SB Nation - Ikechuku Ndukwe

Cats Gettin Paid

Rodger Sherman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:04:02 -0000

More photos » by Patrick Semansky - AP

Five Saints, one Tyrell Sutton.

So, the way this works is that this week, I'm just continuing my really random posting schedule, but next week is Auburn week. It'll be good.

As for today, t's time for a roundup of professional football playing ex-NU students, and how they're faring so far this fall. All 15 or less of them. And only 13 weeks into the regular season!

And no, I couldn't come up with a better title. Plus, a google search reveals the phrase "Cats gettin paid" was said by Akrobatik in this song featuring Little Brother, and if you don't know about Little Brother, well, hear about them. I'm not sure how combining two great lyricists with one of the best producers in the game doesn't create mainstream waves, but The Listening and The Minstrel Show are top ten albums of the decade in my opinion, just sayin'.

So yeah, Cats gettin paid.

Let's start out with the people in the NFL: 14 ex-Cats are being payed by NFL teams to play football. Of these, two are on their respective teams' active rosters but have not yet played, and two are on practice squads, leaving ten players who have played downs in the NFL this year.

I'ma make you hit the jump for it, though:

Luis Castillo is probably the most prominent NU grad in the NFL, having signed a $43 million dollar contract in the offseason. As you probably know, Luis is San Diego's starting right defensive end, but he's had a pretty off year - in the first 10 games of the year, he had 20 tackles and only two sacks, which seems kinda low, don't it? - and then a calf injury in week 11 has had him out since and he's doubtful right about now. Also, he still has the same name as a baseball player.
Barry Cofield as he has been for the past few years, is the Giants left defensive tackle, and one of NU's vastly important Super Bowl champs. The Giant's defense has fallen off a cliff this year and the team has lost five of seven, but it's not Barry's fault. (And if it is Barry's fault... well, wow, he's pretty bad. But it probably isn't.) In fact, reading briefly about what the Giants blog on this here SBN has said about him, he's been doing pretty decent.
Nick Roach has had a pretty decent sized role for the Bears this year, since Brian Urlacher had a season-ending injury way back in week one. Roach has been starting all over, including a few games at middle linebacker, which is a pretty hard position to randomly move into, and has since swapped out to strong-side linebacker, where he's been great from what I read. He's 3rd on the team with 61 tackles and in a 30-6 win against Cleveland, forced to fumbles. So that's aight.
Trai Essex, NU's other active Super Bowl Champ, has started every gosh-darned game of the season at right guard for the Steelers. Yeah. Oh yeah.
Kevin Bentley, everybody's favorite linebacker for the Houston Texans (depending on your feelings on DeMeco Ryans), is a linebacker for the Houston Texans. He don't start, but he ain't doing too bad. In other "me potentially making things up" news, I thought I remembered seeing him recover a fumble and being like "hey, he went to NU!" but a quick check of the actual stats shows that this never happened. Sippinonpurple.com: where my journalism professors' fears of blogs killing real journalism come true!
Ike Ndukwe got traded from the Miami Dolphins to Kansas City right before the season started. Although initially super excited to go from a potentially decent team in a crappy city like Miami to a terrible one in a gorgeous metropolis like Kansas City, Ike saw he might not get any playing time. Then KC's starting right tackle got injured, and Ike started the first three games of the year, earning the love and friendship of many Kansas City natives. He's back on the bench now, though. You might think this is all totally boring, but it somehow started a 44-comment thread over at the Chief's SBN site.
Zach Streif totally started a game at left tackle for the Saints. I remember this, because they were playing the Jets, and I was watching because I'm a Jets fan, and I got really happy when I saw his name and "Northwestern" on the starting lineups, and then got really sad when I saw him celebrating in the end zone against my team. I may or may not hold a grudge. Anyway, he's played in every game this year, but is still generally a backup behind ex-Towson Tiger Jermon Bushrod, whose apparent only goal in life is proving that the Tigers' 47-14 loss to Northwestern earlier this year was a fluke, considering which school produced the more prodigious New Orleans Saint left tackle.
Tyrell Sutton is a player I pay special attention to, because he's the only person to fall into the middle of the Venn diagram for "Players in the National Football League" and "People Rodger Sherman has had a class with." He was signed by the Packers out of training camp, but they cut him, which turned out to be a smart decision, because injuries and a terrible-to-begin-with running back corps has forced the Pack to give heavy reps to the exhumed corpse of Ahman Green, and if he gets hurt, I hear their GM has Samkon Gado on speed dial. (The Ahman Green part wasn't a joke. He's playing for them. It's 2009.) Anyways, Tyrell caught on with the Carolina Panthers, where he was a fourth-string running back for a long time, but when fullbacks Brad Hoover and Tony Fiametta both got simultaneously injured, that guy who was supposedly undersized to be a Big Ten running back had to see playing time as an NFL fullback, getting three rushes for 15 yards and a catch for 11. And this past weekend against Tampa Bay, with DeAngelo Williams out, we was second-string, earning 6 carries for 38 yards, including a 20 yarder. He's generally been a kick returner - a pretty good one at that - and an occasional third-string back. I saw him get some late-game tick against the Jets a few weekends ago. Him blocking people isn't pretty, because he's like, 5'8, but I think he can stick in the league. He's clearly got the skills to elude people like he did in college, be it returning kicks or running, someone's just gotta give him a chance. For those of you intrigued, here's what he looks like in an NFL uniform - weird that they let him use the LaDanian visor, he never got one of those in college.
Jason Wright has barely played as a third-string running back for the Cardinals behind Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower- two rushes for eight yards, six catches for 38 - but two of those receptions were for touchdowns. This leads me to believe they're probably bringing him in as another blocker or random backfield body on goal line sets and every once in a while he swings out and happens to get open in the end zone. We at NU call this "The Brendan Mitchell".
Marquice Cole has caught on with my Jets. I noticed this when he had a pick in the preseason, and the announcer was like "he went to Northwestern" and I was like "word?" and then the announcer didn't say anything because he couldn't hear me. Anyway, after being cut by three teams in the offseason in the two seasons since he left NU, Cole finally caught on with the Jets after a preseason perfomance that included that pick I mentioned, as you can see here. But as you can see here, he got cut like three days later. But as you can see here, he got signed again like a week later, and has recorded six tackles on special teams. (at least I think they're on special teams. Haven't seen him on the field in actual play yet, then again, I don't get to watch every Jets game out here in Illinois.)

