The Chiefs held their initial off-season full squad practice today.
Here are some quick observations:
1) Every player was in attendance except safety Jarrad Page, a
restricted free agent who hasn't signed a contract. Among those
participating were guard Brian Waters and linebacker Mike Vrabel, who
weren't around for most of last season's off-season practices.
2) Among the players who did not practice for injury or conditioning
reasons: running back Jamaal Charles, cornerback Brandon Flowers, tight
ends Brad Cottam and Tony Moeaki and wide receivers Lance Long and
Quinten Lawrence. Charles and Flowers had shoulder surgery after the
season.
Grimes originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Denver in 2009.
The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Tuesday that the club has signed free agent WR David Grimes.
Grimes (5-9, 183) played
in 45 games (22 starts) at Notre Dame, catching 90 passes for 900 yards
with seven TDs. He also returned 36 kickoffs for 852 yards. Grimes
recorded 35 receptions for 321 yards with three TDs as a senior for the
Fighting Irish. He originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent
with Denver in 2009. The Los Angeles native was a first-team all-state
selection as a senior at St. Martin DePorres High School in Detroit,
Michigan.
he worst part of the Chiefs play in 2009 was
their defense against the run. They allowed an average of 156.5 rushing
yards per game. They gave up 4.7 yards every time the opponent ran the
ball and Cleveland's Jerome Harrison had the biggest rushing day of the
season and Browns history when he ran for 286 yards in Kansas City.
Harrison was one of six backs that topped 100 rushing yards against the
Chiefs defense and two other backs ran for 99 and 97 yards.
The Chiefs selected seven players in the NFL
Draft, but it's hard to see how any of those picks addressed the
dreadful run defense. When asked what they had done since the end of
last season to address their pitiful run defense, GM Scott Pioli and
head coach Todd Haley pointed to areas other than the draft.
"Number one, we are developing the guys that
we have here on campus," said Haley. "Those guys are working their
backsides off trying to move up the ranks so to speak. I think we are
all really excited about that process and where it is right now.
When Eric Berry took the practice field for the Kansas City Chiefs
this week, he began the final phase of living up to his idol's legacy.
It's hard to imagine Berry - an All-American deemed a surefire NFL
star - held a player in such a high regard not that long ago.
Yet he did just that.
While at Tennessee, Berry never hid his admiration for former
Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, who was killed by intruders in
his home on Nov. 27, 2007.
Tepper: Kansas City Chiefs Draft: Durablilty Is The Key
Well, Scott Pioli isn't so hard to figure out after all.
Do you know the feeling one gets when they finally understand the
thought process of another human being? It becomes a revelation.
Like one of those proverbial "Oh now I get it." this year's draft has
taught us all exactly what Pioli is about. "Poilism 101" if you will.
Here is a man who most values leadership and character first and
talent second. That's what he believes. That's the way he thinks. And
finally, that is now the way every Chief fan thinks. We finally "get
it." Our erudition is complete
Interested in a particular player or free agent for the Chiefs? What
should we look for first? Yes, you guessed it. If you are not a leader
and an unselfish teammate, good luck and goodbye.
But what is the etiology of Piolism? I guess that's a esoteric
question one could ask. There may be a myriad of answers.
Overall, I am not really happy with this draft, but then again I
rarely am. One red flag I noticed that ran throughout this process. A
common denominator
Injury prone players
That is what concerns me the most. At least three Chiefs picks may
have a great deal of difficulty staying healthy and that's a concern. As
one scout described tight end Tony Moeaki.
The Chiefs announced the promotions of Mike Borgonzi to manager of
football operations and Dom Green to the post of regional scout. They
also announced the hiring of Katie Douglass as director of player
development. continue reading...
Judge: GM Pioli explains organizational thinking on big draft
The Kansas
City Chiefs didn't just pass the test at this year's NFL
draft. They aced it.
When
Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News graded last
weekend's draft he handed out one A+, and it was to the Chiefs. Gosselin
admired every move the team made, and, frankly, so do I. They
found value in every round and accomplished their pre-draft goals
of landing solid players, improving team speed and identifying
future leaders.
Eric Berry?
Captain. Dexter
McCluster? Co-captain. Javier
Arenas? Captain. Six of their seven draft picks were captains
of their teams, with only Troy's Cameron
Sheffield keeping the Chiefs from completing the sweep. So
what? So they found responsible, productive players who doubled as team
leaders, which means they just helped themselves on and off the
field.
The bottom line is that Kansas
City general manager Scott Pioli did in this draft what I thought
he failed to do in 2009, which is to nail top-rated players with
every choice. I'm not sure what happened, so I decided to ask
Pioli. Here are his responses:
Updating a previous item, free agent DL John Henderson's visit with the Chiefs will take place on Wednesday.
A
previous report had it slated for Tuesday. Beat writer Kent Babb
tweeted earlier in the day that Henderson would play nose tackle in
Kansas City, but we doubt that's the case. The 6-foot-7, 335-pounder is
an end in a 3-4 defense. The Chiefs would still have a need on the nose
if they signed Big John.
