ChiefsCountry.com

Free Agent Review #2 … Friday Cup O’Chiefs
January 22, 2010 - Bob Gretz

Piecing together the roster of a professional football team is like a game of stacking dominoes. If one falls, it creates a chain reaction. Fail on a significant draft choice and the rest of the roster feels the failure.

A team signs a free agent with hopes they can contribute at a specific position, and when it doesn’t happen, they must react.

This is especially true on bad football teams. When the talent level is so low, there’s no reason to keep the stability of the roster. Signing players off the street, or claiming players on the waiver wire, or making quiet trades are all tools a team’s personnel decision makers use to raise the talent tide.

As we examined on Thursday, the Chiefs performance in bringing in players with NFL experience before the start of training camp was not very successful. On average, the players and their contributions graded out to a D-minus grade.

The success rate was not much better after the start of training camp in River Falls, Wisconsin. And, part of that was the domino effect from pre-camp failure.

For example, take the wide receiver position highlighted by veteran Chris Chambers (left). The new Arrowhead regime knew that was a weak spot on the club’s roster after the ‘08 season. A number of wide receivers were signed: Terrance Copper, Bobby Engram, C.J. Jones and Rodney Wright. By the end of the ‘09 regular season, only Copper remained and he was largely a special teams performer.
So from the start of camp, wide receivers paraded through the roster – Amani Toomer, Ashley Lelie, Bobby Wade, Lance Long and Chambers, who was the only one that made a real impact on the offense.

Thus, the dominos remain out of kilter a year later at the wide receiver position.

Here are the additions made to the roster with players that had previous NFL experience:

LB VINCE REDD – Claimed off waivers on August 4 after he was released by the Patriots, Redd showed up in Wisconsin and showed he looked like an NFL linebacker. He just didn’t practice or play like one. He was waived on August 24. GRADE: F.

QB MATT GUTIERREZ – Claimed off waivers from the Patriots on August 6, Gutierrez was hardly impressive in the pre-season and played just one game in the regular season. GRADE: Incomplete.

WR AMANI TOOMER – The veteran free agent was signed on August 6 and then released o n September 1. Toomer was very unimpressive as his skills had obviously eroded. Grade: F.

WR ASHLEY LELIE – He was signed on August 17 and released on September 5. At times it looked like he might be a good addition, but there was no consistency in his performances. Grade: F.

G/T IKECHUKU NDUKWE – Acquired in a trade with Miami on August 24, Ndukwe was immediately thrown into the problem spot at right tackle. He started the first three games of the season and was then sent to the bench. Ndukwe ended up playing in 12 games. He had a chance to make the position his and he failed. Grade: F.
G ANDY ALLEMAN – Picked up in the trade with Miami on Aug. 24, Alleman played in nine games with three starts at right guard. There was nothing impressive about his play. Grade: D.

RT RYAN O’CALLAGHAN – Claimed off the waiver wire from the Patriots on September 6. He ended up playing in 14 games and made 12 starts at right tackle. He allowed four sacks. Grade: D.

WR BOBBY WADE (right) – He was signed on September 15 and ended up playing in 13 games with seven starts. Wade caught 36 passes for 367 yards and two TDs. He had 21 punt returns for an average of 7.6 yards. Wade was among the team and league leaders in dropped passes. Grade: D.

WR LANCE LONG – After being released by Arizona just days after the ‘09 season opener, he was signed on September 16 to the practice squad and then added to the active roster on October 25. Long played in eight games, with one start. He caught 20 passes for 178 yards and he had six kick returns for an average of 17.7 yards. Grade: F.

TE LEONARD POPE – He signed on September 29 and it took only a few weeks for him to establish himself as the starter at TE. In 13 games, he had eight starts and caught 20 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. Grade: D.

ILB DAVID HERRON – Signed on September 30, Herron played in 10 games, all on special teams where he did register 11 tackles. Grade: C.

CB MIKE RICHARDSON – He was also added on September 30 and played in 11 games with one start. He also got the chance to play in the nickel back role, although he couldn’t hold onto the spot. He did have 12 tackles in the kicking game. Grade: C.

DT KENNY SMITH – After being off the football field for several years, Smith was signed on October 21 and was released on December 8. He was credited with two tackles in limited playing time. Grade: F.

WR CHRIS CHAMBERS – Claimed off the waiver wire from San Diego on November 3, Chambers was an immediate upgrade at the position. In the second half of the schedule, he became the most productive receiver, catching 36 passes for 608 yards and four touchdowns. Grade: B.

ILB JUSTIN ROGERS – He was a yo-yo on and off the roster. He was signed first October 14, and then released three days later. He was re-signed November 11, played in one game and then was sent to the injured-reserve list on December 26. He was credited with one special teams tackle. Grade: Incomplete.

FB TIM CASTILLE (left) – On the street after being released by the Cardinals back in early September, Castille signed with the Chiefs on November 17. Appearing in seven games, he carried the ball 14 times for 55 yards and caught four passes for 37 yards and a TD. He also threw an interception and had five tackles in the kicking game. Grade: C.

S RESHARD LANGFORD – Signed on Christmas Day, he did not see the field in the final two games. Grade: Incomplete.

They only one that schould even make a grade is chambers.
Like noted before, pioli really didnt fill any holes.

I'm already looking forward to next season in hopes of seeing much improvement; I hope we have a good draft and get some good FA acquisitions. They really, really need to come to terms with the CBA.

I also hope the come up with a new CBA. Withoput one, the nfl willbe another baseball league. Both the players and owners are just as greeded as the other.
The biggest thing i hope for is a rookie cap.

...THIS!

The fact that there is no Rookie cap is a big part of the problem with the NFL IMO! It's getting increasingly more difficult to get these guys signed so we can get them into camp.

Until they prove themselfs in the nfl they shouldn`t get what vets make. Maybe a bonus, say one for 1st year and one for second year.

I agree; just like any other job out there.