Now, the practice squadders, because being a technicality on an NFL roster is better than being nothing at all:

Brett Basanez, Northwestern's practice squad hero and the one person you can point to if someone ever says there are no NU QB's in the NFL, is spending his third year primarily on the practice squad of an NFL team. His first two were with the Panthers, but you can't spend three years on the same team's practice squad apparently, so he had to move on, and he did, to Chi-town. It doesn't look like he'll break the iron grip Jay Cutler has on throwing passes to Chicago's opponents anytime soon, and second-string Caleb Hanie has only thrown two passes on the season, so Basanez is deep bench.
John Gill has been rocking the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad all season long, making me wonder whether practice squads get rings.

The NFL may have a virtual monopoly on the football world, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other football leagues out there. Northwestern basically runs the UFL, after all.

Prince Kwateng was basically a star for the California Redwoods (jesus these team names are awful). The Prince picked up 20 tackles on a team coached by ex-Northwestern coach Dennis Green. The Daily covered it and stuff.
Tim McGarigle, the guy who somehow holds the NCAA record for tackles, purportedly had a great season for the Florida Tuskers (again with the names!) who went on to the UFL Championship. (then again, there were only four teams, so he had a one in two shot.) There were articles written about him and stuff.
A lot of people heard CJ Bachér was in the UFL and talked about it because the concept of your recent starting quarterback being in the UFL is inherently disappointing. What they didn't know is that Bachér didn't hang on in the UFL - after what was apparently a pick-filled preseason, Bachér got cut by the New York Sentinels, who opted to go with NFL has-beens Quinn Gray and Ingle Martin at the quarterback slot. However, this Sentinels blog (a concept even more depressing than the UFL itself) reports that Bacher got resigned towards the end of the season. Although lord knows whether or not they put the accent aigu on his jersey.
After being cut by the Browns, Noah Herron decided to play for the Sentinels about halfway through the season, and although he suffered a pretty gross injury apparently, he's doing fine. No word on whether or not he stuck out the season. The biggest thing I found searching for news on Noah on google is that he really got screwed over by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in terms of salaries last season.

