If nothing else, the Kansas City Chiefs' offseason so far has been interesting. There's been more twists and turns than a green room game of twister at Cirque du Soleil. In an effort to fix the defense, KC Kingpin Carl Peterson has been a busy little beaver.
The Chiefs' needs entering the offseason stood like this: number one cornerback, free safety, middle linebacker, pass rusher, outside linebacker, wide receiver, offensive line.
That's a lot of holes to fill, and far too many to fill them just through the draft. Enter, the free agency season. When it started on March 2nd, the Chiefs' braintrust entertained a virtual who's who of free agents. Unfortunately, instead of a line, it was more like a turnstile, as players entered Arrowhead and promptly left.
Cue the pissed off Chiefs fans. Just when you didn't think you could take it anymore... Just when you were ready to choke the life out of Carl Peterson... Just when everyone was ready to declare the parade of stars a charade of crap... In comes Kendrell Bell.
Kendrell Bell, the savior of the defense? Not likely. But you have to hand it to Carl, it was a masterful first step. When healthy, Bell is a monster. A fire breathing quarterback killer. When healthy, Bell is exactly the kind of guy you want Gunther Cunningham to have in his linebacking corps. When healthy, Bell is instinctive, fast, strong, diligent, hard working, and a leader on the field - maybe not the in-your-face kind of leader - but a leader by example. Of course, you may have noticed the words "when healthy" in front of the last few sentences. And of course, that's the catch. Bell's been hurt for about a year and a half out of his first 4 in the league. Anybody with that kind of injury history has to be a question mark, right? After all, you can be the best player in the game, but if you're not on the field on game day, it doesn't matter. Frankly though, I wouldn't miss much sleep because of it. Bell missed much of his sophomore season because of an ankle injury, but will be 3 years removed from the injury by the time the season rolls around. Last year he also missed significant time because of a sports hernia. Bell has stated he injured himself in the weight room, trying to do too much too soon. Same with the ankle in 02. He tried to get on the field too soon, and reinjured himself. He says he's learned his lesson, and is ready to play right now if the season started today. Good enough for me.
Of course, there was also the rumor, put forth in a New York newspaper, stating that Bell has arthritis in his shoulder, and failed to pass his physical with the Giants because of it. I believe the term "career threatening" was bandied about. Don't believe the hype. My guess is that he may have some issues with his shoulder, but I doubt it will have much of an effect on his play. If you will remember, Bell visited with the Giants before the Chiefs, and probably jilted them in favor of the red and gold. Being left on the free agency alter isn't exactly a fun place to be. With that in mind, it's hardly surprising that the Giants and the local fish wraps in New York were trying to put the spin on. If you can't get the guy you want, people often turn to the mentality that, "Well, we didn't want the guy anyway. Look, he's hurt!" Funny that he passed the same physical in Kansas City several days later.
Of course, the same could be said of the Samari Rolle situation. Samari Rolle came in to visit his good friend Gunther Cunningham, and would have been a pretty good fit as a number one corner. Evidently, a deal couldn't be worked out, and off he went to talk with Baltimore, while his agent continued negotiating with the Chiefs. And right on cue, here comes a Kansas City Star article saying that Rolle had a narrowing of the spine, a condition he was born with, which evidently was no big secret, unless of course you work at Arrowhead. The Star article basically said the Chiefs were highly concerned about the spinal situation, and wanted to work in an injury clause to Rolle's contract to protect themselves financially in case he's hurt. Blah blah blah blah, Rolle says he's pissed about the information leak, blah blah blah, Carl Peterson blames the media for the leak, blah blah, Rolle signs with Baltimore, blah.
Which leads us up to Sammy Knight. Released by the Dolphins to save some cash, Knight is simply put, a playmaker. He's not the fastest, he's not the strongest, but he just may be the smartest safety in the league. Knight consistently puts himself in the right situations at the right time. He's also a fierce hitter, something that's been sorely lacking in the secondary since Greg Wesley's first year as a starter.
