Larry Johnson

Everyone says he can not be traded because of the cap hit.  Let's take a look at why this is true.  Here's the breakdown of the hit we would take if we traded him before the week 6 deadline.

Prorated 2008 salary: $1.7 million

2009 salary: $4.55 million

Prorated Bonus ($12.5 million over 6 years and prorated in 2008): $9.68 million

Total Cap Hit in 2009: $15.93 million

This is my understanding of the cap hit we would take if we traded him.  Of course, after 2009 that number would drop drastically.

Tony Gonzalez

This is intriguing but only because we know Tony still has it.  The facts are, though, that he's 32 years old and hasn't committed to playing beyond 2009.  I could see him being sent to a contender looking to be pushed over the hump.

But would the Chiefs do it?  Unlikely.  Right now he and Bowe are our only consistent offensive threats in the passing game.  And our passing game sucks so we need Tony more than anyone else.

Damon Huard

Believe it or not, Huard has some value.  He's a proven back up at the most important position in the league.  Unfortunately for us, like Tony we need him more than anyone else.  We can not, repeat can not continue this season without Huard.  Croyle is unlikely to stay healthy for the next 11 games which would leave Tyler Thigpen or someone off the street to lead our team and we've seen how catastrophic that can be.

Patrick Surtain

I'm down for moving him.  He's in the 4th year of a 7 year deal signed in 2005.  Brandon Carr has proven he can hang in the secondary so Surtain seems to be a stop gap until the rookie is ready to take his spot full time.  On top of that, there's been talk of Carr taking Surtain's spot at some point this season anyway.

• The updates from One Arrowhead Drive are becoming fewer and fewer.  Check out Herm's latest Q&A.
• Bob Gretz reminds us that quarterback troubles aren't unique to Kansas City.
• Brian Waters said the play of the offensive line this year compared to last year "Ain't even close."  [Gulp] Really??
• The guys over at Arrowhead Addict are trying to gain momentum for their 'Cowher-Vick 2009' campaign.
• The best college quarterbacks potentially available next year: Out of this group, who would you take?
• Who knew Dwayne Bowe and I both watched Full House growing up.
• Jon Yoon weighs in on the 'trade LJ' talk.
• Tom Brady, the QB to whom Bernard Pollard will be forever linked, finally had his knee surgery.
• And from the 'It was bound to happen sooner or later department': Pacman Jones got into a fight (with one of his own security detail) in a hotel restroom on Tuesday night.

So, I was on the plaza last night walking to my car probably around 6:30ish and who do I see jogging down the street with a pit bull looking dog?  Tank Tyler.  Glad to see he's staying in shape.  It's shown this season.

The Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver situation starts off exciting with the name Dwayne Bowe who had a highly productive rookie year.  Just shy of 1,000 yards, he proved to be exciting on AND off the field.  But after that, the 'ready-now' talent pool dries up.

With the addition of Mark Bradley, will anyone step up and put a stake in the #2 wide receiver spot?

Jeff Webb is perceived to be a Herm Edwards favorite considering his alma mater.  A 6th round draft choice just two years ago, Webb has been underwhelming.  But, as Herm would say, 'That's okay'.  What did we expect out of a 6th rounder?  A complementary role player.

Devard Darling was a 3rd rounder in 2004 and up until 2007 had been used almost exclusively as a return man.  Darling was non-existent in the preseason and has just one catch in three separate games for the Chiefs this year.  He's (allegedly) a speedster, so why isn't he being utilized more?

Will Franklin has been battling an injury which has limited to one catch in the regular season.  Still, he thrived while at Mizzou albeit in the spread offense.  We've been high on him for quite some time but reality needs to set in.  Rookie wide receivers are generally regarded as the lowest impact players in the draft.  Bowe is a huge exception to this rule.  Franklin's unlikely to catapult himself to the #2 spot this season.

Mark Bradley comes from an offense with a more putrid quarterback situation than the Chiefs with the Chicago Bears.  Grossman and Orton had trouble calling his number but then again they have that problem with a lot of receivers.  He was productive at Oklahoma and was expected to accrue similar success when the Bears used a 2nd rounder on him in the 2005 draft.  Was Muhsin Muhammad right when he said Chicago is where "receivers go to die"?  Or is Bradley another player waiting for the right opportunity?

* End of the longest losing streak in Chiefs history.

* The players made plays.  Larry Johnson 7.1 yds/carry.  Dwayne Bowe 7 Receptions 81 yds.  Tony G 3 receptions 47 Yds.  Damon Huard 75% comp % with no INTs.  Derrick Johnson 1 forced fumble, 1 int.  Dorsey and Tank Tyler stuffing the middle.  Herb Taylor filling in for Brandon Albert.

