More love for Branden Albert

[Ryfo18]

Pete Prisco (CBS analyst) released some interesting rankings. It ranks teams based on 4 things:

1. Franchise QB
2. Pass rusher
3. Shutdown Corner
4. Franchise left tackle

So the team with the best pass rusher (or corner or left tackle) in the league gets 32 points. For quarterback, it is the same, except QB gets double points. So Aaron Rodgers is worth 64 points.

For the Chiefs rankings at each of these positions, we have:

1. Cassel, 24
2. Albert, 10
3. Hali, 9
4. Flowers, 5

This puts the Chiefs at ninth overall (wow!).

Albert continues to get respect as one of the better (top third) left tackles in the league. Profootballfocus has also graded him out very well. What I don't get is why some (namely chief31) will continue to call for the replacement of Albert, while defending Cassel. Seems like very backwards logic.

Nice to see Flowers and Hali get some respect too, though I would argue that Hali is too low.

[OPLookn]

well to be honest i cant remember that years draft class. it all runs together. my opinion poe would be worth a 3 more than jackson and everyones comaining that we picked poe at 11. i think poe has a alot more potential than jackson. but no i cant remember the class but i was high on curry as well. im not saying it was a lost or anything just that we chose him to high weather it was right or wrong to do doesnt matter. but saying there was alot of stuff I
going on in kc is not an excuse. u still pick value over need that high. im not mad over the pick and never was. was shocked but thats all.

Pick # NFL team Player Pos.
1 Detroit Lions Matthew Stafford QB
2 St. Louis Rams Jason Smith OT
3 Kansas City Chiefs Tyson Jackson DE
4 Seattle Seahawks Aaron Curry LB
5 New York Jets Mark Sanchez QB
6 Cincinnati Bengals Andre Smith OT
7 Oakland Raiders Darrius Heyward-Bey
8 Jacksonville Jaguars Eugene Monroe OT
9 Green Bay Packers B. J. Raji† DT
10 San Francisco 49ers Michael Crabtree WR
11 Buffalo Bills Aaron Maybin DE
12 Denver Broncos Knowshon Moreno RB
13 Washington Redskins Brian Orakpo† DE
14 New Orleans Saints Malcolm Jenkins CB
15 Houston Texans Brian Cushing† LB
16 San Diego Chargers Larry English DE
17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Josh Freeman QB
18 Denver Broncos Robert Ayers DE
19 Philadelphia Eagles Jeremy Maclin WR
20 Detroit Lions Brandon Pettigrew TE
21 Cleveland Browns Alex Mack† C
22 Minnesota Vikings Percy Harvin† WR
23 Baltimore Ravens Michael Oher OT
24 Atlanta Falcons Peria Jerry DT
25 Miami Dolphins Vontae Davis CB
26 Green Bay Packers Clay Matthews† LB
27 Indianapolis Colts Donald Brown RB
28 Buffalo Bills Eric Wood C
29 New York Giants Hakeem Nicks WR
30 Tennessee Titans Kenny Britt WR
31 Arizona Cardinals Chris "Beanie" Wells RB
32 Pittsburgh Steelers Evander "Ziggy" Hood DT

There are 6 pro bowlers out of the first round. Raji was seen the same as Poe in a boom or bust sense. However the huge knock on Raji was him being lazy. He showed up to the combine overweight, he had his pro day overweight, etc, etc.

Orakpo was a tweener in a 3-4 defense and we already had one of those in Hali. I remember there being talk of people being unsure if Hali would be able to flourish as an OLB. So there sure as heck wasn't a point to drafting yet another guy who might not make it as a OLB in a 3-4 D no matter how some wanted him.

Cushing we didn't need at the time as we were in the process of switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 so we really weren't sure who was going to make the transition and what we'd need.

At that point we're clear down to the 21st pick and we didn't need a center. I believe we just got Weigmann back. That leaves Clay Matthews who if we didn't take Cushing we wouldn't have taken Matthews.

As much as some people want to complain (MMO) no one really had a good draft in 2009.

[jason1981]

well one im not really complaining about it. was just stating that u should draft value over need is all when your that high. looking at that list yeah it doesnt seem like there were many stars in the draft but we didnt know that then. so u really cant use that as an excuse. but yes i agree it wound up being a poor draft class. i dont have an issue with the jackson pick though as long as he gets more consistant..

[nigeriannightmare]

How is Raji comparable to Poe as far as a football player? From Raji scouting report... Early in the 2008 season, the 6-1, 323 pound defensive tackle has been a dominating run stopper and a tough match-up for any Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. He had played nose tackle and was a force in college unlike poe, I like the poe pick but to compare the two is wrong.

"No one had a really good draft in 09."

Really?

I have just looked at 2 teams in that draft, GB picked raji and clay matthews, 2 impact pro bowl players and Pitt picked Hood a good 3/4 de and Mike Wallace, a franchise WR.

Dude bj raji sucked in 2011 the green bay defense was the worst in the nfl, the worst so out of the 7 or 8 picked a team makes 2 picks makes it a good draft.....thats kind of some backward thinking. And two out of 32 isnt many thats a couple.

To me a good draft would mean higher than 50% of ur picks make the team and contribute.

[Ryfo18]

How is Raji comparable to Poe as far as a football player? From Raji scouting report... Early in the 2008 season, the 6-1, 323 pound defensive tackle has been a dominating run stopper and a tough match-up for any Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. He had played nose tackle and was a force in college unlike poe, I like the poe pick but to compare the two is wrong.

