Chiefs of the Draft?

The Kansas City Chiefs have a number of holes to fill in this year's draft. When they're on the clock at No. 5, there will be plenty of options. Chiefs fan Mike Couzens explains what KC needs to do in three weeks.

Looking into the future for the Kansas City Chiefs is not easy. There’s a lot of needs and not enough picks in the draft to fulfill them all, so the Chiefs are going to have to make some tough decisions when it comes to what positions they’re going to prioritize in this year’s pool. Looking into the future is only so tough because there are some young guys who are growing (Jamaal Charles), middle of the road guys who could flourish (Matt Cassel), and some old guys (Brian Waters) who could be gone any day now.

But those are positions with relatively stable players, especially with the addition of Thomas Jones at running back. Where the help is really needed is on defense. The Chiefs ranked 30th in overall defense in 2009, and 31st overall in 2008. The reasons the KC teams of the early 2000’s were so good was because of the offense, and it was always the defense that held them back. Even with a semi-potent offense with emerging stars like Dwayne Bowe, Charles and others, the defense can get this team to be better than its 4-12 mark of 2009.

Three names that the Chiefs need to have on their board come draft day are Safeties Eric Berry and Taylor Mays and NT Terrence Cody. Their current safeties are Jon McGraw and Mike Brown—two guys past their prime and who more importantly do not fit into the young scheme of this current team. Adding Mays or Berry, two players who could be immediate starters, would immensely improve the defense. A good safety can be like a quarterback on defense in the sense that he can control the field and see the game in a way that no other player does. The Chiefs haven’t had that on defense in a number of years.

Cody, on the other hand, would fill the role that Glenn Dorsey was supposed to when Carl Peterson drafted him back in 2008. He was supposed to be an interior tackle, but the team moved to a 3-4 defense and he’s now an end. Cody would be the massive run-stopper this team’s been in need of for a long time. Not only would that lead to teams having to double team Cody or just avoid him all together, but it would take pressure off the rest of the defense, especially when it comes down to trying to get pressure on the quarterback.

Those are the team’s most glaring needs, however there are other areas like wide receiver (who starts behind Bowe) and tight end (Leonard Pope is not the answer) that are secondary to defense. 2010 will be interesting with Scott Pioli getting his first chance to draft at the helm of the Chiefs organization. Here’s to hoping it’s better than what KC fans are used to.