Don’t Believe It

For the next week, you’ll hear all sorts of things about what NFL teams want and need in the NFL draft.  Famous fictional Hannibalian Col. Sherman T. Potter would term most of it “mulefritters!”

We’re right in the middle of pre-draft misinformation season.  All 32 teams are obviously very interested in what everyone else is thinking.

Just because you hear that your favorite team is interested in this RB or drafting a QB or trading up or trading down or drafting this DT from Memphis or that WR from Tulsa doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.  Those comments are often based on things various NFL personnel people speaking on condition of anonymity are saying and are also generally meant to plant doubt in the other 31 draft rooms as to what’s going to happen. Sometimes the truth also make surprise appearances too. Doesn't happen often.  Most, if not all of what gets said into open microphones by coaches and personnel directors is intended for the other draft rooms around the league as much as it is intended for public consumption. Those guy certainly are aware that the enemy is listening in 31 other NFL cities.

I’m a Chiefs fan. Have been since the 60’s. I’ve also been a draftnik of sorts since ESPN started televising the draft. It didn’t take me long to figure out that misinformation abounds at this time of the year.  Next week, I’ll take a stab at figuring out who the Chiefs might take in the first round. I’ll also do something with the Rams and what might happen on the #6 pick.

Over the weekend, an apparent bit of misinformation came my way. I heard and read a couple reports that the Chiefs were interested in trading up for Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill.  First of all, drafting a QB in the first round doesn't make any sense for the Chiefs. Secondly, I don’t think Tannehill is a good first round value.  Too raw. Doesn’t take care of the ball as well as he should.  The Chiefs have other, more pressing needs.  If the pick were mine to make, I’d be taking the best guard on the board at #11 overall—but that’s a future blog subject.   The Scott Pioli era Chiefs are very secretive about a lot of things. If they were actually contemplating this trade, you wouldn’t be hearing about it in the pre-draft gossip.

Several years back, it appears that then Chiefs GM Carl Peterson or his staff planted the idea of trading Larry Johnson in the media.  I doubt that the Chiefs were serious about that. They might have been fishing for some organization dense enough overpay and give the Chiefs multiple high draft choices.  A year later, the Chiefs did get the Vikings to overpay for Jared Allen. KC got a solid OT in Branden Albert and also Jamaal Charles. That trade also made the decision to draft Glenn Dorsey at #5 overall an easy one.  There was also little, if any talk about that trade before it went down.