And now, for my final act, I'll discuss what was in my opinion my weirdest post of the summer: this one, originally written back on my blogspot account about how three ex-NU players - David Oredugba, Demetrius Eaton, and Deante Battle were playing professional football in Finland, of all places. No updates on Oredugba - for all I know, he's still balling in Finland - but I did receive a very cryptic message from Eaton a few weeks after that post.

No hit me up, I have all the answers you need. This is Demetrius. I've been back for the last month and Deante is actually still out there and wont return until the 14th. Some bs happened out there which sent me packing. Hit me for the exclusive!

I hit Demetrius up for the exclusive, but didn't get any further information. According to this post, Battle was back in Evanston tearing up IM football, but I wasn't there to witness it.

So that's that. If you made it through this whole thing, you're a champ. I stay grinding, so, keep coming back for more.

Chiefs' Ndukwe Could Be Seeing Time at Right Guard

Joel Thorman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:45:24 -0000

I can't count how many times I've heard this question in comments on the site and emails to me: 'Why don't the Chiefs try Ndukwe at right guard?'

My answer? 'Uh, I don't know actually...."

(On a side note, if you're asking multiple questions about a backup tackle possibly moving to backup guard then congrats - you've reached full obsession.)

Todd Haley talked about Ikechuku Ndukwe this afternoon and, if you're one of the people that want to him at guard, you'll like this from the head coach.

"That’s probably his best position really," he began. "We tried to force the issue at tackle early but if it came down to it that’s a position he’s really comfortable playing. He’ll have his shot in there. That’s why I feel fairly comfortable with that being the spot."

Haley said it would be "fair" to say Alleman is the starting right guard at this point.

There's been a lot of movement at the position in the last week. Mike Goff went down with an injury last week, which moved Andy Alleman into a starting role, and then Goff was placed on IR today putting Alleman on the first team.

His comments about Ndukwe indicate that he might be the one coming off the bench to spell Alleman or replace him in the unfortunate instance that Alleman's injured. The line's swing man, Wade Smith, will also be in the running to spell Alleman.

Chiefs Inactives: WR Bobby Wade, FS Jon McGraw

Joel Thorman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:43:37 -0000

More photos » by Alex Brandon - AP

about 1 month ago: Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Bobby Wade turns to escape Washington Redskins cornerback Justin Tryon during the third quarter of an NFL football game , Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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As expected, Chiefs free safety Jon McGraw is not active. He's been suffering from an injury and is expected to be replaced by SS DaJuan Morgan.

The surprise here is the deactivation of WR Bobby Wade. I considered him possibly the second best receiver on the team. Well, that's before Chris Chambers came on board.

It's possible Wade is the victim of Chambers addition. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

WR Lance Long is active and probably beats out Wade because he plays special teams. He's definitely a "Haley guy."

Here are the rest of the inactives, courtesy of Josh Looney at KCChiefs.com.

QB Matt Gutierrez (3rd)
CB Donald Washington
S Jon McGraw
G/T Ikechuku Ndukwe
WR Bobby Wade
TE Jake O’Connell
TE Brad Cottam
LB Pierre Walters

Notable inactive from the Jaguars: Former Chiefs T Jordan Black.

Dang.

The 2010 Draft - Where We Stand in Chart Form

Jeremy Bolander — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:37:57 -0000

[Editor's Note: This is a draft order chart based completely off of the current standings. Tiebreak rules were used to establish order of playoff teams, and then playoff "wins" were awarded to the team with the best record, or whomever came out ahead in tiebreaks. For those who are wondering, Denver topped Indy in the #4 tiebreak scenario, "strength of victory" (.504 to .305). Obviously, this chart will change drastically from week to week, and I will update it as time permits to keep us abreast of developments.]

