Walter Chiefs Grade

Walterfootball.com Review of the Chiefs

Chiefs sign NT Kelly Gregg (1 year): A- Grade
This is a pretty good signing. Turning 35 in November, Kelly Gregg is not the player he once was, but should still be an effective run stopper. He'll offer a cheap upgrade at nose tackle and keep the seat warm for rookie Jerrell Powe.

Chiefs sign WR Steve Breaston (5 years, $25M; $9.5M guaranteed): MILLEN ON SHROOMS Grade
This signing was from a few days ago, but details are now known. The Chiefs signed Steve Breaston to a 5-year deal worth $25 million with $9.5 million guaranteed.

Umm... what the hell is this? OK, so if even if there wasn't anything wrong with Breaston, spending $25 million overall and $9.5 million guaranteed on a slot receiver is overly excessive. But Breaston isn't fine; the Cardinals were eagerly willing to let him walk because they know his knees are shot. This is an awful signing.


2011 NFL Season Preview:

Veteran Additions:
WR Steve Breaston, ILB Brandon Siler, NT Kelly Gregg.

Early Draft Picks:
WR Jonathan Baldwin, C Rodney Hudson, DE/OLB Justin Houston, CB Jalil Brown, NT Jerrell Powe.

Offseason Losses:
OC Charlie Weis, WR Chris Chambers, G Brian Waters, DE/DT Shaun Smith, NT Ron Edwards, DE/OLB Mike Vrabel, CB Maurice Leggett.

2011 Kansas City Chiefs Offense:
What the Chiefs were able to accomplish in 2010 was a testament to the impact great offensive and defensive coordinators can have in the NFL. Matt Cassel was lost in 2009, completing 55 percent of his passes as he threw for 2,924 yards, 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with a dreadful 5.9 YPA. With Charlie Weis, Cassel's numbers improved to 3,116 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven picks, with a 6.9 YPA and a 58.2 completion percentage.

Unfortunately for Cassel, Weis is gone. Weis and Todd Haley were at odds with each other, as Haley reportedly stripped Weis of his play-calling duties in the second half of the team's playoff loss to Baltimore. Cassel will undoubtedly struggle with first-year coordinator Bill Muir; the former Patriot quarterback was already showing signs of regression at the end of last season. In his final two games, including the playoff contest, Cassel was a combined 20-of-48 for 185 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions. That's a completion percentage of 41.7 and a YPA of 3.9.

Cassel's just not very good. He has accuracy issues and struggles to make all of the throws because of a lacking arm. Cassel completed just 14-of-57 attempts longer than 20 yards in 2010, bad enough for last place in that category in the NFL.

Cassel has two very talented players around him to prevent a complete collapse. Those would be obviously be Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe. Charles is one of the better running backs in the NFL, capable of going the distance on any play. What's frustrating, however, is that Haley refuses to utilize Charles as much as he should, perhaps believing that Charles is too small and brittle (5-11, 199) to carry the load. Charles received only one touch after the first drive in the second half of that Baltimore loss. That's inexcusable.

Bowe impressively snagged 15 touchdowns last year. It's unreasonable to expect him to duplicate that feat - especially with the departure of Weis - but Bowe remains a legitimate No. 1 receiver. He'll be joined by two new acquisitions in the receiving corps: rookie Jonathan Baldwin and former Cardinal Steve Breaston. Baldwin is a physical freak at 6-4, 228, but like most rookies, he's going to struggle this year because of the shortened offseason. Breaston, meanwhile, was probably a waste of a signing. Arizona put forth no effort to retain him because his knees are shot.

Luckily for Cassel, he'll have a secondary reliable weapon in tight end Tony Moeaki, who hauled in 47 receptions for 556 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie in 2010. Moeaki was constantly injured at Iowa, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him stay healthy in his first NFL season.

Kansas City's offensive line remains a concern. The good news is that the team was happy to get back center Casey Wiegmann for one more year. Wiegmann is a declining player at 38, but he's reliable and will provide some continuity up front as rookie Rodney Hudson is groomed to replace him.

