Wednesday, February 16, 2005
MLBs- KC, We've Got a Problem
This is Day 4 of our positional analysis. Today we will be discussing middle linebackers. Tomorrow, we will discuss cornerbacks.
Big Bro: I think this is the 2nd most important position the Chiefs need to address (1st being CB). In my opinion, Kawika Mitchell has been a disaster as a starter. He's constantly out of position. He's not as good a cover guy as he should be. He's been a remarkably poor tackler, particularly in the open field. There is no doubt he has the physical tools to succeed, but, for lack of a better phrase, he plays dumb. The Chiefs simply cannot afford to go into camp with Kawika Mitchell as the starting MLB. He just hasn't proven that he can do it on a game-to-game basis yet.
I'll admit, I'm a Mike Maslowski fan. I think he studied and worked hard to become a starting player in the NFL, and it showed in his intelligent play. Unfortunately, Maz is undersized, he's slow, and he's not terribly strong. What he is, though, is full of heart and brains. Sure, he can get pushed around by blockers, and he would have problems covering good RB receivers, but he at least kept offenses honest by being in the right place. Of course, the problem is that Maz hasn't played in 1.5 years, so depending on him would be problematic.
In my opinion, the Chiefs have to do something. They don't have to get a marquee MLB or draft a MLB in the first or second round. But they do need a dependable MLB. If the Chiefs chose not to spend big bucks on a MLB, that would be fine with me, so long as they spend some kind of bucks on a MLB. I really think that, with a decent MLB, Scott Fujita will be a much better player. And that, in turn, would make our safeties look better.
Little Bro: I would still contend that our OLB's are much more of a concern for us, but I do agree that a MLB upgrade is just as important. I would earmark this position as our #1 need, mostly because the offseason market will be filthy rich with MLB talent. Kendrell Bell and Edge Hartwell highlight this class, or we could go with Rocky Calmus, a restricted free agent and a former Gunther Cunningham LB. If not one of those free agents, then we could get Kirk Morrison late in the draft or reach to get Channing Crowder early.
A MLB is the QB of any defense. Maz may not have been the most talented of LBs, but man could he lead a defense. When he was leading that defense, he was literally grabbing players by their jersey and moving them into a better position to make plays. I don't think it was his ability that led to KC's downfall last year; it was his leadership. If we were to relate defense to offense, a cornerback is like a receiver and a MLB is like a QB. Like a QB, a MLB is the nucleus of the defense. Build around the MLB and every player on defense improves.
However, I don't know how much a MLB would improve our defense. As Donovan McNabb showed, it's great to have a great leader on your offense, but it really pays to improve the players around you--McNabb really came into his own when TO entered the lineup and Westbrook improved. Our OLB's would get better with a better MLB, but not nearly to the level they need to be. I would like to see us get a stud MLB along with lower profile OLB pick-ups. Fujita and Barber still get pushed around far more than any LB should in a Gunther Cunningham defense. With or without a stud MLB, Fujita is still a liability covering tight ends and Barber is still a liability against the run. With or without a stud MLB, our OLB's are still soft and generate no pass rush. I still do believe that with tougher, more aggressive LB's, we wouldn't be so prone to late-game collapse. With or without Mike Maslowski, that has always been our achilles heel. Our players are simply too soft to muscle up the energy to make plays late in games--that has been a characteristic of both the Greg Robinson defense and the new Gunther Cunningham defense. I can't say I can really recall either Barber or Fujita making any big plays late in the game over the past few seasons. More often than not, they look tired and battered, and running backs slip through their late-game tackles as if they had a jersey doused in Crisco.
A stud MLB doesn't patch up the marginal talent on the LB edges. That was a mistake we made last year, when we thought changing the defensive leader (Gunther Cunningham) was going to bring the best out of their players. He will never bring the best out of Fujita or Barber because they are not his type of players, nor should they be. As I have said before, we don't need to go out and get Julian Peterson. We don't necessarily have to trade up to get Derrick Johnson. What we need is two OLBs who aren't afraid to hit, will punish blockers that get in their way, are aggressive as hell, and can actually get to the QB on blitzes. These are the LB's that Gunther Cunningham loves. Fujita and Barber have just never had the aggression that we need out of Gunther Cunningham LB's.
