All Hail Scott Pioli

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's easy to forget how lucky we are.

It's easy to forget how far we've come.

It's hard to forget the man who's responsible.

Scott Pioli: What a Difference 3 Years can Make

The signing of Jared Gaither on Thursday marks, what I would consider, the conclusion of the Kansas City Chiefs 2011 offseason. It was a somewhat quiet, yet very effective 2 weeks for Kansas City that mostly flew under the national radar. Yet, the Chiefs were able to keep their own (Tamba Hali - really don't need Shaun Smith), while improving in most of their weak points (FB, WR, NT, OT, ILB - only OLB left unscathed). It almost resembled a Madden offseason where you can easily identify your weaknesses by overall ratings, and make your free agent acquisitions accordingly.

This all got me to thinking. Have the Chiefs filled all of their holes now? Now obviously they haven't with elite talent at every position, but it's hard to look at this team and say they have a definite need right now. Which brought me back to 2-3 years ago, when it was hard to find a position that you could say WASN'T a definite need And, well, that got me concluding...

Scott Pioli is the fuckin' man.

(To be completely fair, the turnaround began with that 2008 Draft class, which has the potential to go down as one of the best of all time.)

Lets take a look, position by position, at how this team has evolved from their 2-14 season in 2008 to where they stand heading into 2011...

Quarterbacks:

2008 - Tyler Thigpen, Damon Huard, Crodie Broyle, Quinn Gray (!) - Pu pu extradionaire. I got love for Huard because of his magical 2006 season (yea I said it), and Thigpen because he atleast entertained me. The only inspiration I ever got from Cruddie was to write this.

2011 - Icy Matt Cassel, Rick Stanz, something called a Palko - While we may not know Cassel's ceiling, we know that, at worst, he is average. The big question is if can he be the QB on a Super Bowl caliber team?

Running Backs:

2008 - Larry Johnson, infantile Jamaal, Kolby Train - I couldn't be happier that LJ is no longer the face of the organization. My lasting memory of him will forever be him sitting in his New York penthouse on Hard Knocks, in his holdout, wondering if Jay-Z really likes him or not. And hittin' bitches.

2011 - God Jam Chauls, Thomas Jones, LeRon McClain (4 capitals!) - What might be the best backfield in the NFL. I hope the Chiefs stick with the plan of limiting Jamaal's carries, keeping him healthy and prolonging his career.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:

2008 - Tony Gonzalez, Dwayne Bowe, Mark Bradley (!), Devard Darling (!!) - Tight End is the only position I can see that was better in 2008 than what it is in 2011.

2011 - D-Pro Bowe Show, Jonny Baldwin, Steve Breaston, Tony Mohee-yahki - The Bee's Knees, B3PO, The B-Headed Monster, The B Musketeers > Killer B's. For real analysis read this.

Offensive Line:

2008 - Baby Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Wade Smith, Damion McIntosh - They got Brodie Croyle killed. He never stood a chance behind this line!!!

2011 - Grown man Branden Albert, Jon Asamoah, Casey Wiegmann, Ryan Lilja, Barry Richardson/Jared Gaither - The overachievers of last season got rid of their underachiever and added a potential monster at RT (literally - he's 6'9), and will rely on the potential shown by Asamoah. But leave Albert alone at Left Tackle, it annoys me to hear people discuss moving him to RT so much.

Defensive Line:

2008 - Tamba Hali, Jason Babin, Tank Tyler, Turk McBride, Glenn Dorsey, Alfonso Boone - This was the year the Chiefs registered an NFL all time low of 10 sacks. These are the men responsible. Funny looking back that Tamba was playing out of position then.

2011 - Glenn Dorsey, Kelly Gregg, Ty Jax, Wallace D. Gilberry, Allen Bailey, Tony Toribio, Jerrell POW! - Dorsey is solid, Gregg is a mentor, Jackson will improve, Gilberry is the man, my buddy Bill is gay for Bailey, Toribio has a cool name, and Powe is a house.

Linebackers:

2008 - Derrick Johnson, Pat Thomas, Demorrio Williams, Rocky Boiman (!), Weston Dacus (!!), the corpse of Donnie Edwards - Possibly one of the worst linebacking units of all time? This is probably when DJ's depression began.

2011 - Muhammad Hali, Derrick Johnson, Jovan Belcher, Brandon Siler, Andy Studebakez, Justin Houston - The best positional battle this preseason should be between Jovan Belcher and Brandon Siler at the ILB position opposite DJ. Hopefully Houston develops anger management issues when he quits the ganja.