The bad news is two-fold. First, the Chiefs still have gaping holes at the tackle positions. Left tackle Branden Albert surrendered 11 sacks (including one in the playoff loss) and was penalized nine times last year. On the other side, Kansas City will feature a platoon of Ryan O'Callaghan and Barry Richardson. The former is the better of the two, but he can't stay healthy. Richardson, meanwhile, is brutal in pass protection.

Second, the Chiefs parted ways with their best offensive lineman this offseason, Brian Waters. Second-year Jon Asamoah will step into the left guard slot. Asamoah has just one career start. He played well in that game, but the Bills didn't exactly offer much of a challenge. With Waters gone, Kansas City's new top lineman is right guard Ryan Lilja, who gave up just one sack.

2011 Kansas City Chiefs Defense:
Just as Charlie Weis worked miracles with the offense, Romeo Crennel upgraded a Kansas City defense that overachieved past its talent level in 2010. Though unlike Weis, Crennel will remain with the team for a second year.

One area in which the Chiefs struggled despite Crennel's best efforts was run defense. They ranked 20th in the NFL, allowing 4.4 yards per carry to the opposition. That figure will improve in 2011, thanks to the addition of nose tackle Kelly Gregg. Gregg is old (35), but still proved to be a sound, two-down run-stuffer with the Ravens last year. He'll probably wear down as the season goes on, so Kansas City fans will be hoping that sixth-round rookie Jerrell Powe can step in if needed in late November or December.

A pair of former top-five draft picks join Gregg up front. After two disappointing seasons, Glenn Dorsey played very well in 2010. He didn't offer much of a pass rush (two sacks), but was very stout against the run. Tyson Jackson, on the other hand, struggled once again. He gave way to Wallace Gilberry on third down. The 6-2, 270-pound Gilberry was second on the team with seven sacks. He'll be back in 2011 after getting a second-round tender this offseason.

Gilberry trailed only Tamba Hali in sacks. Hali had a magnificent 2010 campaign, recording 16.5 sacks if you count the pair he registered in the playoffs. Hali was franchised, and figures to be even more dangerous once the Chiefs can develop rookie Justin Houston at the other rush linebacker position. Houston was a first-round talent who slipped to the third round this past April due to character concerns. He probably won't contribute much this year because of the shortened offseason, so it'll be up to Andy Studebaker to replace the retired Mike Vrabel; Studebaker had 2.5 sacks in limited playing time in 2010.

The rest of Kansas City's linebacking corps is comprised of Derrick Johnson, a Pro Bowler, and Jovan Belcher. Belcher is relatively unknown, but played well at times last season. The 24-year-old Maine product stood out in the playoff loss to the Ravens, notching five tackles and two sacks. He'll face training camp competition from former Charger Brandon Siler.

The strength of the Chiefs' defense is in the secondary. Kansas City boasts one of the top cornerback tandems in the entire league. Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr were largely responsible for the team ranking fifth in the NFL in terms of YPA allowed (6.6).

Kansas City's safety play wasn't bad either. Eric Berry, chosen No. 5 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, really struggled early on, but settled in as the season went along. He was great in the team's loss to Baltimore. Kendrick Lewis, manning the free safety slot, was solid, but unspectacular.

2011 Kansas City Chiefs Schedule and Intangibles:
As stated earlier, the loss of Charlie Weis will be huge. New offensive coordinator Bill Muir never developed a quarterback when he held that job in Tampa Bay from 2002 to 2008, so it's likely that Matt Cassel, and consequently the offense as a whole, will regress this season.

The Chiefs brought back the Arrowhead magic that was missing between the 2007 and 2009 seasons. In that span, Kansas City was 4-20 as a host. In 2010, that record was 7-2, though one of the two losses was to Baltimore in the playoffs.

Here's a dubious Todd Haley stat: In his two years with the Chiefs, he is 3-7 after Dec. 5. That obviously has to improve.

The Chiefs had that Dexter McCluster punt return for a touchdown in the opener against San Diego, but didn't score again on special teams after that. Javier Arenas' 8.3 punt return average was disappointing.

Kicker Ryan Succop drilled 25-of-29 attempts as a rookie in 2009, but was just 20-of-26 last year. He was just 1-of-3 from 50-plus. Meanwhile, punter Dustin Colquitt was solid, maintaining a 44.4 average with 33-of-88 attempts inside the 20.

