Hoping For Hope From Hopefuls

This January, the Chiefs signed two offensive linemen, a veteran defensive tackle and a young wide receiver to the 2013 roster. This comes as the first wave of player acquisitions since the induction of the Reid-Dorsey regime. Though I was chomping at the bit to analyze these guys when I saw that we had already hired four free agents, there sadly isn't much here to analyze. My excitement seems to have gotten the best of me. Of the four newly-signed Chiefs, three of them have a combined one game of NFL experience, and exactly zero starts. Only one of the four was drafted- offensive lineman Ryan Durand- and he was a 7^th round pick.

Maybe “boatload of talent” was overstating things a bit.

Although improvement at all these positions is necessary to success, these probably aren't the long-term solutions Kansas City needs. But hey, what do I know? The Chiefs have significantly improved their ability to scout for talent with all the previously detailed coaching hires. Obviously they know more than I do, but right now no one can know whether they hired these players for depth or for serious consideration for a role as a starter.

So, let's see the situation for what it gives to us- another opportunity for hope. These guys aren't rejects or burnouts or busts. They're all just untested youngsters, and they've all caught the eye of somebody in the Chiefs front office. John Dorsey alone brings a dozen years of analyzing the skills of young players. Mark DeLeone, Dave Toub and other assistants plan to- or at least hope to- contribute their opinions to the process of finding talent, as well. By upgrading the Chiefs front office, Clark Hunt leaves fans without a reason to doubt that we've hired players with potential to make an impact.

So, let's meet some of the guys who will make the preseason (relatively) interesting.

Let's start with the obvious outlier in this list of otherwise young, unproven players. Daniel Muir played four seasons with the Colts and one each with Green Bay and the Jets before signing with the Chiefs. Muir got the bulk of his experience with Indy in '09 and '10, when he played in a combined 30 games and started in 24. Dan also brings valuable playoff experience to KC. With the Colts, he started in four postseason games and recorded 11 tackles.

Of all the new members to sign with the Chiefs, Muir probably has the best chance to get consistent playing time. The Chiefs list only two other defensive tackles and two nose tackles on the roster. Anthony Toribio is an unimpressive DT with zero career starts and seven tackles in 15 games. The only other defensive tackle on the team is Shaun Smith, a soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. If you ask me, Smith was great on special teams and provided a spark every time he was plugged into the defense. Clark is showing an openness to spend, but it's easy to envision him putting his money elsewhere to improve the team through free agency (Alex Smith, anyone?) Maybe a defensive line that includes Muir can be effective, but a line that includes Poe, Muir and Toribio looks like the worst in the league on paper. So essentially, Muir>Toribio, but Muir<The Average Starting DT, so the work at this position is far from over.

Speaking of positions with serious need for an upgrade, let's talk about the holes on offense. Dwayne Bowe's future in red and gold is undoubtedly in question, and the rest of the receiving core under-performed through the whole season. Tyler Shoemaker won't fix all the Chief's problems in the passing game, but he'll get a chance to help. Shoemaker is a wide-out from Boise State that was signed by the Bucs after going undrafted in 2012. Before training camp began in Tampa, Tyler was released. That leaves us knowing nothing about this guy beyond his college career. He was the best receiver on his team for a Division I competitor, but wasn't able to impress any team enough to get drafted. Did someone in KC see a spark of greatness in this unknown, undrafted receiver? Was there something important these talented scouts noticed that others couldn't see? I guess that's for them to know and us to find out in fall.

Steven Baker and Ryan Durand play a very different position but come to town with very similar question marks surrounding them. Durand was drafted 239^th overall in 2009 and spent the year with the Titans practice squad. He joined the active roster in 2010, but only played a handful of downs in a single game. The next year, Ryan returned to the practice squad. In 2012, he spent a single week on the Dolphins roster before being released. As you can tell, his resume conjures little confidence.

Baker's history is equally uninspiring. He joined the league with the Colts in 2012, but was released on August 31^st. He spent the rest of the year on the Cardinals practice squad. So if you do the math, that's two guys that yielded zero playing time with four teams. That's four groups of talent scouts that passed on these guys. Like I said- not too inspiring.

Just remember, though, how harshly Scott Pioli was ridiculed and lambasted for not providing depth at the offensive line positions. Remember the injuries that left the Chiefs scrambling just to find 11 guys to run onto the field. Remember the fumbles caused by a guard playing at center for the first time in his eight-year-long career. Remember all that, and appreciate what the Chiefs are trying to do here. Depth isn't a sexy thing to talk about as a fan, but it's crucial to building a perennially successful franchise. Without depth, we'd have a bunch of Sabby Piscitelli's out there every Sunday. I shudder at the thought.