Defensive Backs:

2008 - Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Bernard Pollard, Jarrad Page, Patrick Surtain, Gavin McGraw, something called an Oliver Celestin - A phenomenal mixture of washed up vets, young promising corners, and overrated safeties.

2011 - Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Errrrric Berrrrrrrry, Ken Lewis, Javier Bardenas, Jon McG, Italian Stallion Piscatelli - If Kendrick Lewis pans out, this might be the best secondary this side of the Philadelphia. Flowers, Carr, and Berry will all make visits to Hawaii in their career (or wherever the Pro Bowl is played now).

Pioli rules.
Happy Chiefsmas,
His Dirkness

Ranking the NFL's 32 Quarterbacks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After watching the launch of ESPN's new system for rating quarterbacks last night, and seeing how it compares to the ancient QB Rating system, it really got me thinking.......Gold jacket? Green jacket? Who gives a shit?

But I'm never one to trust my first instinct, so then I decided to make my own list ranking all of the NFL's quarterbacks. So I will take the projected starter of each and every team heading into 2011 (there really isn't much competition within teams at the QB position this year. Denver? One-sided Neckbeard. Washington? Starter is bad, but not Rex Grossman bad. Seattle? Probably most legit, but they already announced Tarvaris Jackson as the starter. Carolina? Probably the only unknown heading into Week 1, but there's no need to include Derek Anderson in this list just to rank him last.). To be clear, this list is my projection of how the QB's will fare THIS SEASON.

And then, I will determine which rating system is best, ESPN's brand spankin' new Total Quarterback Rating or the now-39-year-old QB Rating system (of all passers with atleast 20 career passing attempts, try and guess who has the highest QB Rating of all time - answer in the notes below), by comparing them to my personal rankings.

Yes, I realize this doesn't make logistical sense (should be ranking the QB's according to last year's play). No, I don't care (that's how I roll).

Find 2010's Total Quarterback Ratings here.
Find 2010's old QB Ratings here.

On to the list...

1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
5. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
6. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
7. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans
8. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
9. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
10. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
11. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
12. Donovan McNabb, Minnesota Vikings
13. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles
14. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs
15. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams
16. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo Bills
17. Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos
18. Eli Manning, New York Giants
19. Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets
21. Kevin Kolb, Arizona Cardinals
22. Jason Campbell, Oakland Raiders
23. David Garrard, Jacksonville Jaguars
24. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears
25. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns
26. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals
27. Chad Henne, Miami Dolphins
28. Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers
29. Matt Hasselbeck, Tennessee Titans
30. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthas
31. Tarvaris Jackson, Seattle Seahawks
32. John Beck, Washington Redskins

Notes:

*The top 6 QB's are in a division of their own. That's a huge bitch between 6 and 7.

*Matt Schaub over Matt Ryan null and voids the Matty Ice nickname for the 2011 season.

*Obviously, I think Matthew Stafford is the QB who takes "the leap" this season.

*I've got McNabb outperforming Vick this season. I'm cool with you not understanding right now (and am fully prepared to eat crow by season's end). Although, I hope my hatred for Vick has been made painfully obvious by now.

*My fall from grace prediction goes to Eli Manning. Just a hunch.

*My favorite bumpkin QB is Ryan Fitzpatrick, who sneaks his way into the top half of the list.

*My fluke of 2010 goes to Josh Freeman. I've counted him out many times before, and I will continue to do so. Nice fro though.

*The NFL's top backup, Detroit's Shaun Hill, would rank 14th on my list. Seriously.

*List of QB's who could be affected from last season's Playoffs: Cutler, Ryan, Roethlisberger (in that order).
*List of QB's who could be affected by offseason happenings: Garrard, Palmer, Orton (in that order).
*The answer to the QB with the highest NFL rating of all time (over 20 attempts) IS....Antwaan Randle El (career: 22-27, 323 yards, 6 TD's, 0 INT's, QB Rating of 156.1).

Old QB Rating vs. Total QB Rating

The unscientific, illogical, irrational results are in AND.....

Old QB Rating = Difference of 133 / 25 QB's = 5.32
Total QB Rating = Difference of 130 / 27 QB's = 4.81

Winner - Total QB Rating

Lets go eat a snack,
His dirkness

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