Kansas City feasted on a ridiculously easy schedule last season; excluding Seattle for obvious reasons, the team didn't beat a single playoff squad in 2010. In fact, the Chiefs battled just three teams that reached the postseason last year: aforementioned Seattle, Indianapolis (19-9 loss) and Baltimore (30-7 loss). It gets much more difficult this year. Six of this season's opponents reached the playoffs: Indianapolis, New England, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Green Bay and the New York Jets.

2011 Kansas City Chiefs Analysis: Kansas City overachieved last year, thanks to great coaching and an easy schedule. The team won't be as lucky in 2011. Charlie Weis is gone, while the schedule is more taxing.

I expect the opposite to occur this year. Instead of being worse than their record indicated in 2010, they'll be better than their record indicates this season. Their brutal, late stretch of consecutive games against the Patriots, Steelers, Bears, Jets and Packers will knock them out of AFC West contention.

Projection: 5-11 (TBA in AFC West)

All in all, I actually think that is a pretty fair evaluation.. I do think we will be better than our record indicates this year and in return will probably have a top-15 pick next year. But I still have a lot of hope for this team.

kcchiefs wrote:

All in all, I actually think that is a pretty fair evaluation.. I do think we will be better than our record indicates this year and in return will probably have a top-15 pick next year. But I still have a lot of hope for this team.

finally someone else with a realistic view

I also think we will be better than our record. But can still see us making a playoff run and even winning the division again. We earned a chance to play with the big boys. And I believe we will be competitive. And why is weiss leaving the end of our offense. We did sign Zorn to help Cassel. Who should improve and not regress with the talent around him. But all and all we will see when the season begins.

I don't think the Breaston signing is bad at all. I think its huge for our offense, along with drafting Baldwin and now adding McClain.

Walter must not realize that Muir played the biggest role in putting together our running game plan. He also must not know we signed Zorn who is a better QB coach than Weis.

at least you are covering both ends with that one outlaw. If we go 6-10 you can say I said we would be better than our record. If we win the division you can also say I told you so. You have learned much from Rust. I personally see the 6-10 to 8-8 side of it and yes we will still be a better team. As much as I like to blast Pioli and Hunt for being cheap and selling the fans a lot of shit about building a great young team I am glad I am not a Broncos fan. whoever is running that train is an idiot. you got the fans wanting Tebow and all the players wanting Orton. They could and should have killed that whole mess by dealing Orton. Tebow will be a failure as an NFL QB but there is going to be a lot of turmoil in Denver this year no matter which way they go on the QB.

Chiefs09 wrote:

kcchiefs wrote:

All in all, I actually think that is a pretty fair evaluation.. I do think we will be better than our record indicates this year and in return will probably have a top-15 pick next year. But I still have a lot of hope for this team.

finally someone else with a realistic view

He was far from the first to say that

Everyone else on here seems to think that KC is primed and ready to go somewhere now. You cant think they are primed and ready and then say we will probably have a top 15 pick next year. doesnt make sense.

Chiefs09 wrote:

Everyone else on here seems to think that KC is primed and ready to go somewhere now. You cant think they are primed and ready and then say we will probably have a top 15 pick next year. doesnt make sense.

The 15th pick can just barely miss the playoffs. I personally think we pick at least 20.

there are 32 teams. 12 make playoffs. so if we are top 15 then there are at least 5 teams better than us that didnt make it.

Chiefs09 wrote:

Everyone else on here seems to think that KC is primed and ready to go somewhere now. You cant think they are primed and ready and then say we will probably have a top 15 pick next year. doesnt make sense.

I've agreed all along we won't have as good a record as last year. I just don't agree with you that it will all be Cassel's fault

Chiefs09 wrote:

there are 32 teams. 12 make playoffs. so if we are top 15 then there are at least 5 teams better than us that didnt make it.

If the Rams won the last game of the season, they would have been in the playoffs. They drafted 14.

and how many times in history has an under .500 team won a division? neither the rams or seahawks are any good. so that arguement doesnt hold water.

and nobody in that division is primed and ready to make a SB run. again you cant say we'll draft in the top 15 on one hand and say we are contenders in the other and expect to be taken seriously.

so I guess if you arent built for a SB run then you are still in rebuild mode.

funny... vegas has the cowbys with much better odds of winning SB than chiefs. I think we had the same odds as the rams.

