’s potential. It’s clear that Cassel will be the Chiefs’ starting quarterback, barring a catastrophe, if for no other reason than his $14 million guaranteed salary. But there’s more to Cassel than that, including one of the most accurate arms the Chiefs have had on their roster in years. It’s something the Chiefs just haven’t had in a long time, and I get the feeling they don’t want anything to interfere with that.
So perhaps the Chiefs’ greatest need really is offensive tackle. If they draft Eugene Monroe or Jason Smith at No. 3, yes, that’s a high price for a right tackle, but it would almost definitely lock in a pair of outstanding bookend linemen (the other, Branden Albert) for the next five to seven years. The value of two marquee tackles is as high as anything these days.
http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2009/04/20/23/663-Babb_Kent_011108_GLB_24f_04-21-2009_5A17FA1S.embedded.prod_affiliate.81.jpg (http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2009/04/20/23/501-Babb_Kent_011108_GLB_24f_04-21-2009_5A17FA1S.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg)
G.L.BOOKER
January 11, 2008. Kent Babb. Kansas City Star Sports reporter.
So a few things happened at Chiefs minicamp that made me, at least for this moment, change my mind that Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry is the obvious, slam-dunk choice for the Chiefs to draft Saturday if they hold on to their No. 3 overall pick.
In fairness, I get the feeling that the Chiefs’ draft board was completed weeks ago. Things are always subject to change, but the way it works is that general managerScott Pioli and his staff of merry men would generate a list of players, all ranked by how much the Chiefs want them. It was under a different regime, of course, but as it happened last year, the top overall player on the Chiefs’ board was Glenn Dorsey. He fell to No. 5 and Kansas City got him, but the point was that if the Chiefs had the No. 1 overall pick, they’d determined that Dorsey was the best player out there and they’d have taken him.
So who’s at the top of the Chiefs’ draft board this year? For months, I’ve written that it must be Curry. Has to be Curry. Needs to be Curry. And maybe it still is Curry.
But here are the things that make me think that, well, it might not be Curry.
•Brian Waters was a no-show. His absence underscored how far the Chiefs’ offensive line still has to go. It’s unclear yet whether Waters will be on this team when it lines up in the fall, and at the risk of speculating, Waters’ decision to skip Todd Haley’s first minicamp was a bad sign for a team whose first priority is to get everyone on the same page.
•Curry’s agent was in Detroit this weekend. This is almost definitely a negotiating ploy to quarterbackMatthew Stafford’s agent. It’s designed to give the Lions a little more negotiating power as they try to seal a contract with whomever they’ll make the No. 1 overall pick. They want that player signed before Saturday, and sometimes teams have to play dirty. But it wouldn’t be a shock if Detroit did take Curry.
•Pioli’s close eye on the offensive line. Pioli was measuring everything during the three practices reporters were allowed to attend this weekend, but no unit got his attention quite like the offensive line. It’s possible that Pioli was sizing up exactly what the Chiefs have — and probably finding out it’s not as much as most NFL teams would like.
•Matt Cassel’s potential. It’s clear that Cassel will be the Chiefs’ starting quarterback, barring a catastrophe, if for no other reason than his $14 million guaranteed salary. But there’s more to Cassel than that, including one of the most accurate arms the Chiefs have had on their roster in years. It’s something the Chiefs just haven’t had in a long time, and I get the feeling they don’t want anything to interfere with that.
So perhaps the Chiefs’ greatest need really is offensive tackle. If they draft Eugene Monroe or Jason Smith at No. 3, yes, that’s a high price for a right tackle, but it would almost definitely lock in a pair of outstanding bookend linemen (the other, Branden Albert) for the next five to seven years. The value of two marquee tackles is as high as anything these days.
http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2009/04/20/23/663-Babb_Kent_011108_GLB_24f_04-21-2009_5A17FA1S.embedded.prod_affiliate.81.jpg (http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2009/04/20/23/501-Babb_Kent_011108_GLB_24f_04-21-2009_5A17FA1S.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg)
G.L.BOOKER
January 11, 2008. Kent Babb. Kansas City Star Sports reporter.