Kansas City Chiefs' Draft Grade: A+ on Leadership

Can anyone measure integrity and leadership with a numerical grade? How about a letter grade? The answer is probably not, but Scott Pioli takes this attribute very seriously.

We all know just how important leadership ability is when it comes to Pioli's criteria for drafting or signing a player.

In a post-draft interview, a reporter brought up the subject because almost all the players he drafted were captains of their respective college teams.

On a hunch, I did a little research on my own, covering every draft pick in the entire NFL draft just to see what percentage of drafted players fit this criteria. Here are my findings.

Percentage of 2010 Drafted Players Who Were Captains For Their College Teams

• Kansas City: 86 percent
  
• Atlanta: 57 percent
  
• Denver: 55 percent
  
• NY Jets: 50 percent
  
• San Francisco: 50 percent
• Buffalo: 44 percent
• Philadelphia: 42 percent
• Pittsburgh: 40 percent
• Indianapolis: 37 percent
• Houston: 33 percent
• Oakland: 33 percent
• San Diego: 33 percent
• Carolina: 30 percent
• Green Bay: 29 percent
• Arizona: 29 percent
• Cleveland: 25 percent
• Seattle: 23 percent
• Tampa Bay: 22 percent
• Tennessee: 22 percent
• Jacksonville: 17 percent
• New England: 17 percent
• Washington: 17 percent
• Detroit: 17 percent
• New Orleans: 17 percent
• Dallas: 16 percent
• NY Giants: 14 percent
• Miami: 13 percent
• Cincinnati: 11 percent
• Chicago: 0 percent
• Minnesota:0 percent

Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't high character players that are not team captains, but usually these are the players whose teammates voted based on their respect and leadership skills.

It is a surprise to see Kansas City use this criteria as if it is more important than any other characteristic. Pioli drafted that way in New England, so I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Kansas City's first six picks this year were all captains, and many of them come from good schools.

Interesting. You can judge for yourself