Chiefs Need to Upgrade at OLB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uncertainty runs amuck within the Kansas City Chiefs defense at the OLB position.

The most important position in the 3-4 defense.

The number one mission of a defense is to disrupt the play of the opposing team's quarterback. That's the easiest way to obtain victory. In a 3-4 defense, that responsibility falls mostly on the backs of two players - the 2 OLB's (with a splash of Wallace Gilberry). A good goal for any NFL defense is 40 sacks in a season (Chiefs finished 2010 with 39, good for 10th in the NFL). In an ideal world, you want your two starting OLB's racking up 20-25 of those sacks (Tamba tallied 14.5 last year, while Vrabel put up a goose egg - that's right, 0 sacks). This amounts to anywhere from 50-62% of the pass rush's production. That's a lot of...PRESSURE on two individuals (see what I did there?).

Lets first take a look at what the Chiefs have at OLB, and see why the position is in such disarray right now...

Projected Starters:

*Tamba Hali - Currently franchised and we're really not sure how happy he is about it (hasn't signed his tender yet). Hopefully, there isn't any kind of holdout in his future plans. There's no reason to fret until August 4th, which is the first day he could actually practice with the team. However, if we haven't heard from him come August 5th, it's time to panic.

*Andy Studebaker - Could be THE key to the Chiefs defense this season. Along with Tyson Jackson, Studebaker is 1 of 2 relatively unknowns projected as starters right now. We've seen flashes from 'Bakes before (3 sacks last season), but nothing that would significantly indicate how he'll perform as a starter this season.

Projected Backups:

*Justin Houston - Despite rumors that the Chiefs have placed Houston on the Mentally Unable to Perform (MUP) List, nobody knows for sure what's going on with the Chiefs 3rd round draft choice. He's MIA. My best guess is that he's serving some sort of disciplinary action right now due to his failed drug test from the NFL Combine. Whatever the story is, I'm writing off Houston for the season as of now, because the practices he's missing right now are crucial for a rookie.

*Cameron Sheffield - A 2010 5th round pick that we know absolutely nothing about. He missed all of last season after sustaining a neck injury in a preseason game. While the team hopes he can provide something this year, he certainly cannot be counted on.

That's it, that's the list. There are question marks up and down the Chiefs current depth chart of Outside Linebackers. This isn't a position you can take for granted and/or go into the regular season shorthanded. I think it's absolutely necessary for the Chiefs to add somebody off the Free Agent market. There are 3 names that jump out, and outside of these names, I'm not sure where else help could come from.

Survey says...

*Tully Banta-Cain - Seems the most likely choice because of his history with Scott Pioli in New England. After 2 horrible seasons in San Francisco, he's put up 14.5 sacks over the last 2 seasons with the Patriots. Seems like a perfect fit, however the word on the street is that injuries played a role in his release from New England this offseason (despite playing in 31 of 32 games the last 2 years).

*Matt Roth - Discussed him before in my 10 Free Agents for the Chiefs to Pursue article. Despite never putting up more than 5 sacks in any season, Roth has good QB pressure numbers and is stout against the run. While that doesn't necessarily sell me on him either, the good people at ProFootballFocus.com have him rated highly.

*Manny Lawson - Stay on that same link, and you'll see this name appear 2 spots lower than Roth's. Lawson isn't a premier pass rusher (6.5 sacks in 2009, 3 in both 2008 & 2010), but is considered a good run defender. It should be noted that he was oftentimes taken off the field on 3rd downs in 2010, leading to his dip in sacks (but a sign of his pass rushing shortcomings).

I've been chirping the importance of the 3-4 outside linebacker for the past 2 years now, and am a big proponent of adding 1 of these 3 names to the long list of question marks the Chiefs currently have at the position. If I had to put money on it, I'm betting that Tully Banta-Cain ends up a Chief in 2011.

His dirkness

What Chiefs Should Do in Free Agency

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me and Matt Cassel bout to fuck this Dirkness hiatus up!

This NFL season could be completely insane. Nobody, including the teams themselves, has any idea who's been staying in shape all offseason and who's been doing bong rips and making 4 am trips to Whataburger (order the His Dirkness special next time). I think it might lead to the weirdest season yet, with players we're accustomed to playing at an elite level having down years, and relatively unknown players stepping into the limelight. Without a doubt, the teams with the highest level of dedication and character will benefit the most from the NFL Lockout.

This NFL "offseason" WILL be completely insane. We're about to see 6 months worth of transactions all rolled up into one week. There will be undrafted free agent signings, teams signing their draft picks (will be much easier than in year's past - thanks to this lockout), teams trying to retain their own free agents, the pursuit of other teams' free agents, trades, the peak of tickets sales, and the opening of training camps all in the next 5 days or so. I almost feel like we should go ahead and redo the NFL Draft (just throw it in there on Saturday). This week was the reason Twitter was created.

