The Joy of Sacks

When I was a child (*spoken in Bill Cosy Jello Puddin Pops voice*) I once attended a football game where Derrick Thomas sacked the Seattle Seahawks QB (Dave Kreig) seven times. In the 2008 football season the Chiefs sacked the opposing QB ten times total. In order to be succesfull in 2009 the Chiefs will need to find a way to put more pressure on the QB. Now that Jared Allen is gone, the Chiefs don't have a pure pass rusher; Hali showed that he is ineffective in playing that role. Putting pressure on the QB does a lot to make the job of a young secondary easier. I think finding a high-quality pass rusher is going to be essential for the Chiefs to have a Dolphins-like turnaround in 09.

I don't think we realized how spoiled we were to watch a Chiefs Defense that had both Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith. Thomas is now a finalist for Hall of Fame consideration, and all of us here at The Trifecta are hopeful that he'll make it.

What is the solution for the Chiefs lack of sacks?

RROTW

Congrats to Kaycee Moe for recognizing Daryl Motley in the last edition of RROTW. Motley is most famous for catching the last out of the 1985 World Series. Vega deserves credit as well for identifying Cardinal pitcher John Tudor.

This weeks RROTW is a tough one. I'll give it a few days to see if anyone recognizes this guy before I start giving out hints.

KU Favorite in 09

Whitlock has pegged KU the 2009 favorite in the Big 12 North. With Reesing, Meier, and Briscoe all returning he makes a good argument. KU, however, has to play OU, UT, and Tech again next year. Missouri has it a bit easier with UT, Ok. St., and Baylor. Mizzou is losing a ton of talent on offense, but has a number of great prospects ready to emerge as big time players. Ultimately, I think the Big 12 North will come down to the winner of MU/KU at arrowhead next year.

2009 NFL Draft

I have been monitoring a few mock drafts, and most have the Chiefs taking Matt Stafford (pictured above) with the third overall pick. As I've said on this blog before, I think Tyler Thigpen should be the starting quarterback in 2009. Does that mean that picking Stafford would be a mistake? Maybe, maybe not. If the Chiefs truly believe that Stafford can be an elite NFL quarterback, then I am comfortable with this pick. Still, Thigpen should get the opportunity to start the season as QB. If Thigpen falters, then transition to Stafford. If Thigpen continues to improve, then the Chiefs can consider trading Stafford down the line.

Andre Smith could also be a big help to the offensive line. Smith is a dominant left tackle, which could allow the Chiefs to move Brandon Albert back to Guard or to Right Tackle. I am a big believer in the fact that the most important part of an offense is the line. Perhaps I am biased because I spent two years of my high school football career on the O-line (and the other two as primarily blocking tightend), but it is amazing how much better a running back looks when he has a hole to run through, and how much better a quarterback throws the ball when he has plenty of time to look downfield. The dominant Chiefs offense in the early 00's was anchored by a phenomenal O-line. When the Chiefs lost John Tait, and the remainder of the line got old, the offense started crumbling. The point of this ramble is that I think taking Andre Smith would be a very solid pick.

The discussion of the offense ignores the many holes the Chiefs have on defense. I am comfortable with the secondary, but beyond that, the Chiefs really need help everywhere else. Having said that, I'm not sure who the Chiefs could justifiably use this pick on to help the defense.

Should the Chiefs take Stafford or use the pick on another position? If not Stafford, then who? Most importantly, I hope we can all agree the Chiefs should have nothing to do with Sam Bradford.

2009 Mizzou Basketball

A couple weeks after a disappointing loss to Illinois, MU came through with a big road win against a solid Georgia basketball team. This is a win that should look good to the NCAA selection committee when they make their selections in a couple months. The conference schedule starts next Saturday with Mizzou traveling to Nebraks before hosting Colorado the following week. Will this be the year Mizzou finally ends its NCAA tourney drought? How many wins does Mizzou need to get in the tournament? How will they do in conference play?

I think Mizzou should be able to go 9-7 in conference play, but at a minimum 8-8. Assuming 8-8 and one win in the Big 12 Tournament, Mizzou would finish the season at 22-11. That ought to be enough to get in the tournament. Thoughts?

Whitlock's grades...

I always look forward to "Professor" Whitlock's annual grades for the Chiefs and this year's were just as good as usual.  I've just read the article once, but, so far, my only complaint is that Whitlock gave Thigpen a C+ (78).  

Whitlock's main point is that Thigpen is not a franchise quarterback and had a low completion percentage (58%) even though he operated in the shotgun offense, which makes it easier for quarterbacks to complete passes.

Whitlock bases a player's grade on how well he meets or fails to meet Whitlock's preseason expectation for him.  Under this criteria, I'm not sure how Thigpen could receive anything besides an "A."  I assume that before the season started, there were no expectations for Thigpen since nobody had ever heard of him.  And, I would assume that, after the Atlanta game, everybody expected that Thigpen would or should be cut. 

Given these assumptions, and the fact that, after the Atlanta game, Thigpen threw for over 2,400 yards with 16 TDs (and 8 picks), I don't see how he could receive anything but an "A."  I think these are pretty good numbers for a guy who most people thought should have been cut in September.  Granted, he had some bad games at the end of the season (Den. SD. Cinn.), but he also does not have a lot of offensive power around him.    

Thigpen may not be a franchise quarterback.  He may not even be the quarterback next year.  But, given his experience level and the expectations for him this year, he had a pretty good year.  In fact, given his expectations, he probably had the best year of any Chief.  

Anybody have any thoughts on the "grades."

RROTW

The context of this photo should be a big hint. Bonus points for naming the St. Louis Cardinal in the picture.