Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Draft 2008

I've really worked hard to avoid paying any attention to the draft, simply because so many times I'd gotten myself all fired up over some guy who turned out to be meaningless. I'm writing now simply to share my thoughts about what's going on today, right now, the draft.

I'm paying no attention to it simply because I still agonize over Percy Snow, taken just five picks before Emmitt Smith. Sure, every team has their Percy Snow. Every single team had a bunch of picks before Joe Montana, but I need the team making the best picks to be the Chiefs, not the Colts or the Patriots.

I do happen to know from news reports -- I can't avoid completely, it is virtually impossible -- that we picked up Glenn Dorsey. The only reason I know of him at all is that some magazine (was it SI?) had a little thumbnail pic of him and how wonderful he is supposed to be. He damn well better be wonderful now.

Only thing. Well, two things. First, after yesterday looking back at past drafts I'd never seen before, just to get a feel for why we suck so much today, I'd noticed all the D-lineman we'd taken, most of whom ended up being nothing for us. Monty Beisel, Eddie Freeman, Junior Siavvi, all completely forgettable. Then there was Ryan Sims, picked number six overall in '02, who was okay for us for a few years and then, well, nothing meriting the accolades for a number six.

So here's Dorsey, picked at what, number five? I didn't quite catch it when it flashed on the bottom of my TV screen (I'd been watching the NASCAR race at the time, by the way). Will he pan out and join Tamba Hali and Jared Allen to actually make the Chiefs D-line one of the most dominant in the NFL? That would be sweet.

The second thing is this, something not so sweet. What are we going to do with our offense?!?! I don't have a clue as to what the Chiefs have done to maneuver. I actually had a work colleague who knows I like the Chiefs tell me we got rid of our best receiver. She didn't know who it was, only that we got rid of him. Was it Tony Gonzalez? I just don't know--it's too painful for me to know. Even if we got Peyton Manning in that trade, I'm still going to go bananas either wondering what Carl Peterson is doing or getting all excited about something that will ultimately mean diddly.

The critical questions that need to be answered before I pay any deliberate attention to anything Chiefs again -- that's on September 7th -- are these two:

One, do we have a Super Bowl class quarterback, or at least one who will be in the future? (Brodie Croyle? --never mind the stifled laughter there...)

Two, do we have offensive lineman that will block like they mean it? (Larry Johnson's already back there looking for gaps to shoot through...)

If we don't, then that Glenn Dorsey-anchored defensive line had better prevent each team they play from scoring a single point all season.