Chiefs Season Wraps-Up

The Chiefs 2007 season is over, thankfully, and now the organization can get down to cleaning house, whether it be in management, coaching or personnel. Carl Peterson told the media after yesterday's dismal 13-10 overtime loss to the NY Jets that he would retain his position as GM/President/CEO/Emperor of the team. Money Quote: "Clark has his thoughts and he expresses them to me, but it’s just not his way to make them public all the time." Or ever. Kevin Keitzman on WHB 810 today does not think the matter is settled just because Carl Peterson says it is, and there has been speculation that Clark Hunt will speak to the media in the coming week. Also, "Edwards indicated that if he made changes to his coaching staff, they would come this week." Two coaches that are definitely on the hot seat are offensive coordinator Mike Solari and special teams coach Mike Priefer. I wouldn't expect either to return, at least not in their present positions. The Ravens sacked Brian Billick today, leaving the former Vikings offensive coordinator available. According to Lions Insider, Mike Martz will likely not return as the offensive coordinator for the Lions. I'm mentioning these firings as food for thought, although I can't see Martz's offensive strategy gelling with Herm Edwards' ball control philosophy.

The only good that came out of Sunday's loss is a higher draft pick for the Chiefs as they surpassed the Jets in the draft order. Now the worst the Chiefs can draft is fifth, with a possibility of drafting fourth. The Chiefs, the Falcons and the Raiders are all tied at 4-12 for the season. The next tie-breaker is strength of schedule, but in this case the teams are also tied, with their opponents' records standing at 132-124. The Raiders and Chiefs split their AFC West series this season, but the Chiefs ended up having a better record against common opponents than the Raiders, so the Raiders and Falcons will flip for the third pick. In the case that Atlanta losses said coin flip, the Falcons will participate in another coin toss, this time with the Chiefs for the fourth draft pick. These coin tosses will take place at the NFL scouting combine in February.

Now the question becomes: What do we do with a possible fourth pick in the 2008 draft? Taking an offensive tackle seems to be the accepted wisdom, and Michigan's Jake Long is the highest rated player at the position according to "draft experts." Will Jake Long be available at the fourth, or fifth pick? Other players being hyped as top five picks are Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, LSU D. Tackle Glenn Dorsey, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan and Virginia Defensive End Chris Long. In addition to his rant about Peterson in his WHB 810 "Between the Lines" monologue, Keitzman also lamented the fact that the Chiefs will not go after a top quarterback prospect out of college and develop him into an NFL franchise quarterback. Now would be the time for the Chiefs to reverse that trend, he contended. Keitzman admitted he had no confidence in Croyle and did not see anything this season to make him wait for a later draft to take a franchise quarterback. According to Keitzman's logic, this is the year to take a quarterback because it is rare to find three quarterbacks worthy of a top 10 pick -- Ryan, Louisville's Brian Bohm and Kentucky's Andre Woodson. Others complain that there is no sure-fire stand-out in this year's crop, but Keitzman would rather the Chiefs try and fail than skip over a quarterback for a offensive tackle or other position player. I agree with Keitzman that Croyle doesn't seem to be a super bowl quarterback, maybe a good back-up at some point, but definitely not an elite NFL quarterback. He's got a strong arm, no denying that, but his decision-making, accuracy and durability are too big of obstacles to get over with arm strength alone. I will analyze the Chiefs draft options as the off-season rolls on, but next, on to the Herm Edwards' apologists and their answer to critics who claim Herm doesn't care enough about offense and offensive personnel to win a super bowl.