* Kolby Smith doing the Tomahawk Chop

* Young Chiefs Defense becoming ball hawks.  Every play the Chiefs defense was ripping at the ball.  The result was two fumbles recovered and two interceptions.

* Our young CBs holding their own.  Carr had 2 Tackles, 3 passes defended, an interception and a fumble recovery.  Flowers had 7 Tackles, 2 passes defended and a fumble recovery.  Dmitri Patterson had 8 Combined Tackles.

* Larry Johnson runs for 198 yards and 2 TDs

* Arrowhead Stadium rocking the whole game instead of booing.

* Chiefs score 32 points.  (what is this?  the arena league?)

* Herm going on the field to check on Tony G when he was hurt (which he NEVER does)

* Denver Broncos only had 94 yards total rushing.

*Dantrelle Savages 51 yard Kickoff Return when we needed it most.

* LJ smiling

(Photo by John Amis)

Well, well. Another week. Another loss. I began this recap with the intention of brushing a broader stroke but I didn't have the heart for it. Here's a few things I took away from yesterday's game.

Turnovers will always kill you

Whenever a team loses a game and I take a look at the box score, my eyes almost always go to the turnover line. Sure enough, the Chiefs were -2 yesterday in the turnover category and lost by 24 points despite similar offensive stats to the Falcons. Tyler Thigpen's two interceptions within three minutes of each other in the second quarter, in hindsight, was the devastating blow dealt to the Chiefs. Those two picks gave Atlanta excellent field position (KC 18 and the KC 40) for what ultimately led to ten more points and a 24 to 0 lead a few minutes before half.

No reason to mention Thigpen's third and final pick which resulted in a touchdown by the Falcons' Chris Houston. Dwayne Bowe slipped and Thigpen had already released the ball.

The Kansas City Chiefs have a -1 turnover ratio on the season but the wrinkle in that is the Chiefs' opponents take advantage of those turnovers and score, literally after every turnover mind you, and the Chiefs do not. That's a basic football stat that you have to shake your head at if you're a Chiefs fan. That's a lot of power to have conceded to your opponent each game.

Hey, was that Larry Johnson on the field?

Lost amidst yesterday's destruction was that Larry Johnson had the best rushing performance by the Chiefs since Kolby Smith pounded the rock 31 times for 150 yards against Oakland last year (Side note: I completely forgot that Kolby Smith carried the ball that many times). LJ ran the ball 24 times for 121 yards and a touchdown.

One thing I've found myself doing when looking at Larry Johnson's stats over the last year is take away his longest carry and see what the YPC average is. With his long run of 48 yards included, LJ had a 5 yard per carry average. Take out that run and he averaged about 3.2 yards per carry. I like to use that second number as a more accurate judge of a runner's effectiveness over the period of an entire game.

Even with that second number right around 3 yards, the Chiefs were able to effectively run the ball for the first time in a long, long time. I actually saw a few holes opened up by the offensive line yesterday and that is said with no sarcasm whatsoever. They have been the first running lanes Larry Johnson has seen all season.

Remember, Tyler Thigpen is only temporary

The Tyler Thigpen led Chiefs' offense put together, for about 28 minutes to start the game, one of the worst strings of drives I've seen in a long time. And I watched all of last season!

The debate between starting Tyler Thigpen over Damon Huard is really only a relevant one if Brodie Croyle is out for a long period of time. Thigpen is not a future starter for the Chiefs and we need to treat him like that. Right now, the Chiefs starting quarterback is hurt and the team is in triage mode, trying to get as many pieces to work together as possible to maximize survival. The situation is obviously not ideal but I think that the Chiefs keeping Thigpen in is a good move, if only because wins aren't the ultimate goal this season. It doesn't matter if Huard or Thigpen is in there if neither one is going to be the full-time starting quarterback. It's a band-aid, barely covering the wound and we have to grit through the pain.

With those criticisms aside, Tyler Thigpen did lead touchdown scoring drives of 74 and 82 yards and that's no joke for this current Chiefs team. The best three drives of the season have been with Thigpen at the helm. Even going back further than this year, those two drives yesterday and his 9 play, 80-yard drive last week were some of the best drives the Chiefs have had since 2006.

For that, I will politely tip my hat to Tyler Thigpen and anxiously await the return of Brodie Croyle, or whoever our next quarterback is.

Defensive problems loom large

The Chiefs defense started the game off well, forcing three straight three and outs on the Falcons. But then the floodgates opened. Two quick touchdowns by the Falcons towards the end of first quarter shook the Chiefs defense and they never recovered.

