Rough Draft

In my moments of being distracted I like to read up on my beloved but struggling Chiefs. Right now I see a debate developing that centers around what they should do with their first round draft pick. The fact that it's even an argument is encouraging in itself, as the play of Tyler Thigpen has soothed some of the QB-NOW! feelings.

Adam Teicher of the KC Star argues that the Chiefs' number one need is a pass rusher, and I am inclined to agree. The fact that the team only has six sacks ten games into the season is laughable. Time and time again the opposing quarterback has enough time to make a sandwich before delivering a pass. The last few weeks it's been the defense's inability to make key stops that has cost the team the game, not the offense's inability to move the ball or score points.

I want to throw out two questions that I find very interesting. First of all, should the Chiefs adopt the spread offense permanently? Obviously they will continue to run it with Thigpen at the helm, but what would happen if Thigpen got hurt before the end of this season? Would they return to a more traditional NFL offense? Or is this the wave of the Chiefs future?

Supposing that they decide to adopt the spread permanently, how might that affect the drafting of a quarterback? It seems to me (and my unresearched opinion) that quarterbacks who run the spread in college aren't highly desired by NFL teams. There are knocks against them being able to run a pro offense and they are either passed over entirely (except perhaps for the exceptional few, I would have to research to say for sure) or are relegated to very late round draft picks.

Again, assuming this is true, doesn't this play right into the Chiefs' hands? Since no other team in the NFL runs a spread offense, shouldn't the Chiefs have an easier time finding a good spread offense quarterback in next year's draft? I mean, if Tyler Thigpen and his Coastal Carolina background can succeed, imagine if we picked up someone from a high quality college program that ran a more sophisticated spread? (I hear you Chase Daniel fans clamoring already!)

I don't know how any of those thoughts play out in the real world of the NFL, but it leads me to think that we are much more in need of an improved defense than a new quarterback. And that a new quarterback that could run this offense could be found later in the draft - while all teams covet quality pass rushers.

The spread might even affect what type of running backs we want to add in the future - Charles is certainly more suited than LJ. Anybody care to share their opinion?