Wow, toss Glen Dorsey into that mix and the Chiefs have been having a bad go of it even with Scott Pioli running things in KC. IIRC, Jackson was a workout warrior in predraft 09 who shot up the draft charts. To me, KC should really think about running the 4-3 simply to recycle those two players, those are huge contracts and high draft picks invested to just walk away from those two as well as Derrick Johnson.
Jackson wasn't really a workout warrior, nor did he necessarily shoot up draft charts (he may have only shot up one). He was drafted that high because he was supposed to fill a very specific need for a team that was looking to change philosophies (the KC gm wanted another Richard Seymour).
I thought he was a no-brainer that was simply taken very high ala Jerod Mayo at #10 with the Pats. I didn't think there was any way he wouldn't be at least solid. I agree with Padre, they should just switch to the 4-3 to try to salvage their careers.
I thought he had a chance to be successful. Oh well. I don't think there's a lesson in not taking 3-4 DEs high in the draft. I think you WANT to take them high in the draft, because that marriage of physical ability and good eyes just does not come cheap. In a normal draft Jared Odrick goes way higher than he did, just so happens this draft was viewed as a pretty top heavy draft. What happened with Tyson Jackson is everyone knew him as a late first round kind of player, and he just rose and rose basically out of scarcity of the position, and the Chiefs' team needs. If the position is scarce, it's scarce. If you use that as an excuse to draft a guy higher, you're taking more risk without the benefit of more reward. I'm certainly not about to tell the Patriots they did a bad thing drafting Richard Seymour in the top 10 or Ty Warren in the top 15 or whatever. Those guys have helped make that team what it is. Those players used to maybe be had in the mid rounds. Now there are so many 3-4 defenses out there, it's hard to find them there anymore.
Scott Pioli is proving to be overrated in every sense of the word. Perhaps he and Belichick were just a great a team, and neither of them is as good without the other. It's like Abbott & Costello. There is no market for just Abbott to perform. I've hated almost all of Pioli's moves from his head coach hire, to the Cassell trade, to his drafts. But I hope KC enjoys having the Patriots 2002 staff on board with the exception of the most important guy.
For me, this is just a lesson in the inflexibility of NFL Staffs, they have a #3 overall, and a #5 overall tied up in two 4-3 Dlineman, but they refuse to run the 4-3 as the Staff believes in the 3-4, which means those high cost rookies are square pegs in round holes until they adjust, or are called "busts". That and Pioli is just not a very good GM, I cannot think of a single move they have made which makes perfect sense add in Pioli does not churn the roster the way he should looking to tweak the bottom 1/3rd.
I actually agree with you there. If you've got 4-3 personnel. run a 4-3. Even the Patriots, where Pioli hailed from, have shown that kind of flexibility over the years. Instead you keep playing Glenn Dorsey at positions he's not suited for and you overdraft Tyson Jackson in order to try and put another cog in place that is suited for the 3-4.
Exactly, however rather than do that, and place Dorsey, Jackson, Hali, Johnson in their best position to succeed, they prefer to: Play a 270 pd UDFA as a defensive end in the 3-4, which is why the Chiefs are heading for a memorably poor season this yr. But hey, HC Haley will show Dorsey and Jackson, he will start Walter Gilberry! That'll learn'em. KC will be picking Top 5 again in 2011, if Haley manages to keep his job he has pictures of Pioli, a Goat, and Brady in a crotchless bear outfit.
I think it goes even further than that. They drafted Tyson Jackson in the first place because they were trying to establish their 3-4 defense. What if they looked at their personnel and said, this is a 4-3, let's get the best personnel we can to emphasize our strengths? They passed on Aaron Curry because his best spot was a 4-3 OLB position. But, contrary to what some believe, he did very well in 2009 and really stood out when I watched him, and I think he'll be pretty darn good in 2010. B.J. Raji could have been a nice middle clogger with Glenn Dorsey in a 4-3, and when you add a Tamba Hali to that mix all the sudden your DL is a huge strength. Or maybe the fact that you're not switching to a 3-4 allows you to forego defense altogether, and you pick up a Michael Crabtree to pair with Dwayne Bowe and give you one of the top WR tandems in the league to help out the guy you just traded for and gave a huge amount of money to, Matt Cassel. Cassel only succeeded in New England having Randy Moss and Wes Welker to throw to, having a tandem of Bowe and Crab would be putting Cassel in a familiar setting to where he might succeed again.
Astounding isn't it? Haley wants things his way, but lacks the talent evaluation abilities to make it work, they bring in Romeo Crennel, but you cannot make chicken salad out of chicken crap. Hey, they did trade for Mike Vrabel though... Raji may have a bone on bone condition in his knee. Or offensive line, Bowe/Chambers is a nice combination, but recall they traded for two cast off Guards from us last yr, and then didn't bother to add to the Oline this year. Brandon Albert is not a NFL LT, he is a decent player but is better suited to Guard or Center, meanwhile Cassel will be slaughtered again this yr, and the Staff will of course blame him as they did after last season, and Haley could be replaced midseason by Romeo Crennel. And it is all completely predictable even before the season starts.
I mention Michael Crabtree and Aaron Curry because, simply stated, if you take all team needs aside and just looked at who the best football players on the board were at that pick, those two were it. Curry was a guy that people considered the safest in the draft as far as becoming a very good player, and Crabtree wasn't far behind him although people knew he had diva issues. So because you're beholden to this 3-4 system, you HAVE to reach for a guy like Tyson Jackson...you can't just go with one of the two guys you know are going to be tremendous football players. You convince yourself that you "know" that Tyson Jackson will also be a tremendous football player, even though deep in your heart you know that Crabtree and Curry are more sure things. Instead of surrounding yourself with good football players first and then drawing strength from them, you're surrounding yourself with a scheme first and then trying to draw strength from it. Well, schemes don't play. Players do.
Raji is also starting a 3-4 nose this year. That would have helped KC significantly as well. I completely agree with you and Padre here; everything from the Jackson pick itself to the unwillingness to be flexible scheme wise is pathetic. Im just happy its not us.
And the last three draft classes have been really poor. And it was my error, BJ Raji is fine, Peria Jerry is the one who is rumored to have a serious bone on bone condition in his knee.