A tough Matt Ryan and another week of ineffective pass rushing resulted in no sacks for the Chiefs. The run defense let the team down again, giving up 186 yards on the ground. This weekly recap is getting quite repetitious by the way. We are getting torn up on the ground.

I don't buy the argument that the defense is tired because they're on the field so much. First, the time of possession for all three games this season has not been out of whack for the Chiefs or their opponents. Plus, the Chiefs scattered in enough three, four and five minutes drives between their three and outs to give the defense time to rest. The defense did get a lot of time on the field during the first quarter yesterday but if your team can't make it through the first quarter endurance wise, geez I don't know what to tell you.

The Falcons aren't that bad

"We lost to the Falcons!"

I heard that quite a bit yesterday and even said it myself a few times. But after sleeping on it, the Falcons are actually a pretty solid team. They have what appears to be a good quarterback in Matt Ryan and their running game is a complete 180-degree turn around from last year. Their pass rush is pretty solid and their offensive line is leaps and bounds ahead of ours. Let's give the Falcons some credit for yesterday's win.

Amid all of the hullabaloo over Larry Johnson' fiery comments about his role with the Kansas City Chiefs is a very valid point made by the running back - The Chiefs need to use certain players more, mainly because it just makes sense to do so. Larry Johnson had 416 carries two years ago because that's partly his style and part of what made him an effective running back. We shouldn't deny the ability of players in favor of some sort of scheme.

Larry Johnson

This one is pretty obvious in my opinion. I know the Chiefs have had to pass quite a bit in the first two games of the 2008 season but that is no excuse for Larry Johnson to only receive two carries in the second half of last week's game. The Chiefs only rushed the ball four times as a team in the second half on Sunday.

To be fair, Larry split his 22 carries in Week 1 equally over the first and second halves but last week's play calling was atrocious in the second half.

Is LJ being taken out because of insufficient pass blocking? Is he actually being phased out of the offense? The first one rings much more true than the second. I will say I agree with Larry - Get him the ball at least, at least 20 times a game and you can feel good about your play calling. That seems like a no-brainer to me but so have a lot of things this season.

Jamaal Charles

I know it's a bit odd to suggest Larry needs more carries and Charles does as well but I think you know what I'm getting at.

I'm suggesting Jamaal Charles get more carries at the expense of Kolby Smith getting fewer. Now, Kolby only has one carry on the season mind you but Charles has yet to be anointed the official #2 back and I'm going to assume that Kolby Smith still factors heavily into the game plan as far as the #2 RB spot.

I think we've all loved what we've seen so far from Jamaal Charles - the quick cuts, the darts in between the tackles and that feeling of anxiety you get while watching a super fast running back who he can break off a big run at any time.

Any WR not named Dwayne Bowe (And more Bowe too!)

Hopefully rookie WR Will Franklin returns this week and can take some of the heat off of Bowe but I haven't heard anything definite on that quite yet. I went over the lack of receiving options in my recap of last week's game and it has quickly become a growing problem inside my head. We're back where we've pretty much always been Chiefs fans, without a sold receiving corp. That should feel familiar.

Glenn Dorsey

It seems to me that in the four or five games I saw Dorsey play while he was at LSU, he made his mark in the games as a disruptive force behind the line of scrimmage. In the short first two games of Dorsey's career in the NFL, the Chiefs appear content to have him in more of a run-stuffing role on the line of scrimmage. Let Dorsey do his disruption act within the limits of the Cover 2 defense and hopefully we can see our rookie doing his sack dance against the Falcons this weekend.

Dantrell Savage

This is another obvious one, right?

Savage was inactive last weekend in favor of Eddie Drummond B.J. Sams who yet again showed us nothing. Savage may have the same luck with this special teams coverage unit but we can all agree that youth should be served at the kick return position. As long as Savage doesn't fumble the ball, why not let him get 10 yard returns instead of Sams?

By the way, after this post, I'm retiring my small personal campaign for Savage and against Sams. I'm tired of talking about it already.

Who do you think should be a bigger part of the game plan this weekend?

Because of injuries, the Kansas City Chiefs are only dressing three wide receivers.

Larry Johnson has not played in a regular season football game since November 4th, 2007. The Chiefs' fullback is a brand-new rookie.

The offensive line is still very much in flux and unstable as a unit.

What kind of production can we possibly expect from this offense?

Let me make an unpopular prediction - Our offense is going to be extremely unproductive this weekend against the Patriots and for at least a few weeks after that. Let me tell you why. And this is more about the direction of the team over the next few weeks than specifically about this Sunday's match up.