Now we get to the Chiefs. They're gonna have a ton of money to spend, but don't have a choice whether to spend it or not. They HAVE to spend somewhere from 30-40 million this offseason to reach the NFL's salary floor. While some of that money will go towards keeping what they've got (Tamba Hali and 2012 FA's Flowers, Carr, and Bowe), they'll have the chance to be very active in free agency. I don't expect them to target any of the "elite" free agents (a. because that's not Scott Pioli's style and b. only the Raiders and Redskins are foolish enough to do so), but I would expect a collection of solid, B-grade type players.

I fully expect the Chiefs to dominate this week. This was the reason we hired Scott Pioli.

I'm gonna offer up what I would like to see the Chiefs do over the next week (although, this is bound to change throughout the week as the options become clearer). Lets start with a little Roman style thumbs up/thumbs down with the Chiefs own free agents (thumbs up is a move to resign, thumbs down is cut off their head):

Ron Edwards - Thumbs up
Shaun Smith - Thumbs down
Casey Wiegmann - Thumbs up
Rudy Niswanger - Thumbs down
Jon McGraw - Thumbs down
Leonard Pope - Thumbs down
Ryan O'Callaghan - Thumbs up
Corey Mays - Thumbs up
Crodie Broyle - Thumbs up
Terrance Copper - Thumbs up

Jackie Battle - Thumbs up

Travis Daniels - Thumbs down

Tim Castille - Thumbs down

Charlie Anderson - never heard of him
Kevin Curtis - does he count?

**Obviously, I'm lying about keeping Brodie Croyle. I wouldn't let him quarterback my flag football team if he were the last quarterback on the face of the earth and we were playing 8 year old girls (I'd take the forfeit). But I wanted to see if you were paying attention.**

Now we get to the meat of this post (Mmm mmm yeah, lets make it a sheboygan sausage too). Here are 10 free agents (in a particularly random order) that I'd like to see the Chiefs pursue this offseason (sorry Tiki Barber fans):

1. Stephen Tulloch, ILB, Titans - Often referred to as a "thumper", he would make an ideal compliment to Derrick Johnson's athleticism on the inside. Finishing 2nd in tackles in the NFL last season, he's basically a rich man's Jovan Belcher, the man he'd be replacing.

2. Paul Posluszny, ILB, Bills - While Tulloch finished 2nd in tackles last season, Poz finished 3rd. This team needs a run stuffing inside linebacker, and while I'm a big Belcher fan, he's more suited for backup duties. Poz might make a better defensive leader than Tulloch, so I think he would be my #1 choice.

3. Aubrayo Franklin, NT, 49ers - Don't know much about him, but he is the only notable nose tackle available in free agency. He would appear to be an upgrade over Ron Edwards, but you'll almost assuredly have to overpay to get him. (NOTE: 38 year old Pat Williams named the Chiefs as one of his preferred destinations today. He weighs 400 pounds. Seriously.)

4. Santana Moss, WR, Redskins - I'm not too crazy about the list of available wide receivers. The Chiefs are already equipped with two big, physical, possession style WR's, so what they're in need of is a smart, quick WR to find holes over the middle of the field (not sold on McCluster being that guy). Also, I like the idea of bringing in a veteran mentor for both Bowe and Baldwin.

5. Steve Smith, WR, Giants - This is the other WR I like on the open market. Fits the mold of a potential crafty slot receiver. Look, the time is now for Matt Cassel. Adding yet another option at WR gives him all the necessary weapons to succeed RIGHT NOW. We must determine if he is our long term answer at QB. An additional WR would turn a big weakness from last season into a potential strength this season.

6. Matt Roth, OLB, Browns - His numbers won't wow you, but he's more adept in the running game than he is getting after the QB. He won't provide the Chiefs with a stud opposite Muhammad Hali, but he would provide some serious depth at the position. Wanna know more? Read this.

7. Le'Ron McClain, FB, Ravens - The most likely Chiefs signee from this list. McClain is the beloved fat back that could shine opposite God Jam Char, and could potentially solve the Chiefs 3rd and 1 issues from last season. However, we wouldn't get to hear Charles say "Cox all up in there" anymore.

8. Willie Colon, RT, Steelers - I'm a Barry Richardson kinda guy. If you give him another year to develop, I think he'll figure things out. Howevvvvvvva, if Pioli is ready to move on, then so am I! Colon missed all of 2010 (a bad thing) and the Steelers severely struggled protecting Lil' Ben (good thing).

9. Vince Young, QB, Titans - Nope, he's not a free agent yet, but he will be. The Chiefs can either sign a backup QB or take their chances with Ricky Stanzi this year (better than Cruddie). People say VY is a head case, but damn can he win some football games. 30-17 career record in the NFL. If nobody else is interested in him, I'd love taking a chance with him.

10. Steve Smith, WR, Panthers - Not a free agent, and not even considered available really, but a man can dream! I was struck with a premonition soon after the Chiefs bowed out of last year's playoffs that Smith would be the perfect compliment to D-Bowe. Since then, he has demanded a trade, making it somewhat realistic. Would I be willing to give up a draft pick to get him? Yes, yes i would.

Happy Holidays everybody,
his dirkness