Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 25, 2008 15:10:53 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/460222.html
Chiefs have streamlined methods for draft
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
MOBILE, Ala. | If the Chiefs still approached the draft as they always had, Tamba Hali and Jarrad Page probably wouldn’t be part of this team. Even if they were, both players likely would be buried on the bench.
That Hali and Page not only play for Kansas City but are starters and building blocks for what the Chiefs hope are better days ahead speaks to the changes they made in their draft process two years ago.
They hired Herm Edwards as head coach and promoted Bill Kuharich to vice president of player personnel, giving him considerably more voice in the draft room.
The results are encouraging. The Chiefs appear to have had two of their better drafts in recent memory. At least 11 of their 14 picks figure to be with the Chiefs next season, five as starters.
Hali, Page and Dwayne Bowe could develop into stars. The only obvious miss so far was kicker Justin Medlock, a fifth-round choice last year.
This gives the Chiefs, who have 10 picks this year, more hope.
“I’ve had the chance to watch the two of them together, and they’re very much on the same page,” said Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, referring to Edwards and Kuharich. “It’s always important to have your head coach and the guy running your draft on the same page, and I think we’ve had two very good drafts. Unfortunately, those guys to this point have been too young to have a tremendous impact. Going into 2008, I would expect that 2006 draft class to have a tremendous impact.”
Edwards brought a stronger conviction that how a prospect played in college was more important than how he tested after the season at the combine and other workout sessions. That worked out well in the case of Hali, who tested poorly at the combine two years ago.
“It’s not so much about the raw numbers as it is how the player plays on tape,” Edwards said. “When you watched him on tape and then you watched him work out, he was a different guy. A lot of teams were scared away because he didn’t look good in his workouts. A lot of people at the combine were saying, ‘Oh-oh.’ I just had this smirk on my face, but I was hoping he kept doing badly.”
The Chiefs drafted Hali with their first pick that year, and he’s been a starter at defensive end ever since.
Page was a four-year starter at UCLA. His extensive playing experience at a major college counted for something.
“I like players that play early in his college career,” Edwards said. “Did he play as a freshman? That tells me something. The maturity of a guy coming right out of high school and playing college football as a freshman, especially at a big university, that tells me something. Not only does he have talent, but he’s got some mental toughness and maturity. The game won’t be too big for him.”
The Chiefs drafted Page in the seventh round, and he’s now a starting safety who has made several game-saving plays in his two seasons.
Edwards supplies the scouts with detailed instructions of what he wants in a player at every position. Included are the standard parameters for height, weight, speed and skill, but also instructions specific to Edwards.
At cornerback, for instance, man-to-man coverage skills are not enough. He also wants cornerbacks to be proven tacklers.
“I’d say Herm communicates better the things he’s looking for in players,” said Chuck Cook, the Chiefs’ director of college scouting. “We have a more concrete feel for what he’s looking for. When you go out and look at guys, there’s a checklist of what he considers to be the most important factors at that specific position. They’re specific things, not general things.
“Herm knows what he wants. He knows how to utilize players. He’s done a better job of targeting guys who can fit the scheme.”
At the same time, the Chiefs streamlined their draft process, including fewer voices. Coordinators Chan Gailey and Gunther Cunningham were the only assistant coaches who attended the Senior Bowl practices this week. The others stayed in Kansas City.
In the draft room during the event, assistant coaches and scouts used to come and go at their discretion and felt free to lobby for the selection of their favored players.
Now, scouts and assistants are present by invitation only. It’s easier for the Chiefs to reach a consensus when only Kuharich, Edwards and president/general manager Carl Peterson are present.
“Bill will use (scouts and assistants) to look at specific players,” Peterson said. “At the end of the day, he is certainly of the opinion that he will listen to his scouts and the assistant coaches when he’s deciding between certain players. But he likes to have as few people in the draft room as possible.
“It’s not a big group of people making the final decision. It ends up being three people.”
Then there’s Edwards’ willingness to use younger players. Twelve of their 14 draft picks under Edwards have played in a game and nine have started at least one game.
That has to be some sort of modern-day, two-year record for the Chiefs.
“You can’t see what you’ve got,” Cook said, “until you play them.”
