We usually talk about the upcoming season during the draft, but I want to take a minute to discuss the upcoming draft during the season. It's not that this season is over - the Chiefs are still contenders in the AFC West and, if they can keep Oakland and San Diego in check, could host another home playoff game this year.

The Chiefs should draft a running back in the first round of the 2012 draft. Thomas Jones' production seems to be fading, and I think Jackie Battle has potential to be good and should definitely be on the team next year. From what Battle has shown so far, it seems that the Chiefs would like to be able to do great things with a good running back.

A first-round back in 2012 will help the entire offense run smoother (like all the motor-oil commercials claim they will do for your car engine), and will help the Chiefs have the number one ranked running game again. With Jamaal Charles coming back, the Chiefs will have that could reach the endzone at anytime threat. The Chiefs will get more out of Charles if he's not the every down back. They need a duo, change of pace, set.

In Michael Holley's new book, War Room, which Joel has recommended, Holley describes a meeting in which Chiefs college scouting director Phil Emery and his team were discussing the potential of Mark Ingram in preparation for the 2011 draft:

"...When Emery and his scouts speak of another running back, 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram of Alabama, they're all in agreement about who he is and where he could help them go.
'He'll be a starting running back for many teams in the league,' one of the scouts says. 'For the Chiefs, Ingram is a three-down starter who is a younger, more athletic version of Thomas Jones. He's not as fast as Jamaal Charles but is a more complete back that can stay healthy and on the field for three downs.'
'Can he make people miss in the hole?' Emery asks.
'I don't think he's a shake guy,' the scout says. He's your classic Steady Eddie. He's just going to do the tsame thing. He's closer to Thomas than he is to Jamaal, if  you want to compare the two.'
....
'So you see him as a replacement for Thomas?'
'Yes.'
'And a compliment for Charles?'
'Absolutely. I mean, if we're going to continue to have a dual group back there like we did this year, I think he'd be the perfect replacement.'
...
'Is he a guy that can help us win championships? Or is he a guy that is the reason for winning championships?'
'I would say he'd be one of the reasons we could win a championship,' the scout says without hesitation. 'Just because I think he's a salt guy. You know, he's the guy that's going to finish off the game. He's never going to put the ball on the ground.  You can just see the confidence in him especially at the end of the game to protect the football.'"
(pages 294-295).

That scout's description of Mark Ingram is the type of running back the Chiefs need to draft in the first round of 2012 - someone who can finish games and keep gaining the tough yards to compliment the weapon of Charles' speed. Investing in a RB in the first round and moving back to the one of the best rushing teams in the league will help the whole offense sync. A great running game will expose the capability of the rest of the offense - guys like McCluster, Moeaki, Bowe, Baldwin, Breaston, and especially Matt Cassel would benefit from the overall efficiency.

On a related note - Joel mentioned that Pioli had wanted to trade up for Miami center Mike Pouncey in the 2011 draft. Holley notes in his book that Pioli saw Pouncey as someone "who can captain an offensive line and set an aggressive tone for a decade." With Brandon Albert doing a great job a left tackle in terms of efficiency, I still hope the Chiefs draft someone soon that matches Pioli's thought about Pouncey - even if they are set at C with Rodney Hudson - who Clark Hunt described as one the best offensive linemen to everplay at Florida State.

After a nightmare start to the season, many people are wondering who is most at fault.  When things are this bad, it's probably too simple to say that only one party is at fault, as Sam Mellinger alluded to in his column. But who, in your opinion, carries the most fault? If you want to choose another option, explain your thoughts in the comments.  Arguments could be made for each of the options. Let's see what we think:

From the FanPosts. Great point about the start to the season. -Joel

A major accomplishment of the Kansas City Chiefs 2010 season was the development of a winning atmosphere. Many national media people would say that the Chiefs aren't as good yet as their record and division title shows, but they did find a way to win those 10 games after winning that many in the previous three seasons combined. The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for good game planning and using their talent in the most effecient way.

