A Look Back – The Todd Haley experiment probably isn’t going according to plan in Kansas City. The Matt Cassel one isn’t either. Still, with the amount of money committed to Tom Brady’s former backup is too large to bring in another potential starting quarterback that isn’t a lucky draft selection on a poor rookie contract. After a woeful season, the Kansas City Chiefs have to feel like the pieces are starting to fall in place though, which could make for a bright 2010 campaign.
Key Addition – SS Eric Berry – Had Berry played almost any other position, he would’ve been the top pick in the NFL Draft. However, the former Tennessee Volunteer came off the board to the Chiefs early in the first round, and he brings a huge playmaker to that side of the ball. With ball hawking skills and fantastic speed, Berry plays like a corner and is the size of a linebacker. This will be a fun player for DC Romeo Crennel to play with.
Key Losses – None – When you’re not overly that good to start off with, there aren’t a lot of pieces to the puzzle that could be lost that will hurt the team. All of the core members that Kansas City is trying to build around are back in 2010.
2010 Will Be a Success if... – The team starts to build some momentum. Everyone knows that this isn’t the year that the Kansas City Chiefs are making it to the playoffs, but proving that they aren’t doormats anymore would be a great step in the right direction. There are a bunch of winnable games against decent teams, and at least a few of those need to go in the right direction for Haley to keep his job and for the team to stay united.
The Crucial Game – Right off the bat, the Chargers come to town for Monday Night Football. Even though this is the second game of that Monday night, it is still a rare nationally televised duel for the Chiefs. This is one of these aforementioned games that is winnable for Kansas City even though it is a sizeable underdog, even at home. The Bolts are still the behemoths of the AFC West, but they are beatable, especially early in the season away from Qualcomm Stadium.
Predictions – Improvement is likely from last season’s disappointing year, but that doesn’t mean that the Chiefs are playoff contenders quite yet. They are +4500 in odds to win the AFC. A third place finish in the AFC West would be great for a franchise that is still a few pieces to the puzzle away from really being able to do some damage in a relatively tough division.
2010 Kansas City Chiefs Regular Season Schedule
9/13 vs. SD
9/19 @ CLE
9/26 vs. SF
Bye
10/10 @ IND
10/17 @ HOU
10/24 vs. JAC
10/31 vs. BUF
11/7 @ OAK
11/14 @ DEN
11/21 vs. ARI
11/28 @ SEA
12/5 vs. DEN
12/12 @ SD
12/19 @ STL
12/26 vs. TEN
1/2 vs. OAK
2010 NFL Draft Day 1 Winners and Losers
Winners
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Gerald McCoy is perfect for them and they got him exactly where he should go.
Kansas City Chiefs: Eric Berry is exactly what they needed. They might have been able to trade down a few spots and still pick him, but Berry is exactly what they needed.
Seattle Seahawks: Russell Okung probably shouldn’t have fallen to Seattle, so great for them to pick him up. Earl Thomas is another great pick at 14. The Seahawks probably did the best of anyone on Day 1.
San Francisco 49ers: Getting two offensive linemen, Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati, in the first round complete remakes their offensive line in just one day. I’m guessing they traded up for Iupati because they thought the Steelers were going to grab him.
Miami Dolphins: I like what they did trading down. And I like Jared Odrick. They grabbed some extra picks and still got a huge piece in the first round.
New York Jets: Kyle Wilson is going to learn from the best and, in a year or two, beat out an All-Star corner for a job.
Indianapolis Colts: Jerry Hughes is an incredible value at 31.
Losers
St Louis Rams: It’s too easy for a quarterback to end up as a bust and they get too much money as the number one pick. Sam Bradford is a very good prospect, but not an elite one which is what you want with a number one overall QB. St Louis should have traded this pick and grabbed either Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen later on in the draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Trade your first round draft pick to someone who is going to use it to draft first round talent.
Undecided
Denver Broncos: I love that they traded down, but Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas probably could have been picked up lower down.
Having said that, I’m a Tebow believer. He will be the best quarterback to come out of this draft because he has the right kind of determination and attention to detail to put in countless hours to fix his throwing mechanics and he has the demeanor of a winner on-field.
If the Broncos knew that someone was going to grab Tebow before them, then trading up to grab him was a good move.