"No one had a really good draft in 09."

Really?

I have just looked at 2 teams in that draft, GB picked raji and clay matthews, 2 impact pro bowl players and Pitt picked Hood a good 3/4 de and Mike Wallace, a franchise WR.

This is very true. BJ Raji was unable to build on his great 2010 season, while Jackson continued to make improvements.

Try this on for size:

Profootballfocus graded BJ Raji as THE WORST NT/DT IN THE LEAGUE IN 2011. Here's a screenshot for proof:



Meanwhile, Tyson Jackson graded out as the 11th best 3-4 DE in the league (6th best in run stopping, which you lauded Raji for).



So let's compare grades:

Overall: Raji (-19.0), Jackson (8.3)
Pass Rush: Raji (-4.9), Jackson (-5.4)
Run Stopping: Raji (-16.2), Jackson (10.0)

And no, this isn't golf...lower scores are not better.

You continue to bring your ill-informed opinions about Tyson Jackson, and assume that Raji is a better player because he made the pro-bowl (a much easier task when your team consistently wins). THERE WERE 87 DTs/NTs better than BJ Raji last year!!!

You probably won't even read this, b/c you typically don't and just continue to spout your nonsense. But whatever.

[ctchiefsfan]

This is very true. BJ Raji was unable to build on his great 2010 season, while Jackson continued to make improvements.

Try this on for size:

Profootballfocus graded BJ Raji as THE WORST NT/DT IN THE LEAGUE IN 2011. Here's a screenshot for proof:



Meanwhile, Tyson Jackson graded out as the 11th best 3-4 DE in the league (6th best in run stopping, which you lauded Raji for).



So let's compare grades:

Overall: Raji (-19.0), Jackson (8.3)
Pass Rush: Raji (-4.9), Jackson (-5.4)
Run Stopping: Raji (-16.2), Jackson (10.0)

And no, this isn't golf...lower scores are not better.

You continue to bring your ill-informed opinions about Tyson Jackson, and assume that Raji is a better player because he made the pro-bowl (a much easier task when your team consistently wins). THERE WERE 87 DTs/NTs better than BJ Raji last year!!!

You probably won't even read this, b/c you typically don't and just continue to spout your nonsense. But whatever.

+1 Please ignore the troll.

[OPLookn]

How is Raji comparable to Poe as far as a football player? From Raji scouting report... Early in the 2008 season, the 6-1, 323 pound defensive tackle has been a dominating run stopper and a tough match-up for any Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. He had played nose tackle and was a force in college unlike poe, I like the poe pick but to compare the two is wrong.

"No one had a really good draft in 09."

Really?

I have just looked at 2 teams in that draft, GB picked raji and clay matthews, 2 impact pro bowl players and Pitt picked Hood a good 3/4 de and Mike Wallace, a franchise WR.

Apparently you skim and don't read. I said that the two were the same in that they are either going to be boom's or bust's. At no point did I say they were valued the same. Raji also was overweight and lazy or so was the knock on him.

You just looked at 2 teams...really? I didn't know that the 1st round pick defined if the draft was good or not!

After they picked Raji (who wasn't a lock at the time and had a dismal 2011) they picked Matthews. Matthews was a good pick but after that they picked two guys that are 2nd or 3rd team and have done nothing and the other guys aren't on the team. Of COURSE your 1st rounders are going to be playing. They're supposed to be, that's why they go in the first round!

The Steelers had a better draft then the Packers in my opinion. Their 1st rounder was good and they hit on their 3rd rounder. The shocker to me was the 7th rounder they drafted that started all 16 games this last season.

Now for the Chiefs, we got Tyson Jackson (starter), Cassel in a trade (starter), Vrabel (starter), Ryan Succop (starter) and Donald Washington (backup). Yeah, I can see how that draft totally sucked. Oh the other guys while not playing for the Chiefs are still in the NFL. Even the teams you said drafted great can't say that.

[Chiefster]

Speaking only for myself, I don't necessarily "want [Cassel] gone" because should we happen to acquire a better QB I think he is more than a capable backup, and since we haven't he is our starter.

[OPLookn]

Sometimes OP I think you have gone and drank the kool aid. Our 09 draft was horrible. We had the third draft pick and got a solid 3/4 de and a qb most of chiefs nation want gone and our third round pick was cut.

It was not a good draft. If you give me players like raji and matthews every year in the same draft we would be in the super bowl in no time.

Riiight I've completely drank the koolaid. Those same two starters that you'd take every year were on the worst defense in the league last year. How exactly are they "impact" players then? Or how they went undefeated until they faced some of the guys we had with our horrible draft of 09? You know the one where we didn't have Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry or Tony Moeaki?

I swear, talking to you is like ...

[ctchiefsfan]

I swear, talking to you is like ...

Small correction OPLookin...Talking to him is not like Rather it IS









It is also....

[matthewschiefs]

Sometimes OP I think you have gone and drank the kool aid. Our 09 draft was horrible. We had the third draft pick and got a solid 3/4 de and a qb most of chiefs nation want gone and our third round pick was cut.

It was not a good draft. If you give me players like raji and matthews every year in the same draft we would be in the super bowl in no time.

Since when is getting a solid player reason to say that the draft was horrible. It's not like he's in the Jamarcus Russel,Ryan leaf level of bad. And those were 1st and 2nd picks. I see nothing wrong with getting a solid player.

And look at the facts our defense was better last year the the D with Raji and Matthews.