#	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1	TEN	STL	TB	¹⁰TEN	STL	TB	TEN
2	TB	⁷NE	STL	TB	TEN	STL	TB
3	STL	TB	TEN	STL	¹⁷CLE	TEN	STL
4	KC	CLE	KC	CLE	KC	CLE	²⁶MIA
5	CLE	KC	CLE	KC	CLE	KC	CLE
6	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET
7	WAS	OAK	¹⁰~~WAS~~	OAK	WAS	²¹CAR	WAS
8	OAK	WAS	OAK	WAS	OAK	²³MIA	OAK
9	SEA	CAR	MIA	SEA	¹⁸KC	MIA	SEA
10	MIA	SEA	CAR	MIA	SEA	CAR	MIA
11	¹SF	MIA	⁹PHI	CAR	¹⁹KC	SEA	CAR
12	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF	BUF
13	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX	SD	SF	BAL
14	SD	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX	SD	SF
15	JAX	SD	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX	SD
16	²DEN	⁶NE	SD	SF	BAL	CHI	JAX
17	BAL	⁵TB	JAX	SD	SF	BAL	CHI
18	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU	HOU
19	DAL	PHI	DAL	PHI	^13,11NE	²²BUF	DAL
20	PHI	DAL	PHI	DAL	PHI	DAL	²⁸NE
21	NYJ	NYJ	NYJ	NYJ	¹⁶CLE	NYJ	NYJ
22	ARI	GB	ARI	GB	ARI	GB	ARI
23	GB	ARI	GB	ARI	GB	ARI	²⁵GB
24	NE	NE	⁸OAK	NE	¹⁴TB	NE	²⁷NE
25	ATL	⁴KC	ATL	ATL	ATL	ATL	²⁴STL
26	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG
27	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN
28	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT	CIN	NYG	PIT
29	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN	MIN
30	IND	IND	IND	IND	IND	²⁰PHI	IND
31	NO	NO	NO	NO	¹⁵PHI	NO	NO
32	³SEA	DEN	DEN	DEN	¹²DET	DEN	DEN

First round

1. Carolina to San Francisco. Carolina traded its 2010 first-round selection for San Francisco's 2009 second-round selection (43rd overall, used to select Everette Brown) and its 2009 fourth-round selection (111th overall, used to select Mike Goodson).

2. Chicago to Denver. Chicago traded its 2010 first-round selection, its 2009 first- and third-round selections, and quarterback Kyle Orton to Denver for quarterback Jay Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round selection.

3. Denver to Seattle. Denver traded its 2010 first-round selection for Seattle's 2009 second-round selection (37th overall, used to select Alphonso Smith).

Second round

4. Atlanta to Kansas City. Atlanta traded its second-round selection to Kansas City for tight end Tony Gonzalez.

5. Chicago to Tampa Bay Chicago traded its second-round selection to Tampa Bay for defensive end Gaines Adams.

6. Jacksonville to New England. Jacksonville traded its 2010 second-round selection and its 2009 seventh-round selection to New England for the first of New England's 2009 third-round selections (73rd overall, used to select Derek Cox).

7. Tennessee to New England. Tennessee traded its 2010 second-round selection to New England for the third of New England's 2009 third-round selections (89th overall, used to select Jared Cook).

Third round

8. New England to Oakland. New England traded its third and a conditional pick to Oakland for defensive end Derrick Burgess.

9. Seattle to Philadelphia. Seattle traded its third-round selection in 2010 and its fifth- and seventh-round selections in 2009 (137th and 213th overall) for Philadelphia's third-round selection in 2009 (91st overall, used to select Deon Butler).

10. Washington (forfeit). Washington will not have a third-round selection in 2010, as it used a third-round pick in the 2009 Supplemental Draft to choose defensive end Jeremy Jarmon.

Fifth round

11. Dallas to Denver. Dallas traded its fifth-round selection to Denver for guard Montrae Holland.

12. Denver to Detroit. Denver traded its 2010 fifth-round selection and a 2009 seventh-round selection (#235 overall, used to select Zack Follett) to Detroit for a 2009 sixth-round selection (1st selection in round six, #174 overall, used to select Tom Brandstater).

13. Denver to New England. Denver traded its fifth-round selection to New England for defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith and New England's seventh-round selection, which was later traded back to New England.

14. New England to Tampa Bay. New England traded its fifth-round selection to Tampa Bay for tight end Alex Smith.

15. New Orleans to Philadelphia. New Orleans traded its 2010 fifth-round selection and a 2009 seventh-round selection (#222 overall, later traded to Indianapolis) to Philadelphia for a 2009 fifth-round selection (#164 overall, used to select Thomas Morestead).

16. New York Jets to Cleveland. New York traded its fifth round pick, as well as a conditional third-round pick, WR Chansi Stuckey, and LB Jason Trusnik, to Cleveland for WR Braylon Edwards.

17. Tampa Bay to Cleveland. Tampa Bay traded its 2010 fifth-round selection and its 2009 second-round selection to Cleveland for tight end Kellen Winslow II.