The most important game in the first half of the 2011 season may be the Week 3 Chiefs at Chargers game. Buffalo and Detroit may be tough games as both teams seem to be improving, but a 2-0 start for the Chiefs is not unlikely if they play their best football.  Losing either of those two games could really hurt considering their tough schedule - those two need to be wins. Week 3 could bring about a major momentum boost if the Chiefs are able to upset the Chargers in week 3. If I could look ahead and know that the Chiefs win in week 3, I would guess that in the first quarter they're 4-0, with a win in San Diego giving them enough confidence to beat the Vikings at Arrowhead.

To win at San Diego, where they got embarassed last year, it may take creative game planning on the part of the coaching staff. I wouldn't be surprised if Haley tooks some risks in that game to give the Chiefs a leg up. I didn't agree with the onside kick against Indianapolis last year, and it hurt the Chiefs a lot in that game, but Haley may take calculated risks like that to beat the Chargers. Winning the turnover battle wouldn't hurt either.

With such a tough schedule toward the end of the season, it woud be very significant for the Chiefs to win their first very tough game on the schedule. They need to know that if they play their best football they can beat teams that are better than them on paper. That would help promote a winning atmosphere later in the season to make it out of the brutal five-game stretch still contending for a playoff spot.

From the FanPosts. -Joel

Scott Pioli doesn't want to build a team that is capable of winning a championship. He wants something more than that. He wants to build a team that consistently competes for championships and wins. That's the reason Clark Hunt paid big to bring Pioli in. Hunt has the same vision of a team that is always in the mix. In 2009, the Chiefs under Pioli and Todd Haley experienced a lot of necessary growing pains. Things didn't always make sense. Why is this player starting over this player? Why are they playing this way, etc?

Now, during the 2011 training camp, it seems that some flesh is being added to the personnel skeleton that Pioli and company have been assembling. During water cooler type discussions with people over the last few weeks, I have found myself saying the word "stacked" and"talent" a lot when describing certain positions with the Chiefs. 

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From the FanPosts. -Chris

While the players slowly made their way onto the field, everyone was watching closely but there was no Tamba Hali. All of us in the stands seemed to become resigned to the idea that he possibly wasn't in town yet. 

While the players were standing around waiting for practice to start (it started 30 minutes late), Kelly Gregg looked excited to be on the field. As Joel pointed out about him last night, he was making a point to talk with the other players. He was smiling and excited to be in football gear. 

Something I didn't notice until today and someone has probably already pointed out - the rookies are not wearing arrowhead on their helmets. As we know, two years ago Haley wouldn't let anyone wear arrowheads and they were even taken off after the first two preseason games - and then Haley said it was getting too expensive. Last year, nobody had them until the first pre-season game. This year, everyone seems to have them except the rookies. 

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From the FanPosts. Keep these well-written practice reports coming. We can't front page every one but they are most definitely read by lots of people. Thanks. -Chris

To follow up on my post about this morning's walk-through practice, I thought I would share some observations about the Kansas City Chief afternoon practice. For about half of practice, everyone had pads on. About half way through, they all (except the QB's) went to the middle of the field and took their shoulder pads off. 

Tony Moeaki participated in opening warmups but spent most of the afternoon's practice in the rehab area - a lot of time on the bike. 

More after the jump:

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I went to the walk-thru practice this morning and for what it's worth thought I'd share a few observations. I am now sitting at Xtreme Burrito waiting for the afternoon session on my iPhone so please excuse any typos.

During the offense vs. defense portion, Cassel and other QB's were getting the plays from Bill Muir. This may not tell us anything about who will be calling plays in September but Muir had the call sheet his morning. It seemed that the main focus on the offense vs. Defense part of the walk through was for both sides to work on communication.

The coaches were paying close attention to see if each player reacted correctly to Cassel's call in the huddle and to the adjustments at the line. There was a funny part when the guys holding the yard line sticks didn't move when they were supposed to and Todd Haley said "fellas, the guys in the white uniforms are on offense." They moved immediately.

