Kansas City Holds Key to Draft: Will It Come with Curry?

Draft day is coming up! The simple mystery and elegance of the whole process is astounding. Now, being a Chiefs fan, I really only care how four teams do on Saturday: KC, Denver, Oakland, and San Diego.

Al Davis is gonna draft the fastest player at whatever position he decides he needs.

Check.

San Diego only has one day-one pick, and that will either be an OT or a front seven defender.

Check.

Now what are KC and Denver gonna do? Denver’s pretty much screwed already if they think that Kyle Orton can win.

Check.

That leaves my Chiefs. Here are the four biggest possibilities, in no particular order, for KC’s pick on draft day.

1. Kansas City drafts Aaron Curry

This is the general consensus of what Kansas City will do, but I don’t like it. Sure, Curry is a surefire prospect, but is he can’t-miss? I don’t think so.

First off, he transitions best in the 4-3 defense. He actually fits Detroit’s new defense really well, but the Lions would be stupid for taking an ILB No. 1 overall. Second, his position doesn’t present value.

If KC really wanted a ILB, they could get Holtzclaw, Beckwith, or Ellerbe in round three or four. And third, KC needs more weapons for Tyler Thigpen, I mean Matt Cassel (thanks, Matt, for that one). If KC stands put, this is probably their pick, but I hope not.

Percentage of this happening: 55%.
Rating: 4/10

2. Kansas City drafts Michael Crabtree

This is probably the second-best option. Obviously, the best option would be trading down, but if that doesn’t happen, Crabtree would be an amazing threat across from Dwayne Bowe.

With Gonzo in the middle, LJ and Jaamal Charles in the backfield, and a new winning mentality, even Matt Cassel could lead KC to six wins. Just for the record, I hate the Matt Cassel trade.

We basically traded for a bigger, more emotional Thigpen. I actually liked Thigpen, but if we got another QB, I wanted it to be a gunslinger like Derek Anderson, Matt Stafford, Josh Freeman, or Jay Cutler (although, at the time, I had no idea Cutler was on the block).

Percentage of this happening: 8%
Rating: 7.5/10

3. Kansas City drafts Jason Smith/Eugene Monroe

OK, now this is an interesting thought process. I’m going to use Monroe’s name in this because I believe St. Louis is going to take Jason Smith. If we take Monroe here, then we would move Branden Albert to either LG, RG, or RT. Unless we trade Brian Waters, he won’t be a LG, so that’s out.

So, essentially, we would be picking a RG/RT with the No. 3 pick. However, the argument for it is that we would be upgrading two OL positions with one pick. That being so, Monroe would only be a slight upgrade over Branden Albert, and Albert probably wouldn’t be as effective moving to a new spot a year after starting at LT.

That being said, OL is the most important part of any team, so I couldn’t get too mad if they went this way.

Percentage of this happening: 15%
Rating: 6/10

4. Kansas City trades down with a team that likes Sanchez/Stafford

Obviously, this would be the best idea. Trading down to a team like Denver, NYJ, TB, SF, or WAS would give us extra picks while at the same time saving money on a top-five player.

Denver and Washington are the most likely partners. Both teams are smitten with Sanchez. Washington would have to give up two picks this year and two picks next year to move up.

Denver would only have to give up both its first rounders. If Denver moved up, Kansas City could get two key cogs for their new 3-4 defense.

Just a few possible names: Maybin, Jackson, Maualuga, Raji, Brown. Or we could use a pick on a WR like Maclin. Or an OT like Oher or Beatty. Or package one of those picks and trade down again, maybe if the OTs start coming off the board like last year.

Percentage of this happening: 20%
Rating: 9.5/10

The only other possibilities are not trading down and getting a guy like Raji or Jackson at No. 3, but that’s highly unlikely (add my percents up, subtract from 100, and divide that by two, and that the chances either one of them is the pick). Also, don’t be surprised if we package Tony Gonzalez, Larry Johnson, Brian Waters, Glenn Dorsey, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, and/or Jarrad Page in an effort for more picks.

Team Needs: Everything but QB, RB, and TE.