18. Carolina to Kansas City. Carolina traded its 2010 fifth-round selection to Kansas City for defensive end Tank Tyler.

19. Miami to Kansas City: Miami traded its 2010 fifth-round selection to Kansas City for quarterback Tyler Thigpen.

Sixth round

20. Indianapolis to Philadelphia. Indianapolis traded its 2010 sixth-round selection to Philadelphia for a 2009 seventh-round selection (#222 overall, used to select Pat McAfee).

21. Oakland to Carolina. Oakland traded its 2010 sixth-round selection and a 2009 seventh-round selection (#216 overall, used to select Captain Munnerlyn) to Carolina for a 2009 sixth-round selection (#202 overall, used to select Brandon Myers).

22. Philadelphia to Buffalo. Philadelphia traded its 2010 sixth-round selection and 2009 first- and fourth-round selections to Buffalo for tackle Jason Peters.

23. Washington to Miami. Washington traded its 2010 sixth-round selection and 2009 second-round selection to Miami for defensive end Jason Taylor.

Seventh round

24. Atlanta to St. Louis: Atlanta traded its 2010 seventh-round selection to the Rams for Tye Hill.

25. Green Bay to New York Jets (returned): Green Bay traded its 2010 seventh-round selection and quarterback Brett Favre to the Jets for the Jets' 2009 third-round selection. The Jets acquired this pick as part of the conditional agreement of the trade in which Favre's performance resulted in the Packers receiving the Jets' 2009 third-round selection, coupled with Favre retiring after the 2008 season. However, this pick has been returned to the Packers.

26. Kansas City to Miami: Kansas City traded its 2010 seventh-round selection to Miami for Miami's 2009 seventh-round selection.

27. New England to Denver (returned): New England traded its 2010 seventh-round selection and Le Kevin Smith to the Broncos for their 2010 fifth-round selection. Denver then traded the selection back to New England for offensive lineman Russ Hochstein.

28. Philadelphia to New England. Philadelphia traded its 2010 seventh-round selection and wide receiver Greg Lewis to New England for New England's 2009 fifth-round selection.

Conditional/Undetermined

29. Carolina to Cleveland: Carolina traded a conditional 2010 selection to Cleveland for DT Louis Leonard.

30. Jacksonville to Tampa Bay: Jacksonville traded an undisclosed 2010 draft choice to Tampa Bay for quarterback Luke McCown.

31. Kansas City to Miami: Kansas City traded an undisclosed 2010 draft choice to Miami for offensive linemen Andy Alleman and Ikechuku Ndukwe.

32. New England to Baltimore: New England traded a conditional 7th round 2010 draft choice to Baltimore for LB Prescott Burgess. Burgess was placed on the Patriots' practice squad, but was claimed by Baltimore after their game against the Patriots, thus nullifying the trade as Burgess did not meet the condition for playing time.

33. New York Jets to Philadelphia: New York traded a 2009 fifth-round selection and a conditional 2010 selection to Philadelphia for CB Lito Sheppard. Depending on Sheppard's playing time in 2009, the selection could be in the second, third, or fourth round.

34. New York Jets to Cleveland. New York traded a conditional third round pick, as well as a fifth round pick, WR Chansi Stuckey, and LB Jason Trusnik, to Cleveland for WR Braylon Edwards. The third-round pick can become a second-round pick based on Edwards' performance with New York.

35. San Diego to Houston: San Diego traded an undisclosed 2010 draft choice to Houston for defensive lineman Travis Johnson.

Branden Albert, Mike Goff Miss Chiefs Practice

Joel Thorman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:16:52 -0000

The Kansas City Chiefs took the field today in preparation for the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. As we noted in various posts this morning, there were two new and one familiar face on the field.

New addition to the active roster, Kenny Smith, was on the field wearing No. 90. Practice squad addition Marlon Favorite was practicing in No. 93, Tank Tyler's old number. Kolby Smith also returned to practice (presumably wearing No. 21).

Two players were also missing from practice according to Josh Looney and Bob Gretz. Branden Albert, who did not travel with the team to Washington last week because of an ankle injury, and Mike Goff, who was not on the field at all today, did not participate in practice.

Albert's injury is worrisome and has caused a bit of a chain reaction. To prepare for his absence last week, the Chiefs activated Barry Richardson (which opened a practice squad spot for Favorite) and activated Ikechuku Ndukwe for the Redskins game.

In a sign that Albert's improving, he was not in a walking boot today and was seen running and jogging (via Bob Gretz).