New England Patriots
13/2

Green Bay Packers
7/1

Philadelphia Eagles
8/1

San Diego Chargers
11/1

New York Jets
12/1

Atlanta Falcons
14/1

Pittsburgh Steelers
14/1

Baltimore Ravens
16/1

Dallas Cowboys
16/1

New Orleans Saints
16/1

Indianapolis Colts
18/1

Houston Texans
25/1

New York Giants
25/1

Chicago Bears
28/1

Detroit Lions
30/1

Minnesota Vikings
30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30/1

Kansas City Chiefs
40/1

St. Louis Rams
40/1

San Francisco 49ers
50/1

Miami Dolphins
55/1

Arizona Cardinals
65/1

Oakland Raiders
65/1

Jacksonville Jaguars
75/1

Tennessee Titans
75/1

Cleveland Browns
80/1

Denver Broncos
80/1

Seattle Seahawks
80/1

Cincinnati Bengals
100/1

Washington Redskins
100/1

Buffalo Bills
150/1

Carolina Panthers
150/1


9:00pOdds to win the 2012 AFC Conference All wagers have action.
New England Patriots
3/1

San Diego Chargers
11/2

New York Jets
6/1

Pittsburgh Steelers
13/2

Baltimore Ravens
15/2

Indianapolis Colts
17/2

Houston Texans
14/1

Kansas City Chiefs
20/1

Miami Dolphins
28/1

Oakland Raiders
33/1

Jacksonville Jaguars
35/1

Tennessee Titans
35/1

Cleveland Browns
40/1

Denver Broncos
40/1

Cincinnati Bengals
50/1

Buffalo Bills
75/1


9:00pOdds to win the 2012 NFC Conference All wagers have action.

the lions get better odds. I couldnt even believe that.

Chiefs09 wrote:

and how many times in history has an under .500 team won a division? neither the rams or seahawks are any good. so that arguement doesnt hold water.

I forgot you don't believe in facts. The fact that it happened last year makes it possible. I'm not predicting it, I'm just pointing out the obvious.

My argument seems to be overflowing with water.

its possible the panthers make a SB run too. but its not going to happen. both the rams and hawks are very much in rebuild mode too. so is KC.

so since planes have crashed that makes flying dangerous? the facts show flying is among the safest methods of travel in the world. but since a plane has crashed in the past I guess the argument that flying is dangerous is overflowing with water. just because and under .500 teams comes along once every 100 years does not make the argument any good. so I guess now that we have seen Obama as president and seen what a terrible job he has done no black man could ever make a decent president? it has happened.

So like I said, we will probably pick around 20 and make a playoff run. Like I said, picking at 15 isn't that far away from making the playoffs.

Chiefs09 wrote:

so since planes have crashed that makes flying dangerous? the facts show flying is among the safest methods of travel in the world. but since a plane has crashed in the past I guess the argument that flying is dangerous is overflowing with water. just because and under .500 teams comes along once every 100 years does not make the argument any good. so I guess now that we have seen Obama as president and seen what a terrible job he has done no black man could ever make a decent president? it has happened.

The two worst analogies I've ever read. Again, I never said this scenario is likely to happen. My point would be equivalent to 'a plane has crashed at least once in the history of flying'. If anything your dumbass proved my point.

I've been trying to pretend you're not talking to me when you say 'you can't call them a SB contender and then blah blah blah' because I haven't, so stop making that a part of your argument. You can't put words onto my keyboard like that.

Who said Obama's doing a terrible job? He seems to have the same commie views that you do.

Chiefs09 wrote:

so since planes have crashed that makes flying dangerous? the facts show flying is among the safest methods of travel in the world. but since a plane has crashed in the past I guess the argument that flying is dangerous is overflowing with water. just because and under .500 teams comes along once every 100 years does not make the argument any good. so I guess now that we have seen Obama as president and seen what a terrible job he has done no black man could ever make a decent president? it has happened.

black or not, obama is the shitiest president in history. whats worse? the republicans dont have anyone to put up against the som bitch.