And besides, I'm more comfortable with our MLB talent than I am of our OLB's. Much as I despised Kawika Mitchell early in the year, of any LB I thought he made enormous strides throughout the season, whereas I thought Fujita was equally marginal from start to finish. At times, Kawika looked like an unleashed beast--we could clearly see his potential for growth. I don't know if it's worth giving up on the kid. I don't know if he will ever develop into the leader he would need to be at the position, but he clearly has the athleticism to move sideline-to-sideline. And if Mitchell fails, I don't have a problem with Maz and/or Beisel stepping in as a back-up. Both are solid MLB's. Neither will cover a whole lot of ground, but they're both very good students of the game and they generally do a good job of being at the right place at the right time. Neither would provide the talent, but both would provide the heart and leadership our defense needs. Granted, Beisel was often caught out of position, but given the circumstances in which he was pushed into the position, I can forgive and forget. And the idea of moving Fujita to MLB is certainly intriguing, though I still would contend that Fujita is nothing special. At least his pass coverage becomes less of a liability as a MLB.
Still, MLB is deep with talent in the offseason; OLB is not and I think this should be the first place that they look to upgrade in a big way. Just don't make the mistake of thinking that a good MLB will send a huge ripple effect throughout the LB corps. Upgrade our MLB's first and make damn sure that we don't settle for Barber and Fujita as his supporting cast.
Big Bro: I think this is the 2nd most important position the Chiefs need to address (1st being CB). In my opinion, Kawika Mitchell has been a disaster as a starter. He's constantly out of position. He's not as good a cover guy as he should be. He's been a remarkably poor tackler, particularly in the open field. There is no doubt he has the physical tools to succeed, but, for lack of a better phrase, he plays dumb. The Chiefs simply cannot afford to go into camp with Kawika Mitchell as the starting MLB. He just hasn't proven that he can do it on a game-to-game basis yet.
I'll admit, I'm a Mike Maslowski fan. I think he studied and worked hard to become a starting player in the NFL, and it showed in his intelligent play. Unfortunately, Maz is undersized, he's slow, and he's not terribly strong. What he is, though, is full of heart and brains. Sure, he can get pushed around by blockers, and he would have problems covering good RB receivers, but he at least kept offenses honest by being in the right place. Of course, the problem is that Maz hasn't played in 1.5 years, so depending on him would be problematic.
In my opinion, the Chiefs have to do something. They don't have to get a marquee MLB or draft a MLB in the first or second round. But they do need a dependable MLB. If the Chiefs chose not to spend big bucks on a MLB, that would be fine with me, so long as they spend some kind of bucks on a MLB. I really think that, with a decent MLB, Scott Fujita will be a much better player. And that, in turn, would make our safeties look better.
Little Bro: I would still contend that our OLB's are much more of a concern for us, but I do agree that a MLB upgrade is just as important. I would earmark this position as our #1 need, mostly because the offseason market will be filthy rich with MLB talent. Kendrell Bell and Edge Hartwell highlight this class, or we could go with Rocky Calmus, a restricted free agent and a former Gunther Cunningham LB. If not one of those free agents, then we could get Kirk Morrison late in the draft or reach to get Channing Crowder early.
A MLB is the QB of any defense. Maz may not have been the most talented of LBs, but man could he lead a defense. When he was leading that defense, he was literally grabbing players by their jersey and moving them into a better position to make plays. I don't think it was his ability that led to KC's downfall last year; it was his leadership. If we were to relate defense to offense, a cornerback is like a receiver and a MLB is like a QB. Like a QB, a MLB is the nucleus of the defense. Build around the MLB and every player on defense improves.
However, I don't know how much a MLB would improve our defense. As Donovan McNabb showed, it's great to have a great leader on your offense, but it really pays to improve the players around you--McNabb really came into his own when TO entered the lineup and Westbrook improved. Our OLB's would get better with a better MLB, but not nearly to the level they need to be. I would like to see us get a stud MLB along with lower profile OLB pick-ups. Fujita and Barber still get pushed around far more than any LB should in a Gunther Cunningham defense. With or without a stud MLB, Fujita is still a liability covering tight ends and Barber is still a liability against the run. With or without a stud MLB, our OLB's are still soft and generate no pass rush. I still do believe that with tougher, more aggressive LB's, we wouldn't be so prone to late-game collapse. With or without Mike Maslowski, that has always been our achilles heel. Our players are simply too soft to muscle up the energy to make plays late in games--that has been a characteristic of both the Greg Robinson defense and the new Gunther Cunningham defense. I can't say I can really recall either Barber or Fujita making any big plays late in the game over the past few seasons. More often than not, they look tired and battered, and running backs slip through their late-game tackles as if they had a jersey doused in Crisco.
A stud MLB doesn't patch up the marginal talent on the LB edges. That was a mistake we made last year, when we thought changing the defensive leader (Gunther Cunningham) was going to bring the best out of their players. He will never bring the best out of Fujita or Barber because they are not his type of players, nor should they be. As I have said before, we don't need to go out and get Julian Peterson. We don't necessarily have to trade up to get Derrick Johnson. What we need is two OLBs who aren't afraid to hit, will punish blockers that get in their way, are aggressive as hell, and can actually get to the QB on blitzes. These are the LB's that Gunther Cunningham loves. Fujita and Barber have just never had the aggression that we need out of Gunther Cunningham LB's.