Goff's absence is unknown at this point. He has had no reported injuries since missing a handful of plays against the Dallas Cowboys a week and a half ago.

Jarrad Page, who missed last week's game, practiced today.

The Chiefs will release an injury report later this afternoon with a few more details on the absence of these players and Gretz might have some more information when his practice report is updated shortly.

Chiefs Practice Update 10/16: Branden Albert Doesn't Practice

Chris Thorman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:56:25 -0000

More photos » by Ed Zurga - AP

2 months ago: Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin (19) races Kansas City Chiefs safety Jarrad Page (44) to the goal line during overtime of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. Austin scored the game winning touchdown on the play. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

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This pretty much solidifies what we've all been speculating. Via Josh Looney:

The Chiefs are currently going through final preparations for the Redskins this Sunday at FedEx Field. For the third consecutive practice, LT Branden Albert (ankle) was off to the side on stationary bikes. Utility OL Wade Smith continued to get first-team reps at left tackle, while Barry Richardson (of the practice squad backed him up). The Chiefs other tackle, Ikechuku Ndukwe, was running with the second team at right tackle during the early portion of practice.

Some good news, however, was the return of Jarrad Page to the practice field. Page has been nursing a sore shoulder.

We'll update this with more info as it come in. Albert will not play on Sunday against the Redskins.

WR Bobby Engram Inactive for the Chiefs Against the Cowboys

Chris Thorman — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:42:08 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

2 months ago: Oakland Raiders safety Michael Huff (24) breaks up a pass intended for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Bobby Engram (84) during the second quarter of a NFL football game against the Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Via the mothership, we have this week's inactives for the Kansas City Chiefs:

Matt Gutierrez - 3rd QB
WR Quinten Lawrence
CB Mike Richardson
RB Dantrell Savage
G/T Ikechuku Ndukwe
WR Bobby Engram
TE Jake O’Connell
LB Pierre Walters

Ndukewe had a neck stinger earlier this week and he was listed on Friday's injury report so his snub his no surprise. TE Jake O'Connell and LB Pierre Walters have been inactive for a few weeks now, as has WR Quinten Lawrence.

CB Mike Richardson is brand new as of last week and a special teams body so his scratch is also no surprise. DE Wallace Gilberry was listed as probable on Friday with a head injury so it's good to see him not on this list.

WR Bobby Engram is a surprise scratch and I'm not sure what happened. More than likely it's just a numbers game.

Cowboys inactives are after the jump.

7 Stephen McGee - 3rd QB
11 WR Roy Williams
28 RB Felix Jones
36 S Michael Hamlin
43 S Gerald Sensabaugh
64 G Montrae Holland
77 T Pat McQuitan
98 LB Curtis Johnson

Kansas City Chiefs Week Three Storylines

Chris Thorman — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:13:10 -0000

via www.kcchiefs.com

View full size photo »

We had quite a bit of news over the last week concerning the Kansas City Chiefs.

After the jump, here's what I'm talking about:

Dwayne Bowe's status
Starting right tackle
Where TE Leonard Pope may fit in today
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Roster moves this week

Click Continue Reading to check out the rest.

Will Dwayne Bowe play?

Bowe didn't play against the Eagles last week because of a hamstring injury. He didn't practice on Wednesday but Bowe did end up getting on the field with the second team WRs on Thursday and Friday. Here's the last we heard on Friday, from Bob Gretz:

Bob Gretz reports that Bowe was running routes and doing it with "speed and explosion" during today's practice. The report said he was certainly running with more power than Thursday's session which is excellent news for Bowe's availability on Sunday against the New York Giants.

Bowe is listed as questionable on the Chiefs injury report, which officially means he has a 50/50 shot of playing. LB Derrick Johnson is listed as probable, which means he'll play.

Who will start at right tackle?

Recently signed tackle Ryan O'Callaghan was moved ahead of previous RT starter Ikechuku Ndukwe on the depth chart this week. Here's what Todd Haley had to say about the move on Friday:

Haley also talked a little bit about the offensive line. Earlier in the week, there was a change made on the depth chart. Right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan was moved up to the No. 1 team ahead of Ikechuku Ndukwe. Both players were acquired this season so it's interesting to watch the development of each. As of this week, O'Callaghan has been running with the first team. Ndukwe started the first three games at right tackle.

Haley said he won't determine a starter for Sunday's game until he talks to his staff but did have some encouraging words for O'Callaghan.

