ChiefsCountry.com

Free Agent Review … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs
January 21, 2010 - Bob Gretz

The Chiefs football brain trust has spent the week in Orlando watching practices at the East-West Shrine Game. It’s just another step in the personnel process, along with next week’s Senior Bowl, the NFL Scouting Combine at the end of February and other events leading up to April’s NFL Draft.

That’s just on the college side. On the pro side, the evaluations go non-stop all year for players from the start of training camp through the Super Bowl. Last year, the Chiefs acquired 16 players with experience of some kind in the NFL before they went to training camp.

There were players in that group the Chiefs were counting on to contribute in the 2009 season. And some did, like OLB Mike Vrabel (right). But overall the ‘09 group of players with NFL experience that were signed by GM Scott Pioli were a disappointment and factored into the team’s bad 4-12 record.

Here’s a look and grade on each of the veteran free agents or first-year players signed by the Chiefs before the start of training camp in the ‘09 season:
LB MONTY BEISEL – Former Chiefs draft choice returned to KC after playing for the Cardinals in ‘08. Along the way, he did not see eye-to-eye with defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and Haley had to step into an argument between the two on the practice field. From that point on, Beisel seemed to be a man on the outside looking in. He chalked up two defensive tackles and one in the kicking game, while playing in three games before he was released on September 29th. Beisel finished up the season playing back with Arizona. GRADE: D.

QB MATT CASSEL (left) – Came to the Chiefs in a trade with New England in late February and was installed as the starting quarterback. Cassel had an up and down season, but had little help from the rest of the offense, save RB Jamaal Charles. A completion percentage of 55 percent, an average of 5.93 yards per pass, 16 INTs and a 69.9 passer rating were among the worst statistics in the pool of NFL starting quarterbacks. GRADE: C

WR TERRANCE COPPER – Signed for his special teams work, Copper played in all 16 games and made only a limited contribution to the offense with four catches for 68 yards. His 50-yard play in Denver that opened the Chiefs first possession was one of the better and longer passing plays of the season. Copper was second on the team in special teams tackles with 16, finishing just one behind team leader, rookie LB Jovan Belcher. GRADE: B

TE TONY CURTIS – Signed just after Tony Gonzalez was traded, Curtis made it to Wisconsin for training camp, but was released within the first week. GRADE: F.

CB TRAVIS DANIELS – One of the first UFAs signed during the off-season, Daniels was released on the final cut of the pre-season. He rejoined the team in early November and ended up playing in the last nine games of the season. Daniels was credited with 16 tackles on defense and seven in the kicking game. GRADE: D.

WR BOBBY ENGRAM – The veteran played in just five games and ended up catching five passes for 61 yards in limited playing time before he was released on November 7th. GRADE: F.

C/G ERIC GHIACUIC – Another early UFA signee from the Bengals, Ghiacuic never saw the regular season with the Chiefs. He finished the season with San Diego. GRADE: F.

G MIKE GOFF – A UFA signee, Goff was moved right into the starting lineup at RG and he had nearly perfect attendance in the off-season program. But in eight games on the right side, Goff struggled. He allowed 3.5 sacks during those games. GRADE: F.

WR C.J. JONES – Coming out of the Patriots organization, Jones never even saw training camp and was waived on June 19th. GRADE: F.
ILB COREY MAYS (right) – Signed for his work on special teams with the Bengals, the Chiefs got more out of Mays than they would ever have imagined. He ended up earning the starting job inside next to Demorrio Williams and had 100 tackles on defense and just three in the kicking game. GRADE: C.

LB DARRELL ROBERTSON – Another former Patriots defender, Robertson was released on June 19th. GRADE: F.

TE SEAN RYAN – He opened the season as the starter at tight end. Ryan started eight games and played in 10 games overall. Once he was replaced in the starting lineup, Ryan couldn’t get back on the field. He ended up catching 14 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. GRADE: D.

ILB ZACH THOMAS – The veteran linebacker was a constant presence in the off-season and brought necessary leadership skills to the offense. But a training camp injury kept him off the practice field and he was eventually released on September 5th. GRADE: F.

OLB MIKE VRABEL – He was generally viewed as a throw-in with the Patriots trade for Cassel, but Vrabel had a good season. Missing only two games, he had 65 total tackles, two sacks and forced two fumbles. GRADE: B.

WR RODNEY WRIGHT – A refugee from the now closed Arena League, Wright spent a week on the practice squad before he was released for good on September 16th. GRADE: F.

SS MIKE BROWN
(left) – The veteran from the Bears did not sign a contract until June 25th, missing the entire off-season program. But in training camp, Brown ended up grabbing hold of a starting spot on the back line of the defense. He was active, with 99 total tackles, two sacks and three interceptions. GRADE: C.

In summation, that was 16 signees with an average grade of D-minus. There were no grades of A given, and only two Bs (Copper and Vrabel). Holding a mark of C were Cassel, Mays and Brown.

Five of that 16 ended up in the starting lineup: Cassel, Brown, Vrabel, Goff and Mays. Five made some sort of contribution during the year: Beisel, Copper, Daniels, Engram and Ryan. There were six players who did not end up playing for the Chiefs: Curtis, Ghiacuic, Jones, Robertson, Thomas and Wright.

As the Chiefs personnel department begins a second season, they are going to have to show better results in signing players with experience. Improvement in that facet of the personnel puzzle will help produce more victories.
These are players that were signed before the before the season startee.

A GPA of 0.9375

Like stated in an earlier comment about pioli, his first year was NOT impressive.Sure hope he makes up for it his second year.

I'll be happy with steady improvement until we get where we're going; the playoffs. Then I will most definitely be expecting more.

Well maybe he will learn to motivate his team for opening day this year-lol

That would be good!