Derrick Johnson was the main guy Romeo Crennel was sending hand signals to on defense, and Johnson would tell the rest of the defense. Crennel was mostly encouraging but spoke sternly to the whole D at one point when they weren't communicating and reacting like he'd like them to.

Jim Zorn and Todd Haley seem to communicate much better than Haley and Weis did. Zorn looks to be making an extra effort to be sure that he's on the same page as Haley. They talked during much of the practice and were on the field talking after practice after all the players had left the field. The Haley and Weis thing may have beenblown out of proportion last year, but they never seemed interested in chatting. Zorn and Haley looked like BFF today. Zorn has mentioned before that he's committed to coaching to Haleys philosophy even if it differs with his own some.

After practice Haley drove his golf cart over to a few of us fans that were hanging out. He signed all our stuff but would drive his golf cart the few feet between each fan. He said "this is laziness at it's best."

From the FanPosts. - Chris

Since it's a slow news week, I thought I would share a few of my 2011 Kansas City Chiefs predictions.

1. Tamba Hali will move from #2 to #1 in league sacks

Last year Hali had 14.5 sacks second only to DeMarcus Ware's 15.5. It can be argued that Hali had a great season because it was his contract year, but Chiefs fans do not need to be concerned about Hali's performance in relation to a big contract. It doesn't seem like it would be in Hali's nature to receive a big paycheck and then play half as hard. He rightfully places a lot of pride in his motor and consistency. He will be just as tough for blockers to deal with as he has been in the past. Todd Haley has talked with reporters before about Hali's work ethic, saying that when he arrived Hali told him that he ops to have his own off season workout program because the team's OTA's (under Herm Edwards) didn't challenge him. Reportedly, at Haley's request, Hali gave the new OTA's a shot and they were different enough for him.

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I have heard people talking about how the Chiefs' win over SD was a fluke. They use the rain, Jamaal Charles' breakaway run, the numbers on offense, and Dexter McCluster's punt return for a TD as reason why the game was a fluke. 

1. The Chiefs made enough plays in the rain, and SD did not. "Enough plays" is defined by the amount needed to beat SD. It happened. I've heard guys on the radio talking about the fumble by SD and how that contributes to the flukey nature of the game. DJ stripped that ball.The rain probably helped, but it was DJ that stripped it, not the water. In return, we allowed no turnovers. Not a fluke. That was good defense. 

2. People say that you can't count on crazy-big plays like Jamaal Charles breaking away for a long TD run. Well, with Jamaal Charles, you can. He did that consistently in the second half of last season. Not a fluke. 

3. McCluster's Punt Return - not a fluke. We all knew McCluster would enhance our chance to win, and he did. SD's coverage team couldn't deal with him. 

4. The numbers on offense. I know that the second half wasn't very exciting, but the coaching staff made the right decision and it helped us win. When you are up by two  touchdowns in heavy rain and the other team is struggling to make first downs, playing conservative is the right call. Nobody was worried about making a statement for Cassel and his ability to connect with his receivers downfield - they weren't worried about it during this game anyways. We didn't turn the ball over and that helped us win the game. 

Another reason it was not a fluke - San Diego had a chance to send the game to overtime in the red zone at the end of the game. Our defense stepped up and provided good coverage and San Diego's offense was unable to score - even when they used all four downs. Not a fluke. 

Is there room for improvement? A lot. The Chiefs, however, beat San Diego on Monday night by outplaying them. We can look at the stats and see that San Diego did better in a lot of areas, it's kind of like Haley talking about receivers stats not counting when they're always playing from behind. The Chiefs had the luxury of playing it safe in the second half because playmakers made plays.

A radio DJ was saying that the crowd won the game for the Chiefs. I was there - and I was certainly pumped about the timeouts and the delay of game penalties. Did the crowed have an impact on the game? Of course. And it should have. But the crowd didn't strip the ball and force a fumble. The crowd didn't break away on a TD run. The playmakers did those things. We helped encourage it. 