"I think he knows who to block," Haley said of O'Callaghan. "That’s real important around here right now, as it always is, but probably most important now. He’s been in there and made very few mental errors. He’s a big guy who’s got some experience under his belt. He looks like he’s excited."

I think you can safely pencil in O'Callaghan in at starting RT today.

Will newly signed TE Leonard Pope see any action?

Nothing definitive has been said about Leonard Pope's role today against the Giants but it looks like Todd Haley wants the former Arizona Cardinal to get in the game as soon as he can:

"Leonard’s a big guy who’s real tough, fast, can really stretch the field," he said when asked about Pope. "I think he’s a great individual – one of my favorites there from Arizona who will give you a full day’s work and your money’s worth every single day. He likes to play and he likes to practice. He’s my kind of guy. When we got the opportunity to bring somebody in we were happy to get Leonard."

Haley indicated that Pope could indeed see time on Sunday. "He's practicing to play," he said.

Pope is listed as the team's fourth TE on the depth chart, which is typical placement for a new player. I doubt Pope gets in much today.

Wearing pink on the field

Since it's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a few of the Chiefs will be sporting pink to raise awareness.

The game itself will have a special pink feel. Pink ribbons will be painted on the field at Arrowhead and affixed on the back of the players’ helmets. Additionally, various Chiefs players will be using special pink items such as cleats, gloves, towels, etc.

WR Bobby Engram will be wearing pink cleats and LB Mike Vrabel will be wearing pink gloves.

Roster moves

The Chiefs had a handful of roster moves this week too. Here's what went down:

Cut - LB Monty Beisel, CB Ricardo Colclough
Traded - QB Tyler Thigpen (conditional draft pick)
Added to PS - T Chris Patrick
Released from PS - TE Tom Crabtree
Signed - TE Leonard Pope, CB Mike Richardson, LB David Herron

Chime in with any pre-game thoughts you may have.

Chiefs GM Pioli Continues Trading with Familiar Partners

Joel Thorman — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:08:18 -0000

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

2 months ago: FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2009, file photo, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen throws during a preseason NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. Thigpen was traded on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, by the Chiefs to the Miami Dolphins an undisclosed draft pick. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

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It's been noted around here time and time again that Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli likes to deal with folks with whom he's familiar. Free agents signed off the street have many times come from the New England Patriots, Pioli's former home. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this because it's natural to deal with the known rather than the unknown.

So far, the Chiefs GM has only traded with familiar partners.

New England Patriots (Bill Belichick)

Chiefs trade for Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel (give up 2009 2nd round pick)

Miami Dolphins (Bill Parcells)

Chiefs trade for Jake O'Connell in NFL draft (give up 2010 7th round pick)
Chiefs trade for Ikechuku Ndukwe and Andy Alleman (give up undisclosed 2010 draft pick)
Chiefs trade Tyler Thigpen (receive undisclosed 2010 draft pick)

Atlanta Falcons (Thomas Dimitroff)

Chiefs trade Tony Gonzalez (receive 2010 2nd round pick)

We talk a lot about Pioli sticking with players with which he's familiar. And, taking a look at the trades the Chiefs have made since he's been around, that's pretty accurate.

Two of the trades appear to be well done (Gonzalez, Cassel/Vrabel and Thigpen) while the others we won't understand the full scope for a few years.

Chiefs Make Changes at Right Tackle, Nose Tackle

Joel Thorman — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:56:29 -0000

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

Ron Edwards has been named the No. 1 nose tackle ahead of Tank Tyler. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

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The Kansas City Chiefs have a new starter at right tackle: Ryan O'Callaghan.

Acquired off waivers on September 6th, O'Callaghan came from the New England Patriots, formerly the home of GM Scott Pioli. O'Callaghan's rise to starter is no surprise - I think that was the plan eventually. But what did surprise me is how quickly it came. Previous starter Ikechuku Ndukwe, acquired prior to the start of the season as well, has been relegated to second team duty.

There's also a new starter at nose tackle: Ron Edwards

Tank Tyler has been the No. 1 nose tackle since the beginning of the season and started the first two games. Edwards got the starting nod against the Eagles on Sunday.

Other changes include:

Jake O'Connell moves ahead of Brad Cottam as the No. 2 tight end

Jamaal Charles moves ahead of Dantrell Savage as the No. 2 running back

H/T GenericBrand and DThomasReigns in the FanShots for the link