And besides, I'm more comfortable with our MLB talent than I am of our OLB's. Much as I despised Kawika Mitchell early in the year, of any LB I thought he made enormous strides throughout the season, whereas I thought Fujita was equally marginal from start to finish. At times, Kawika looked like an unleashed beast--we could clearly see his potential for growth. I don't know if it's worth giving up on the kid. I don't know if he will ever develop into the leader he would need to be at the position, but he clearly has the athleticism to move sideline-to-sideline. And if Mitchell fails, I don't have a problem with Maz and/or Beisel stepping in as a back-up. Both are solid MLB's. Neither will cover a whole lot of ground, but they're both very good students of the game and they generally do a good job of being at the right place at the right time. Neither would provide the talent, but both would provide the heart and leadership our defense needs. Granted, Beisel was often caught out of position, but given the circumstances in which he was pushed into the position, I can forgive and forget. And the idea of moving Fujita to MLB is certainly intriguing, though I still would contend that Fujita is nothing special. At least his pass coverage becomes less of a liability as a MLB.
Still, MLB is deep with talent in the offseason; OLB is not and I think this should be the first place that they look to upgrade in a big way. Just don't make the mistake of thinking that a good MLB will send a huge ripple effect throughout the LB corps. Upgrade our MLB's first and make damn sure that we don't settle for Barber and Fujita as his supporting cast.
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Hello,
My name is Michael Boyko, I am the football president of the Most Valuable Network (www.mostvaluablenetwork.com) and also write for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and Panthers (www.steelers.mostvaluablenetwork.com, www.pirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com, www.upitt.mostvaluablenetwork.com). We've been looking for a Chiefs writer, and we came across your site (http://kcchiefs.blogspot.com/) I personally think you would be a good fit for MVN, I think you have good quality writing. Would you be interested in joining the Most Valuable Network as a Chiefs writer? If yes or no, please do let me know, also any other questions you might have. A quick rundown of the FAQ:
Do you approve the posts or can I just write? Your site, your blog.
We give writers 100% freedom on what to write.
Can I put my own links or categories?
Yes. You just can't touch the MVN Links or MVN Writers links.
How many times do I have to update?
You must update MINIMUM once a week, but more is always suggested. But at the very least ... once a week
That's basically the FAQ at the moment. You would also receive an MVN e-mail account. Well, thanks for reading. If you could let me know either way what you decide, and definitely don't hesitate to ask questions. You might also want to look this over: http://www.mostvaluablenetwork.com/code_contact.php –
Sincerely,
Michael Boyko
Most Valuable Network, Football President (http://mostvaluablenetwork.com)
Pittsburgh Pirates, Columnist (http://pirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com)
Pittsburgh Steelers, Columnist (http://steelers.mostvaluablenetwork.com)
Pittsburgh Panthers, Columnist (http://upitt.mostvaluablenetwork.com)
MikeyB22@comcast.net
AIM: Mikeman2266
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My name is Michael Boyko, I am the football president of the Most Valuable Network (www.mostvaluablenetwork.com) and also write for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and Panthers (www.steelers.mostvaluablenetwork.com, www.pirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com, www.upitt.mostvaluablenetwork.com). We've been looking for a Chiefs writer, and we came across your site (http://kcchiefs.blogspot.com/) I personally think you would be a good fit for MVN, I think you have good quality writing. Would you be interested in joining the Most Valuable Network as a Chiefs writer? If yes or no, please do let me know, also any other questions you might have. A quick rundown of the FAQ:
Do you approve the posts or can I just write? Your site, your blog.
We give writers 100% freedom on what to write.
Can I put my own links or categories?
Yes. You just can't touch the MVN Links or MVN Writers links.
How many times do I have to update?
You must update MINIMUM once a week, but more is always suggested. But at the very least ... once a week
That's basically the FAQ at the moment. You would also receive an MVN e-mail account. Well, thanks for reading. If you could let me know either way what you decide, and definitely don't hesitate to ask questions. You might also want to look this over: http://www.mostvaluablenetwork.com/code_contact.php –
Sincerely,
Michael Boyko
Most Valuable Network, Football President (http://mostvaluablenetwork.com)
Pittsburgh Pirates, Columnist (http://pirates.mostvaluablenetwork.com)
Pittsburgh Steelers, Columnist (http://steelers.mostvaluablenetwork.com)
Pittsburgh Panthers, Columnist (http://upitt.mostvaluablenetwork.com)
MikeyB22@comcast.net
AIM: Mikeman2266
# posted by 
: February 17, 2005 2:52 PM
: February 17, 2005 2:52 PM
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