How Dorsey's Drafting Helped KC to Current Playoff Position

Hank Stram and Andy Reid are the only coaches to ever lead three different Kansas City Chiefs teams to 11-win seasons. Only Stram and Marty Schottenheimer made it happen twice. Andy deserves a lot of love from Chiefs Kingdom, but we must also remember to appreciate the general manager who set up the entire organization for success. John Dorsey spent more than a decade developing his draft-scouting skills in Green Bay, and his expertise in that field has given KC a foundation any team on the planet can admire.

Just look at these insane draft classes:

In 2013, Dorsey drafted Eric Fisher in the first round. Fisher developed into KC's starting left tackle and is now a 2016 Pro Bowl alternate. Most importantly, Dorsey knew to draft a lineman who could fill Branden Albert's shoes once he left after the '13 season. Dorsey then picked Travis Kelce, who somehow fell to the third round. Seems like that worked out okay, too.

The Chiefs had several holes to fill in 2014, but their GM could only help with one of the draft's first 86 picks. Following a year when Justin Houston and Tamba Hali recorded 11 sacks each, Dorsey drafted another edge-rushing linebacker in Dee Ford. After Houston's rehab from knee surgery and the steady decline of a quickly aging Tamba, the emergence of Dee Ford gave KC's defense new life this year. Without him, the Chiefs may still be looking for their next playoff berth.

Even though Dorsey is responsible for drafting Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and the other studs mentioned in these previous paragraphs, KC's 2015 draft class could prove to be his greatest drafting accomplishment yet. KC's GM chose Marcus Peters in the first round. Peters is on par for a Hall of Fame career at this admittedly early stage, and the Chiefs urgently needed secondary help, so that decision deserves an A+.

Dorsey then picked guard Mitch Morse in the second round to shore up KC's flawed offensive unit. Morse has played 100% of the Chiefs' 963 offensive snaps in 2016. According to some awesome statsmanship from the Star's Terez A. Paylor, the combination of Fisher, Morse, Mitchell Schwartz, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Zach Fulton allowed one quarterback hit, four pressures and zero sacks against the league's #1 defense in sacks when the Chiefs beat up the Broncos two weeks ago. That kind of dominance was accomplished against the defending Super Bowl champs that needed a win against an old rival on Christmas night to keep their playoff hopes alive. KC’s offensive line continues to step up when it matters most, and Dorsey’s draft picks are pillars of that part of the team.

Injuries to KC’s defense also highlighted Dorsey’s winning strategy of drafting for depth in 2016. 3^rd-round pick Steven Nelson, 4^th-round pick Ramik Wilson, 5^th-round pick D.J. Alexander and 6^th-round pick Rakeem Nunez-Roches all played a part in the current playoff push when other Chiefs defenders lost time to injury. Alexander also proved to be a special teams prodigy, which made him a Pro Bowl alternate.

Throw in Chris Conley – a vital part of the passing attack moving forward – and we’re talking about at least seven Chiefs drafted just last year who made an impact for the 2016 Chiefs. That’s how Dorsey helped give the Kingdom hope for a Super Bowl.

Doug LaCerte still struggles to remember he has a Twitter account @DLaC67, and he really only uses his Facebook to shill these posts.