Kansas City Chiefs Draft: Smoke, Fire and Ryan Tannehill

A time comes in every man's life when he must embrace who he is. For Matt Cassel—and perhaps more importantly, his superiors—that time is now.

Its been three years since Matt Cassel arrived in Kansas City and there's still no consensus on where he stands with the team. As we inch toward the 2012 football season, one thing does seem to be clear—Matt Cassel will remain the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.

This is despite a lot of recent talk about Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill, most of which originated from Adam Teicher's article in the Kansas City Star. Every year in the weeks leading up to the draft, there are always a few carefully-placed rumors linking different players to a franchise. This nonsense regarding Tannehill and the Chiefs is no exception.

For starters, it seems highly unlikely that the former Aggie wide-receiver-turned-quarterback will be available when the Chiefs are on the clock in Round One. Should that prove to be the case, I see no possible scenario in which Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli would part ways with any combination of draft picks in order to move up for Tannehill.

However, herein lies a conundrum for those in charge of this franchise: when do you imagine we'll see another opportunity to select a "top-tier" Quarterback prospect in the draft?

With Matt Cassel leading an extremely talented offense, the Chiefs have very little shot of winning fewer than eight games or so, which would put them right in the middle of the first round almost every year. Let's be honest: after a season in which the team lost its best offensive and defensive players in the first two games, along with their starting quarterback for the final seven games, they're still picking just outside the Top-10.

Believe it or not, this team has a window to try and win the Super Bowl. While it may be bigger than at any time during Dick Vermeil's tenure, there's still an end in sight with aging stars like Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson almost certainly approaching decline.

That being said...by a show of hands, how many of you believe the Chiefs can win a championship with Matt Cassel at the helm of their offense?

(crickets)

As an alternative, there are many fans (including myself) that have a keen eye on 2011 fifth-round pick Ricky Stanzi as the possible successor to Cassel, but its hard to imagine many NFL teams would hold him in higher regard than Tannehill. Then again, we are talking about the Chiefs...a team that seemingly prefers drafting a QB in the late rounds every year rather than sacking up and taking a chance on an elite prospect.

Listen: there's no question that Ryan Tannehill is a significant gamble, especially considering the likelihood Kansas City would have to surrender multiple picks in order to be in position to draft him. In an offseason that head coach Romeo Crennel went on record as saying the team didn't have "any obvious holes" in the roster, why not cash-in on the opportunity to select a quarterback worthy of building around? The longer they wait, the more difficult it will become.

Here's to hoping there may be a little fire amidst all this smoke coming out of Arrowhead.

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