I like both the signings of Chris Chambers and now Thomas Jones and I do not mean to rain on anyone’s parade, but bear in mind that both of these are "stopgap" guys.  We are looking at maybe two years on each guy (I know, Chambers signed for 3, but it would not surprise me if he retired after two.)

We are picking high in the draft (yet again) and, if things go anywhere near according-to-plan, we will not be picking this high in the draft for a long time to come (preferably never again during the Pioli tenure).

So, bear in mind that when the time comes to replace Chambers and Jones, we will not have this kind of leverage in the draft.  Personally, I think we still need to draft a WR (third round, maybe?) and utilize the fact that he can learn from Chris Chambers for a couple of years.

And let’s not make the monumental mistake (IMO) of thinking, again, that we are fine with the O-Line that we have. 

My wish list, if the value were there, would go as follows:

First three rounds (we have two second-round picks):
1.  O-Line - either right side, or replace Brandon Albert and move him to the right side.
2a.  NT
2b.  Trade for a veteran C with 5+ years in front of him.
3.  WR

If that happened, I wouldn’t even care where the remaining draft picks went.  What I would hate to see is stopgap on Offense and draft Defense.  We got to have balance.  (FOR ONCE!)

Let's not even talk about what happens if Chambers and/or Jones get injuried.

I know there are numerous mock drafts and whatnot out there, but I wanted to get some views bounced back off of my perspective.  Bear with me.

First, let me say that I am of the opinion that the Youth Movement (YM) needs to end after the next draft.  You can’t build forever; at some point the future has to be now.  Of course, you always want to draft well, but let’s not make the mistake of thinking the entire team needs to be young at once (like a certain Herm Edwards who shall remain unnamed). 

That being said, I am very curious about where the next high draft picks go.  Where do you want youth and the potential of long-term success? 

In my opinion, we have the following players that are Young Guys* (YGs) on the team that have real long-term potential:  Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles, Brandon Albert, Brandon Flowers, Tamba Hali, Dustin Colquitt, and Ryan Succop. 

So, that gives us one YG in each of the following areas:  Wide Receiver, Running Back, O-Line, Cornerback, Linebacker, Punter, and Field Goal Kicker.

I’ll define hopefuls as Glenn Dorsey, Tyson Jackson, Alex Magee (all D-Line), and Brandon Carr (Cornerback).

So if, like me, you think that the YM must end at some point, what positions do you target with the first three picks (one first-rounder and two second-rounders)?  Where do you want YGs as opposed to veterans? 

I am gonna say the right side of the O-Line and Running Back (I know: Jamaal Charles.  But he is 199 lbs and has a shoulder that keeps popping out of place.  I’m not comfortable with him carrying the full load.)

Where do you guys think the YGs should go with our top three picks?  Where do you think veterans are a better fit?  And why?

*YGs are defined here as players drafted in or after Herm Edwards first draft.  If you want to go back another year, Derrick Johnson (LB) was the first-round pick in Dick Vermeil’s final draft with the Chiefs.

I haven’t seen anyone bring this up, so I thought I would.  I was thinking about the Chiefs’ upcoming draft picks and realized something that should have been obvious.  Although the Chiefs have only won three games this year (and that is likely to be all they win), they have done it without Tony Gonzalez and without yet having received payment for Tony G.  How many games would we have won if he were here?  I would say he would be good for 1 – 2 more wins bringing the total to 4 – 5. 

Let’s at least wait and see what we get for him and how the rest of the upcoming draft pans out before we get down on things.  Assuming we go with Cassel at QB for AT LEAST NEXT YEAR, that is a position that is filled now that was not filled when the new regime came in.   

So going forward with picking high in the draft (again), having the extra 2nd round pick, having Cassel in place, the emergence of Tamba Hali at LB, and the excellent performance of Jamaal Charles...

Am I insane to be optimistic about things right now?

(Honorable mention to Ryan Succop...although he is a field goal kicker, he is still a piece that was not in place last year.)

This is my first fanpost, so correct me if I do anything wrong (but cut me a little slack). First of all, my apologies if the title is a bit ambiguous. I was originally going to title it "A Different Perspective", but I think I have seen posts in the past with that title, and I wanted something "catchy". Anyway…

I think there are a couple of things that fans are overlooking when getting down on the current state of the Chiefs:

1) This is pretty obvious, but people tend to forget sometimes. Todd Haley was brought in LATE and resultantly did not have much to pick from in terms of assembling his coaching staff. I put the primary amount of blame for this on Clark Hunt and his "slow and methodical approach" that he preached about. It would not surprise me to see two new coordinators next off-season. Which sucks, as this will cause a need for more transition time. In any case, regardless of the situation, he was, in fact, brought in very late.

2) I am not sure a lot of people realize this second point, and it is really the main reason for my writing this. If you were to speak of the Chiefs team that this regime inherited and the ONLY thing you were to say was, "they only won six games in the last the two years", you would actually be painting a picture of the Chiefs that was OVERLY FLATTERING!

Why, you ask? I will be happy to elucidate.

This team not only won a paltry six games in two years, they managed to be ON THE DECLINE FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THOSE TWO YEARS WHILE DOING IT! Four games were won in the first seven games of the first season, followed by losing the last nine in a row, ending at 4 – 12. The following season was 2 – 14. This team was GETTING WORSE!

In summary, I guess my point is that the first step in getting things on the right track is NOT to improve this team, but to STOP IT FROM GETTING WORSE. We first have to put the skids on the previous path of declination. If we manage one more win this year that has been accomplished. When you also consider that, while attempting this task, Haley has a coaching staff that is not likely made up of members that were high on his list of preference, it is not surprising where the Chiefs are at currently.

Just my perspective. Go Chiefs!