Chiefs have streamlined methods for draft
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
MOBILE, Ala. | If the Chiefs still approached the draft as they always had, Tamba Hali and Jarrad Page probably wouldn’t be part of this team. Even if they were, both players likely would be buried on the bench.
That Hali and Page not only play for Kansas City but are starters and building blocks for what the Chiefs hope are better days ahead speaks to the changes they made in their draft process two years ago.
They hired Herm Edwards as head coach and promoted Bill Kuharich to vice president of player personnel, giving him considerably more voice in the draft room.
The results are encouraging. The Chiefs appear to have had two of their better drafts in recent memory. At least 11 of their 14 picks figure to be with the Chiefs next season, five as starters.
Hali, Page and Dwayne Bowe could develop into stars. The only obvious miss so far was kicker Justin Medlock, a fifth-round choice last year.
This gives the Chiefs, who have 10 picks this year, more hope.
“I’ve had the chance to watch the two of them together, and they’re very much on the same page,” said Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, referring to Edwards and Kuharich. “It’s always important to have your head coach and the guy running your draft on the same page, and I think we’ve had two very good drafts. Unfortunately, those guys to this point have been too young to have a tremendous impact. Going into 2008, I would expect that 2006 draft class to have a tremendous impact.”
Edwards brought a stronger conviction that how a prospect played in college was more important than how he tested after the season at the combine and other workout sessions. That worked out well in the case of Hali, who tested poorly at the combine two years ago.
“It’s not so much about the raw numbers as it is how the player plays on tape,” Edwards said. “When you watched him on tape and then you watched him work out, he was a different guy. A lot of teams were scared away because he didn’t look good in his workouts. A lot of people at the combine were saying, ‘Oh-oh.’ I just had this smirk on my face, but I was hoping he kept doing badly.”
The Chiefs drafted Hali with their first pick that year, and he’s been a starter at defensive end ever since.
Page was a four-year starter at UCLA. His extensive playing experience at a major college counted for something.
“I like players that play early in his college career,” Edwards said. “Did he play as a freshman? That tells me something. The maturity of a guy coming right out of high school and playing college football as a freshman, especially at a big university, that tells me something. Not only does he have talent, but he’s got some mental toughness and maturity. The game won’t be too big for him.”
The Chiefs drafted Page in the seventh round, and he’s now a starting safety who has made several game-saving plays in his two seasons.
Edwards supplies the scouts with detailed instructions of what he wants in a player at every position. Included are the standard parameters for height, weight, speed and skill, but also instructions specific to Edwards.
At cornerback, for instance, man-to-man coverage skills are not enough. He also wants cornerbacks to be proven tacklers.
“I’d say Herm communicates better the things he’s looking for in players,” said Chuck Cook, the Chiefs’ director of college scouting. “We have a more concrete feel for what he’s looking for. When you go out and look at guys, there’s a checklist of what he considers to be the most important factors at that specific position. They’re specific things, not general things.
“Herm knows what he wants. He knows how to utilize players. He’s done a better job of targeting guys who can fit the scheme.”
At the same time, the Chiefs streamlined their draft process, including fewer voices. Coordinators Chan Gailey and Gunther Cunningham were the only assistant coaches who attended the Senior Bowl practices this week. The others stayed in Kansas City.
In the draft room during the event, assistant coaches and scouts used to come and go at their discretion and felt free to lobby for the selection of their favored players.
Now, scouts and assistants are present by invitation only. It’s easier for the Chiefs to reach a consensus when only Kuharich, Edwards and president/general manager Carl Peterson are present.
“Bill will use (scouts and assistants) to look at specific players,” Peterson said. “At the end of the day, he is certainly of the opinion that he will listen to his scouts and the assistant coaches when he’s deciding between certain players. But he likes to have as few people in the draft room as possible.
“It’s not a big group of people making the final decision. It ends up being three people.”
Then there’s Edwards’ willingness to use younger players. Twelve of their 14 draft picks under Edwards have played in a game and nine have started at least one game.
That has to be some sort of modern-day, two-year record for the Chiefs.
“You can’t see what you’ve got,” Cook said, “until you play them.”