There is a lot of room for improvement. Haley said it himself after the game that they made it harder than it had to be. The Chiefs and the Arrowhead environment earned that win though. 

For a while now, I have been a fan of drafting Eric Berry with the #5 pick or trading down to the 10-15 range and drafting LB McClain. I don't know who the sources are that read Pioli's mind, but it seems that the consistent buzz is that Bryan Buluga is the guy that Pioli has in the crosshairs this year. Someone a few weeks ago on AP approrpriately called Bulaga this year's Tyson Jackson. 

For the first few weeks of all the Bulaga talk, I didn't want to hear it all. Brian Waters' comment that it would be wack to move Brandon Albert out of the left tackle spot resonated with me. I wanted (and still wouldn't be at all disappointed) to see Pioli take the big-time playmaker in Eric Berry. 

I think we all might have that feeling, though, that Bryan Bulaga is going to the next Chiefs first-round draft pick. Joel posted on AP last week a tweet from Adam Teicher that told us we should all get used to the idea that he's going to be the first round pick. He's certainly not the next Adam Schefter, but he's probably onto something. 

Call me a pushover, but I've already gotten over any anger I may have and have begun to like the potential pick of Bulaga. First, I think it's highly unlikely Pioli takes a safety in the first round anyway. We've all looked at his draft history in New England. Second, one of the mock drafts that projects BB landing in KC points out that Pioli wants someone he can plug in at left tackle for the next ten years. Brandon Albert is good and the coaches seem to have faith in him, but our whole offensive line may be better for years with Albert at either left guard or right tackle. Things did get better toward the end of the season, but Matt Cassell was on his back way too much last year. I know that wasn't always Albert's fault, but too much talent on the offensive line will be a nice problem to have. 

Having a great offensive line is going to improve of our offense immensely, starting with Charles' running attack. 

Berry would be an awesome pick and it seems that he's gonna be able to perform at a high level. Clark Hunt, though, brought Pioli in because he is a "shrewd evaluator of talent." Pioli is going to go with his guy from his buddy's team in Iowa that he KNOWS is going to play at a high level for the better part of the next decade. 

I could see Pioli wanting to trade out of the #5 spot though. That's the only situation in which I think he may be drafting Buluga - all depending on Bulaga's ratings with other teams and their needs. If we traded down to say, Buffalo's spot at #9, there's still a chance he'll be available. 

I wouldn't be disappointed if we drafted Berry or McClain though. I just don't think the Berry thing is going to happen. If we trade down - we take McClain or Bulaga - depending on which one is available. 
My prediction: Buffalo trades up to get Jimmy C, we draft Bulaga at 9 and get their 2nd round draft choice.

Throughout the first half of the season, it seemed like an addition of offensive coordinator would be a necessity once the off season hit. There seem to be some major challenges that come with having a head coach that calls the plays as well. Matt Cassell has mentioned that Haley doesn't get to sit and watch every film session with the QB's and attend all the meetings that a coordinator normally would.

On the flip side, over the past several weeks the offense has seen improvement as players are apparently becoming more adept in Haley's system. Of course, if the Chiefs did hire an OC, the system itself would probably see only minor changes from the one Haley is installing.

During the media session on New Year's Day, when apparently the only person attending was Bob Gretz, Haley was asked if he had a clear vision for the offense/football team as a whole. I liked Haley response: "crystal clear."

In sum, Haley's playcalling seemed poor at the start of the season and has improved as the players have grown into his system. At the same time, it may be better for everyone if the Chiefs had a seperate OC and head coach.

Do you want to see the Chiefs hire a new OC or keep Todd Haley in that position?

On the local NBC News tonight, Jack Harry said he received emails from two different fans this weekend reporting that Todd Haley flipped them off while leaving the field and entering the tunnel. According to Harry, the fan yelled out that Todd Haley deserved to be fired and Haley looked up and flipped him off.  The fan says he has been a season ticket holder for two years longer than Haley has been alive.