While the Chiefs biggest need in the secondary, outside of cornerback, was for a free safety to compete with Jerome Woods, the Chiefs opted to go with Knight, a strong safety. Knight was immediately named the starter at strong safety, leaving former starter Greg Wesley to compete at free safety with Jerome Woods. The feeling at Arrowhead seems to be that Wesley got complacent after cashing that big check a year ago, which may be true. Personally, I'm not sure that it is. It seems to me that Wesley has always been at his best when Jerome Woods had his best years. Whenever Woods was out with injuries, like his broken leg in 2002, and his injuries last year, Wesley under performs. Whenever Woods has a good year, like in Wesley's rookie year, as well as Woods' pro-bowl season last year, Wesley shines. In fact, a case could be made that Wesley deserved a Pro-Bowl invitation after the 2003 season just as much as Woods' did. In my opinion, Wesley tried to do too much last year. Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham's system relies heavily on safety play. First and foremost, Gun wants to stop the run. With weak tackling linebackers, the only other option is to have your strong safety help out in run support. With Wesley concentrating on stopping the run, he subsequently spent half the season biting on play fakes, and with no real help deep from the free safety, was often caught out of position. It's kind of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation.
But the bottom line is that Gun did not get the production he needed out of the safeties. In comes Knight. While some fans were tempted to "just say goodnight to Sammy Knight", I think you'll be amazed by the difference he makes. He's the fiery, in-your-face kind of guy that Gun needs in the backfield. He'll do more than light a fire under your ass, he'll stick an apple in your mouth and roast you on a spit. Knight will not only make sure everyone understands where they need to be, but he'll also lay the wood, keeping receivers from dancing around in the middle of the field.
Knight, 29, was originally a rookie free agent for the Saints out of USC, but has proven to be one of the top safeties in the league, and a Pro-Bowler in 2001 with New Orleans. Over his first 8 seasons, Knight has collected 767 tackles, 29 passes defensed, 5 sacks, 9 forced fumbles and 11 fumble recoveries, while playing both free and strong safety. However, considering the Chiefs' need for a playmaker in the secondary, his INT stats are the most interesting. Since 1997, Knight has intercepted 35 passes, including 594 INT return yards and 4 touchdowns. In fact, that's the second highest total in the NFL, second only to Packers great S Darren Sharper, who recently signed with Minnesota. Of more importance is that Knight has come up big in the biggest games. He's only started 2 playoff games (in 2000), but came up with 2 interceptions, 9 tackles and 4 passes defensed. Knight owns 6 consecutive seasons with more than 100 tackles, and last year posted 100 tackes (67 solo), and led Miami with 4 interceptions (tied with Arturo Freeman and Patrick Surtain) and 3 forced fumbles. He's also been remarkably durable during his career, missing only a handful of games.
As for the other safeties, word is that Woods has hired a speed coach to help him regain his speed. If Woods can get back to form, or if Wesley can successfully transition to Free Safety, Gun will have the safety support he desperately needs to turn this defense around.
More recently, the Chiefs also signed defensive end Carlos Hall from Tennessee. Hall was a 7th round pick of the Titans in 2002. As a restricted free agent, he signed an offer sheet with Kansas City, with the Titans holding the rights to match it. The Chiefs eventually reached a deal with Tennessee, giving the Titans a late round draft pick for not matching the offer. Reports have varied about which pick the Chiefs gave up, ranging from a 5th rounder to a 7th. Either way, it was a good trade. Hall is an young pass rusher, with untapped potential. During his rookie year, he successfully started 13 games in place of the injured Jevon Kearse, racking up 8 sacks, 11 QB pressures, 1 forced fumble and 6 passes defensed. During the last 2 years, his play has dropped. 4 starts in 2003 yielded 3 sacks and 13 QB pressures. 14 starts in 2004 yielded 2 1/2 sacks, 7 pressures, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. So was Hall a one year wonder? Or does he just need the right situation? One bonus is that Hall has consistently been a good tackler, racking up 70, 66, 72 tackles from 2002 to 2004, respectively. While he may be a bit undersized at 6-4 and 261 lbs, he could be a very good situational pass rusher, maybe more.
The other outside signing was WR Darell Hill, also from Tennessee. Hill is a big, rangy guy, at 6-3 and 200 lbs, and ironically enough, he was the Titans other 7th round pick in 2002. Hill has yet to catch a pass in the NFL, but is a special teams standout. Although he may just be camp fodder, this signing makes sense when you consider that Dick Vermeil insists on his backup wideouts being able to play special teams.
Ok, so there you have it. In part 2, we'll go over the in-house signings and losses, and preview what the Chiefs might do in the upcoming draft, including any possible trades.
Till then, keep your hats on. Remember, the twists and turns are only starting. Next up, right foot green.
Written By Steve Xen
Columnist for ChiefsCoalition.com