2012 Team Review: Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs: Final Record: 2-14  

What Went Right: Jamaal Charles, Justin Houston and Tamba Hali

        Charles’ year has been lost (rightfully so) in the comeback of Adrian Peterson. But returning from a similar injury, Charles racked up his highest single season rushing total in his young career. All while being the main option on and having literally no passing offense to speak of. Additionally, he still averaged over five yards per carry for the season, showing that the knee injury hasn’t robbed him of his game breaking speed.

Houston and Hali don’t get the amount of credit they deserve for the effort they put in on this defense. Houston missed the Pro Bowl and while Hali made it, there are plenty of people saying he didn’t deserve it. Well, I’d argue the opposite. Houston and Hali accounted for 19 of the Chiefs 27 sacks on the year. Both found ways to be effective in spite of being on the field for extensive periods of time without much of a reprieve from the offense. Both deserve recognition.

What Went Wrong: The Passing Game

        Matt Cassel wishes he was back in New England with Randy Moss and Wes Welker after the last three terrible years in KC. He never really found out how to utilize the weapons he had, aside from Dwayne Bowe. Beyond his play and the play of his replacement Brady Quinn, the passing game as a whole has been disappointing. With the skills of the top three receivers and the Tony Moeaki returning from injury, you’d think that they’ be difficult to stop. But they weren’t. Moeaki may just need another year to recover from his ACL injury, but he looked almost nothing like the dynamic tight end they had in 2010. Jonathan Baldwin is still trying to find himself as are his quarterbacks. He showed he could make a big pay here and there, but not nearly often enough to justify is draft position. Steve Breaston, brought in to be a great number three receiver, was benched most of the year, much to everyone’s puzzlement. Bowe made what plays he could, but injuries and bad quarterbacking led to reduced numbers across the board. A new quarterback or offensive philosophy might help, but these receivers need to step up.

Player of the Year: Jamaal Charles

        Like I said earlier, he had his best year coming off an ACL tear. 1509 yards rushing (finishing fourth in the NFL), ranking third on the team in receptions and scoring 6 total touchdowns, Charles practically was the offense for the Chiefs in 2012. Defenses didn’t have to prepare for much beyond him, which makes his performance during the year all the more impressive. There’s not much more proof I need than that.

Keeper: Dwayne Bowe

        While the passing game was horrible and Bowe didn’t have the best year, he was clearly the best receiver the Chiefs fielded this year, when he was healthy. He finished with more than 300 more receiving yards then the next best receiver, and only then because they kept forcing feeding Dexter McCuster (801 to 452 respectively). He was also the only receiver to score multiple touchdowns, three to the rest of the offense’s one. He played under the franchise tag and while his asking price may be too pricey for the Chiefs, my  argument is that they simply can’t afford to let their one relatively consistent receiving weapon get away while transitioning to a new quarterback.

Goner: Matt Cassel

        Removing Matt Cassel should assist in keeping Dwayne Bowe. Cassel carries with him a 9.8 million dollar salary cap hit next year and his pay jumps to 7.5 million in base salary. If my understanding is correct, they’ll only be taking a 2 million dollar cap hit in cutting him, which frees up a about 5 million dollars in cap space to re-sign guys like Branden Albert, Glenn Dorsey and Dwayne Bowe. They’re moving on from him anyway, so it makes little sense to absorb the payday he’ll be getting in the next few years.

Should Draft: A Quarterback.

        I know the draft experts have been talking down the upcoming class of quarterback like crazy, but the Chiefs have little option in my mind. Now this doesn’t mean I think that they should reach for Matt Barley or Geno Smith at the top of the first round. If they can trade down that’d be great, but at the same time they need plenty of talent on this team. So I’m proposing doing something so insane that it was one of the Charger’s smartest decisions, trading down, taking the best player available and drafting a quarterback at the top of the second round (The Chargers did this in 2001, trading the first overall pick and drafting LaDainian Tomlinson in the first round and Drew Brees at the top of the second). Waiting a bit to see if Either Geno Smith or Matt Barkley slip out of the first round or just taking Tyler Wilson or Landry Jones with acquiring picks and better talent at other positions makes more sense than reaching for a quarterback. They could also look into acquiring Alex Smith, but frankly, I think it’s time they draft a quarterback and stick to him for a few years.