You can watch a video of Jack Harry describing it with more detail on the link below. Frankly, I don't think the story of two unknown fans makes a credible enough source to report it on the news, but I guess it will get people's attention.

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/sports/story/Chiefs-Fan-Says-Todd-Haley-Gave-Him-the-Finger/3Yjs6g7FgEyiD8_lJMg6YA.cspx

I'll start thinking more about the Chiefs potential win over Buffalo tomorrow, but after games like today's it's fun to daydream a bit about the next year and potential off-season moves.

What is one thing that is on your off-season wish list? A particular coordinator? A certain draft pick? Free agent signing?

The performance by today's defense was hard to swallow, even though Tamba Hali was a bright spot. The defense needs some solid direction. I am going to go ahead and say that landing Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator is at the top of my wish list for next year.

The Chiefs waited a while before officially naming their defensive coordinator even after hiring most of the staff. I buy into the idea that they waiting on word from Crennel about whether or not he was planning to return to coaching in 2009. Following the announcement of Pendergast as DC, there was a lot of speculation on Arrowhead Pride following about whether or not Crennel would join the Chiefs' staff in 2010.

I think he'll be coordinating the D in 2010. It's on my wish list at least.

From a fan's perspective all the way at the top of rainy section 341, it is hard to tell if the Chiefs 1-6 start to the season is the fault of the talent that coach Haley inherited or issues with coaching - or both. Until now, I've sided heavily toward the argument that Haley is the real deal and it's just going to be a process. There are many positives to like about him. No one can deny that he gives tireless efforts and demands the very best from his players. I like his mindset about conditioning because of its advantages in terms of athleticism and preventing injuries, but am disappointed with him and Pioli in that Cassell cannot stay on his feet. This season is going to put a lot of wear and tear on our hopefully franchise QB.

I usually only read Whitlock for a good laugh and don't give serious consideration to what he says. In this weeks public letter he wrote to Haley, however, he seems to hit spot-on what may be some of Haley's major issues as a head coach: emotion and immaturity. He suggests that Haley has potential to be a good head coach but is not making the most of his opportunity. .

I am going to remain undecided until the end of the season, and hope that Haley shapes up to be the real deal that I think he could be. What do you think?

Kent Babb's article from today's Kansas City Star is suggesting that Todd Haley may be inclined to experience with a no-huddle offense. The article suggests that because the Chiefs moved the ball well during the two-minute drill against Dallas on Sunday, the coach may be open to considering using it more often. 

Here is a link to the article: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/1507349.html

Babb quotes Haley: 

“If it’s something that gives us a better chance,” Haley said, “I would be for that. It’s something I’ve had a lot of experience with. Anything that will give us a chance to play good on either side of the ball, we need to do.”

There seems, of course, to be plusses and minuses to this argument. On the one hand, I know that I was frustrated that during overtime, we weren't able to move the ball as well as we had on the drive before. On the other hand, Babb brings up a good point in that Cassell has done a good job protecting the ball so far in the offense we've been running. Would the reward pay off for the possibility of more mistakes? 

One benefit of a no-huddle offense seems to be that the opposing defense can face fatigue and confusion. That, of course, is if it's done right and we're not throwing interceptions and helping them.

The article does point out that Haley would not be inclined to run the ball a whole lot less if they moved to the no huddle. 

What do you all think? Could the Chiefs be productive with the no-huddle and win games? 

Would it keep Matt Cassell on his feet more often? 

Would it make any difference at all? 

On ESPN First Take this afternoon Skip Bayless was arguing that Floyd Mayweather is an overrated boxer, saying "Mayweather has no knockout punch. I see less offense than the Kansas City Chiefs have right now, seriously."

Of course, jabs like this one are to be expected when we can't win any football games. I am one, however, that thinks Todd Haley's Chiefs, in time, will be a successful regime. It is tempting to make comparisons between he and Herm Edwards since we have started the season 0-2. I think what Haley offers over Edwards did is an ability to evaluate what is not working, admit it when it is a coaching issue, and address the problem.