I am in no way a believer in this offensive line until I see actual production on the field. I need to see it with my eyes for me to believe it. I need to see Larry Johnson running through big gaps in the line, defensive players flattened and most importantly in the rushing game stats.

I still feel stung from last season when I thought, not especially strongly mind you, but I thought that the Chiefs line would be adequate going into the regular season. And frankly, I have not seen really anything in the preseason to make me think that the line has improved much over last year's squad.

That mistake and the misjudgement by the Chiefs coaching staff has really jaded me to being a homer. It can make you look ridiculous and make you really question your judgement.

Next, behind Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs have nearly zero depth at wide receiver. I know Maurice Price and Will Franklin are solid prospects and me saying zero depth is in no way criticizing their talents or the talents of Darling, Webb or Robinson.

My point is about our reveiver draft picks - they are unknown wide receiver talents in the NFL. Unknown. We really have no clue how much they will help this team. They should help this team. Wide receivers are notoriously hard to judge coming into the NFL draft. Past drafts are riddled with sickeningly high draft pick choices spent on wide receivers who never lived up to a tenth of their hype.

If the pressure is that high on a top WR draft pick and the odds that poor, then certainly those odds worsen as you drop into the fourth round (Franklin) and down to the undrafted college free agents (Price).

Again, we just don't know with these guys. Even Bowe is still proving himself after a huge rookie year. Expectations are heavy on him as well.

To top it all off, the Chiefs are starting the regular season tomorrow against what was last year one of the greatest regular season football teams of all time. At the very least, this game will be a major, major test for a young team. I like that we are playing the Patriots right off the bat. Baptism by fire. Let's throw them in and see what they can do.

What about your thoughts about this Chiefs offense?

Adam Best (a.k.a. Batman) of Arrowhead Addict posts a great projection of the Chiefs' 2008 season on Yardbarker. It includes who he thinks will bust out, who he thinks will flounder, etc. etc.

Basically, if you follow Adam's work on AA at all, this is vintage stuff: reasonable while retaining a belligerent homerism, decent football analysis but in totally killer style.

It's a must-read for the smack talk on our rivals, if for nothing else:

[The Chargers] bitch and bitch and bitch about Marty Schottenheimer, then go out and sign...Norv Turner? That's like bitching about Cuba Gooding Jr.'s acting only to replace him with L.L. Cool J.

Total gold. You keep doin' what you do, Batman.

I'll let you read his analysis yourself, but I do have a couple comments with his projections.

1. Fantasy rankings. Batman pegs Bowe as our "fantasy stud," even though he projects Bowe to put up a 1,000-yard season with 8 touchdowns easy. I normally wouldn't have a problem with that, but he also projected LJ to break out a 1,400-yard season with upwards of 12 TDs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in virtually any fantasy league, that would make LJ the team's fantasy stud.

2. Turk breaking out. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the entire projection was the claim that Turk would emerge as the team's breakout player this year. He is getting the best opportunity of his career now to play strong-side DE (for which his frame suggests he's perfect), but I've long-suspected after Turk's tumultuous rookie season that he's going to be fighting for a roster spot next year. Turk had a sturdy opening month in 2007, where he was hungry and active. But he trailed off to virtual invisibility as the season wore on. He didn't put up many stats his rookie season, but he started out with tons of promise. His preseason performance against Chicago was forgettable at best.

I hope for the best with Turk, one of my favorite players on this team, but I haven't seen enough from him to suggest that he's anything more than a rotational reserve. Maybe he takes the field when we're in a nickel package. Maybe.

3. Rivalries reborn? One serious problem we'll have with this season is that with so much turnover and new youth, there's virtually no rivalry holdover from last season. Adam sees the Chiefs "fired up" to avenge their 2007 sweep at the hands of the Broncos, but I honestly don't expect many of the new faces to feel much anti-Denver passion just yet. I believe this is the season that rivalries will be born, not carried over.

Thursday PM Update: sunny d posted about the scrimmage, with a streaming audio link.

Good morning. Here are you updated links to the afternoon session.

UW-RF

BobGretz.com

WPI ($$$) P.S to KCChiefs.com - In your training camp wrap ups, how about wrapping up the entire day of practice instead of just the morning? I know I can't get enough coverage of camp!

Gunther Cunningham spent yesterday morning and afternoon with his linebackers, since he took over the coaching of them after the '07 season. The linebackers definitely seem like the position of the hour, with a lot of print and digital space being dedicated to them as of late. As you can probably imagine, there is a lot of yelling going on when Gunther is around. When the defense came together for drills, Gunther had this to say and I'm sure it was much more funny in person:

"In Spanish, they say ‘uno’, in German, they say ‘eins’, in English, we say ‘one.’ Got that?! ONE!"

