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1. (23)Â Dwyane Bowe, WR, LSU
2. (54)Â Turk McBride, DE, Tennessee
3. (82)Â DeMarcus “Tank” Tyler, DT, North Carolina State
5. (148)Â Kolby Smith, RB, Louisville
5. (160)Â Justin Medlock, K, UCLA
6. (196)Â Herbert Taylor, OT, TCU
7. (231)Â Michael Allan, TE, Whitworth
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This is terrible news for the Chiefs, but at least it came down before the Draft. Allen has been arrested for 2 DUIs and that has violated the NFL’s substance abuse policy causing Allen to be suspended for the first four games of the 2007 season. Allen is the best player on the Chiefs’ defense so this will hurt them a lot. Allen played in all 16 games last season and he made 77 tackles, had 7.5 sacks, 1 interception, defensed 10 passes, forced 3 fumbles and recovered an amazing 6 fumbles! Allen can’t be replaced and this will hurt the Chiefs the first month of the 2007 season.
The Chiefs have re-signed OT Kevin Sampson and WR Samie Parker. Sampson started the last 6 games for the Chiefs last season and he did a decent job. The 6’4″, 312 pound lineman might be needed to start again this season due to the looming suspension that’s coming the way of starting tackle Chris Terry. Parker wanted to test free agency after his best year of his NFL career, but he didn’t find any takers so he signed a 1-year contract with the Chiefs. He played in 15 games last season for the Chiefs and he caught 41 passes for 561 yards (13.7 avg) with 1 TD catch. Parker also carried the football 3 times for 7 yards (2.3 ypc). Look for the Chiefs to draft a wide receiver or two in this year’s NFL Draft to compete with Parker for the starting job opposite Eddie Kennison.
The Chiefs have traded one of the most exciting players in team history for a 5th round pick. What an awful move. Hall played in 15 games last season and he caught 26 passes for 204 yards (7.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he carried the ball 3 times for 11 yards (3.7 ypc). But Hall made the big bucks for his kick return ability. He returned 53 kickoffs last season for 1,207 yards (22.8 avg) and he returned 27 punts for 240 yards (8.9 avg) with 1 TD return. 2006 wasn’t Hall’s best season in his NFL career, but he still has some tread on the tires. In his 7 year career with the Chiefs, Hall played in 97 games and he caught 145 passes for 1,615 yards (11.1 avg) with 9 TD grabs. He also has carried the football 47 times for 215 yards (4.6 ypc). Hall was a standout kick returner for the Chiefs. Over his career, Hall has returned 360 kickoffs for 8,644 yards (24.0 avg) with 6 TD returns. He also has returned 188 punts for 1,882 yards (10.0 avg) with 5 TD returns. Dante Hall is gone but he will never be forgotten. I hope the Chiefs get something of value in the 5th round for Hall.
The Chiefs have released CB William Bartee. Bartee missed all of last season due to injury. Bartee played 7 years for the Kansas City Chiefs which covered 87 games. In those 87 games, Bartee made 234 tackles, had 3.5 sacks, defensed 21 passes, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.
The Chiefs have given Rich Scanlon a 1 year-contract. He played in 9 games last season and made 9 tackles. In his 3-year career for the Chiefs he’s played in 31 games and has made 38 tackles. He provides depth at linebacker and he’s a decent special teams player.
The Chiefs have re-signed DT James Reed and CB Benny Sapp. Reed played in 15 games for the Chiefs last season and he made 37 tackles, had a sack and defensed 2 passes. Sapp played in 11 games and made 17 tackles. Both of these guys were decent players and they both deserved the new contracts that they got from the Chiefs.Â
The Chiefs knew this was coming soon as Shields has played a long, long time. The player that will miss him the most is Larry Johnson as Shields was an outstanding run blocker. He played 14 years for the Chiefs and had a streak of appearing in 12 straight Pro Bowls. Shields played in 224 games (223 starts) in his career and he recovered 9 fumbles, which shows that he was always focused on the game. The Chiefs will miss Shields both on the field and in the locker room.
I have conducted a complete 7 round draft for every team in the NFL. If you want to see what I have projected for any other team in the NFL, click on the team name in the right hand margin and go to the team’s Draft Report page if you don’t see the article on the front page of the site. This was a lot of work so I hope you enjoy it.
The Chiefs have specific areas of need and look for them to draft players at those positions as long as they don’t have to reach too far when their turn to pick comes up. With that in mind, here is who I think the Chiefs will draft:
1. (23)Â Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee
2. (54)Â Sydney Rice, WR, South Carolina
3. (84)Â Marshal Yanda, OG, Iowa
5. (160)Â Justin Warren, MLB, Texas A&M
6. (196)Â Stephon Heyer, OT, Maryland
7. (231)Â Marvin Mitchell, MLB, Tennessee
Harrell will be a starter from Day #1 and will give the Chiefs another solid D-Lineman to play with Tamba Hali. If the Chiefs get both Rice and Yanda too, it’s quite possible that Herman Edwards will be doing cartwheels in the Chiefs’ War Room!
The Chiefs have re-signed kicker Lawrence Tynes to a 1-year contract. Tynes did a decent job during the season as he hit 24 of 31 (77.4%) of his field goals and hit 35 of 36 extra points. He did miss a really, really short field goal in the playoff game with the Indianapolis Colts but that didn’t really have an effect on the outcome of the game.