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Chiefs look for a draft pick who can make an immediate impact
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star




When it comes to planning for the upcoming draft, the Chiefs can safely cross the draft’s two top prospects off their list. Defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma won’t be available when the Chiefs make their first pick at number five.

After that, they can reasonably hope for just about everyone else. That includes Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry, considered the best safety prospect to come along in the last decade or longer.

“Berry, if he’s there, that would be as good as it gets to get an Eric Berry with the fifth pick,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said. “That would be the best value if he happened to be there. The top two (won’t be available).

“With the way everybody’s throwing the football, you see how important Ed Reed is to the Baltimore Ravens and (Troy) Polamalu to Pittsburgh and (Brian) Dawkins to Philadelphia and of course in Denver now and all of the other safeties in the league that are so critical to the success of the defense.

“(Berry) can do so much for you. Remember, he can play corner. The ball skills are incredible. He didn’t have the interceptions this year because people identified where Berry was and stayed away from that area.”

The Chiefs are used to having a wide selection of players to choose from which to choose. This is the third straight year they’ve had a top-five pick.

The Chiefs would like their top pick to have more instant impact than either of their last two top choices, defensive linemen Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson. Dorsey played better last season than he did as a rookie in 2008 but still has a long way to go before he’s the player the Chiefs expected he would become.

Jackson, a rookie last year, similarly is trying to establish himself.

Berry might have the best chance of giving the Chiefs that instant impact among players they could consider in the first round. Florida’s Joe Haden is considered the top available cornerback but the Chiefs already have Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr.

The Chiefs also don’t have a need for either of the top available quarterbacks, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford or Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, because they’ve committed to Matt Cassel. Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan is a top pass rusher but some scouts question whether he can play outside linebacker in the 3-4 system used by the Chiefs. Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant has the talent the Chiefs lack at wide receiver, but players at his position tend to take at least one season to develop.

The Chiefs have the need for a linebacker like Alabama’s Rolando McClain, who would probably wind up starting for them immediately. But the safest pick could be an offensive tackle, where more prospects tend to develop as expected.

In his latest mock draft, Kiper has the Chiefs selecting Rutgers tackle Anthony Davis. Davis would add to a depleted Kansas City offensive line and allow the Chiefs to move Branden Albert, another underperforming recent first-round pick, to guard or right tackle.

The Chiefs will certainly examine Davis closely at the upcoming scouting combine and campus pro day.

“His workouts should be spectacular with his size,” Kiper said. “He’s around 6-6 and 325 pounds with great feet. He’s very light on his feet. People could argue, ‘That’s a little bit of a reach,’ but it’s really not because some teams really like this kid a lot. Kansas City needs that offensive tackle.

“He’s enormously gifted. He’s a little inconsistent from game to game and series to series sometimes. Big, athletic, great feet. He could be as good as (nine-time Seattle Pro Bowler) Walter Jones. When Walter Jones came out of Florida State, you had a similar evaluation, so Anthony Davis deserves to be up there in the elite.”



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