The Chiefs will probably win some upsets against higher ranked teams this year because of coaching, athleticism, and preparation. Hopefully this can begin against the NFC East. It must be very important for them as a team to taste victory, and they could build on that once it happens.

Of course, nothing will happen over night and we will lose games that we should have won like we did yesterday.

P.S. - My voice is still a bit hoarse from yelling during the game yesterday.

I would like to see the Chiefs make a BIG move to acquire a SOLID O-lineman for the right side this week. I know that we need to be frugile with our draft choices, but it would not bother me a bit to see Pioli trade one of our two 2nd round draft choices for a SOLID right tackle or right guard.

I may even be ok with seeing him trade next year’s 1st round draft pick for someone among the league’s top that we can keep over there for several years. I don’t know if that’s his style, but we have to protect Cassel once he is back and give LJ and J. Charles a chance to gain some momentum. Sending away early draft picks may not be part of Pioli's history, but we have to bet that seeing #1 QB go down on Saturday is making him at least consider some options.

Do you agree that we should trade an early draft pick to help the o-line? Who do you think we could get for a 1st rounder or for a 2nd rounder? Do you think Pioli would do it?

Maybe Thigphen could be packaged with a middle rounder for a solid o-lineman.

The recent episode with the hanging screens at the new Cowboys' stadium makes me all the more grateful for the open air above the field at Arrowhead in Kansas City. Jerry Jones seemingly wants to leave the screens in place to create a sort of obstacle for the punting team to work around. One ESPN writer compared Jones' vision for the hazard to a miniature golf course. Jones' motive for leaving the screens as is bothers me because no other stadium in the NFL presents an obstacle requiring teams to adjust the mechanics of their game around.

Jones knows the issue will draw all types of publicity, but my opinion is that it makes the Cowboys’ stadium a sub-NFL caliber stadium. Jones thinks he is adding to an attraction, but he is actually decreasing the level of competitiveness within the stadium.

This, all the more, makes me hope that the Cowboys lose more games at home this year than they win. Most importantly, I hope the Chiefs show up in October and beat the Cowboys at Arrowhead, a real stadium where NFL players can play football and not punt around a TV screen.

Here's an article explaining that the NFL will allow the screens to remain as is for the 2009 season: http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81234987&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true

Scott Pioli has given the Chiefs a shot of maturity by adding a handfull a players with many years of NFL experience this off season. What veteran off-season addition from the Pioli/Haley regime are you most excited about? I think they'll all offer good leadership and help us be productive.

I thought this would be an interesting discussion because there seem to be many different takes out there. Kent Babb from the KC Star believes that Montey Biesel may be the best pickup. Jason Whitlock wrote an article about how much he likes Mike Brown if he is able to stay healthy. Bob Gretz would probably not choose a favorite, but I think I remember him saying a lot of good things about Mike Goff. Pioli himself implied that a lot of people may look past what a big help Bobby Engram will be. Haley shared a lot about the example Zach Thomas sets for the rest of the defense, especially Derrick Johnson.

I am really most excited about the mindset that the group brings us a whole, but I thought it would be fun to do the poll anyways.

Feel free to write someone in under the comment space if a player is not listed in the poll.

Kansas City's lack of pass rushing ability has been emphasized a lot this season. I thought it would be fun to learn who we all foresee leading the Chiefs in sacks this season. If you want to vote for someone not on the poll, add it in the comment space. I'm excited to see how certain players will adapt/develop within a new hybrid system. It'll be especially interesting to see how Hali does playing from the linebacker position. He could show some flash. A few years ago he had more sacks than Jared Allen. Also, it seems that a hand full of people are looking for Glenn Dorsey to showcase his talent this year and do well with the new defensive scheme. I'm looking forward to seeing if Derrick Johnson finally has his breakout year as well, not that it would necessarily entail being the sack leader.