Kansas City Chiefs: Can Martin Rucker Make an Impact for KC's Offense in 2012?

Earlier this week, the Chiefs inked former Missouri tight end Martin Rucker to a contract.

Rucker attended Benton High in nearby St. Joseph, Missouri, and later went on to star at the University of Missouri.

At Missouri, Rucker earned first time All-American honors in his senior season while catching 200 passes for nearly 2,200 yards and 18 touchdowns for the Tigers.

When the Browns took him in the fourth round of the '08 NFL Draft, many thought that he would go on to achieve greater success at the next level.

Unfortunately, that has yet to happen for Rucker.

After signing with the Chiefs on Wednesday, he has now been a member of five teams in four-plus seasons in the league.

This is not exactly what Rucker was hoping for when he burst onto the NFL scene over four years ago.

It's also somewhat surprising when you consider how much of an accomplished pass-catcher that he was in his college days.

However, it appears that his lack of blocking experience in Missouri's spread offense has given him all kinds of problems at the pro level.

Could he possibly revive his career in Kansas City?

There's always that chance, but first Rucker will have to make KC's roster out of training camp, which could mean that he would have to beat out Dallas Clark for the third tight end spot, assuming that the Chiefs sign him at some point this offseason.

If Clark doesn't sign with KC, then Rucker's chances to make this roster and potentially see the field will significantly go up, especially with two injury-prone TEs playing in front of him on the depth chart.

With that being said, don't expect Rucker to come in and become a big-time receiving threat for this offense right away.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this local product does with his home-state Chiefs this year.