Brian Waters, Brodie Croyle, Tony Gonzalez and Damion McIntosh all sat out the afternoon practice for rest. Tamba Hali, Brian Johnston and Trevor Johnson didn't suit up either but did participate in light drills. The latter three have minor injuries they should recover quickly from.

Damon Huard excelled in yesterday's afternoon session, prompting the UW-RF site to say he looked like a completely different player. I didn't think Huard had become too rusty. Like most NFL players, I'm sure he just needed a few days to get back in the rhythm. I know it seems like I haven't been giving Huard enough respect around here but that's more based on the fact that he doesn't fit into the Kansas City Chiefs long term plans. I guess I'm just anxious to move forward. He does make sense in the plan for this year I have to finally admit after some convincing from you guys.

Gretz mentions that after Bowe, Franklin and Darling, the fourth WR spot is wide open. Sippio will probably make the team at least as a special teams regular and occasional wide receiver. I think it's about time we put the Sippio craze to a rest. There is a reason the guy isn't starting - he's too slow. Sure, I'm sure he's great on goal line situations where speed is less of a factor but is it really worth it to give him a starting gig on the team based on that merit alone? I say no way. At the same time, because of the numbers game and the other WRs on the roster, Sippio may slip in there by default.

No practice this morning or in the afternoon. The Chiefs take the field to scrimmage the Vikings at 6:30 PM tonight. It looks like it may rain so we'll see how much scrimmaging actually gets done. It doesn't take much to make the coaches stop this thing.

Jared Allen and Benny Sapp return to face their old team. Here is a clip of Allen, beard and all, talking about playing against the Chiefs. He really strikes me as a team leader, something the Chiefs are still looking for.

Note: Forgot to add in this quote by Bob Gretz that every NFL fan should keep in mind during training camp:

There’s been great readership and reaction to these practice reports and it’s a pleasure to do them. But let me re-affirm something: these sessions as single elements that constitute only a moment in time. One day a guy is up, next day his legs are tired and he struggles through practice. Nobody in training camp has 11 great practices in a row. What I look for our trends, situations and performances that happen on a regular basis.

Memorize that last line and you'll be able to analyze camp that much better.

For you new readers out there, 99.9% of the time I post something by 8 AM. Each morning during training camp, I'll post the latest updates from the various outlets that are at training camp, as well as posting throughout the day. Selah.

Happy Monday morning to you all. I trust the first weekend of the Kansas City Chiefs training camp treated you well. There were three practices over the weekend. We've covered Saturday in our previous posts (scroll down if you're on the homepage and you'll see them), so here's a bit about Sunday.

BobGretz.com

The Chiefs offense and defense ran 43 plays of teamwork against each other. The defense looked good at times, but overall the offense was very sluggish. Essentially, the offense had 16 positive plays in those 43 plays. Positive is defined as a running play that broke into the second level of the defense or a completed pass. Quarterbacks were eight of 17 with at least two sacks and three dropped passes. Defensively, MLB Napoleon Harris and DE Brian Johnston had the sacks, DT T.J. Jackson had a stop in the backfield, as did DE Alfonso Boone. CB Brandon Flowers dropped a possible INT.

For those of you who haven't checked out BobGretz.com, it has quickly become one of the top places to get your first hand training camp news. Mr. Gretz is there at camp and delivering updates daily. And I don't have to tell you that the guy knows his football. I'm very thankful to have such a great resource on hand. You should be too.

UW-RF Site

• Larry Johnson sat out of a regular running back drill, possibly indicating that Herm isn't going to press LJ too much this camp.


• QB Tyler Thigpen worked with the second-string team and Damon Huard with the third-string. Can we please trade Damon Huard already?


• CB Maurice Leggett injured his finger but came back to practice.


• Damion McIntosh still doesn't sound happy about moving to right tackle - "I’m a ball player. When I’m asked to do something, I do it."


• I love this quote from Tank - ""I’ve been practicing all summer long because I wasn’t satisfied with last season."


• Rookie TE Brad Cottam on the Chiefs - "I don’t think I could have walked into a better situation."

There's plenty of stuff in the UW-RF update, so let's dig through it and talk about it. I'm still figuring out exactly how I'm going to post these updates so bear with me as I experiment. Whoops...almost forgot that the mothership was doing updates as well.

It may be 8 AM but pull up a chair at our online pub and let's talk some Chiefs! What else are you going to do? Work? Nah...