The Answer (Maybe)

The search is on for the new Chief's QB, and a new front-runner just emerged. Andy Reid is dancing a rather awkward dance with the front office in Philadelphia at this moment. Maybe it's less of a waltz and more of a slow-paced boxing match at this point, with Andy waiting to counter after Philadelphia's latest moves. As the hearsay spread that Reid and Co. weren't interested in acquiring Michael Vick, the Eagles resigned him to a one-year extension for $7 million.

It seems like Vick was waiting for an invite from Reid, and he never got one.

News broke earlier this week that Reid and the Chiefs have interest in Eagles QB Nick Foles. This would be the first proverbial counter-punch that Reid threw in response to Philly re-signing Vick and also hiring QB Dennis Dixon to compete with him (and Foles, so they say) for the starting job. Andy was responsible for Foles' hiring in the previous draft, where he picked him in the 3^rd round and saw enough potential in Nick to start him in 6 games. In those six games, Foles completed more than 60% of his 265 pass attempts and recorded a TD/INT ratio of 6/5. After Vick posted a positive ratio for touchdowns and picks 4 out of his 10 games and completed below 58.1% of his passes, many Eagles fans were left hoping for Foles to return as their starter. Even now, that may happen.

The Eagles front office is simultaneously telling the press that they aren't considering trading Foles AND letting the league know it would take at least a 1^st or 2^nd round pick to pique their interest. Whenever you hear business talk like that, chances are the two parties are about to, you know, do business together. So, don't let the lofty valuations or bargaining jargon fool you- Foles is on the market, and the Chiefs want him. This is all part of the dance/fist-fight that will quite possibly end with Foles starting his next season in red.

The question now isn't whether Foles is available- it's whether he can be had for a reasonable exchange. The Eagles are reading off page one of the Haggling for Dummies handbook and setting the bar high as their first step of negotiations. There's been no word from either side, at least not publicly, about what else Philly would take in exchange for their possible 3rd-string QB. All the faith is with Reid here, both from the fans and, presumably, from the front office in KC. He knows Foles, so his valuation of him in the current market will determine what happens next. If he can convince Philly to part with their third-string QB for a reasonable price, Foles becomes the answer to the Chiefs' most important question. If the Eagles can't make it worth it for Reid and Kansas City, we'll go right back to the drawing board to further analyze all the Smiths and Flynns and Barkleys out there.

Reid will hopefully never reach the Big Brother levels of secrecy that Pioli has in years past. Every team, however, (or more to my point, every business) keeps certain things under wraps and out of the public eye for good reasons. Things have been quiet since Saturday. Too quiet. Just the fact that Reid's interest in Foles went public seems a telling sign of at least partial commitment to that plan. I have a feeling that Foles will be here in KC next year- whether or not he will start is an entirely different debate.

So, what do you think? What would you offer to Philly in return for Foles? Do you think Foles is the real answer at franchise QB? Do you think I'm moronic for one reason or another? Let me know in the comments section. You can be as honest and mean as you want, guys, it's the internet.

Meet the Gang, Part 6- Two Andys and a Chung

The season is officially over. Every NFL fan that wasn't rooting for the Ravens turns their focus back to their own team today, and wonders what could bring them to the next Big Game. Chiefs fans, however, are already accustomed to spending their days waiting and debating over major moves for their franchise. The upcoming weeks and months will be heavy with anticipation. All the stats and breakdowns and in-depth analysis in the world can never truly show fans what the Chiefs will be in 2013. There is plenty of content to analyze, plenty of moves to critique, but nothing will be known until Week 1 of the 2013 season. I wish I didn't use that line about holding your breath already. Is it too early to recycle that one?

In case you weren't paying attention, the Chiefs cleared house and rebuilt a coaching staff in a matter of weeks, with most of the moves coming before the legendary Har-Bowl. Let's look at the current staff in Philly for the sake of comparison:

On the team's website, the Eagles list Chip Kelly as their head coach, former Eagle Duce Staley as a special teams quality control coach, Ted Williams as the running backs coach and Keith Gray as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. That's it. The Eagles have so-far made moves to hire a head coach, a running backs coach and two other assistants. In that time, KC added 19 new members to the coaching staff and retained veteran coaches Emmitt Thomas and Gary Gibbs. It took the Chiefs four days to hire Andy Reid after Philadelphia let him loose. It took the eagles twelve days to find another head coach. After hiring Reid on the 7^th of January, the Chiefs took only four days to announce the hiring of a new offensive and defensive coordinator. The Eagles have yet to fill either position. Just seven days after choosing their new head coach, the Chiefs' staff listed a new GM, all new coordinators and a nearly full roster of freshly-hired assistants. Essentially, Kansas City rebuilt their program in a week. The process isn't completely over, but the bulk of the work was done before they crowned a champion in New Orleans.

The way Mr. Hunt dove into the market reveals a courage and wisdom for which Chiefs fans in the past gave him little credit. The work isn't over, but a positive impression has been made.

The exciting, confettiful ending to the Super Bowl marks a huge moment for Chiefs fans. At this very second, a Chiefs employee is on the phone with someone, somewhere, trying to bring Alex Smith to Kansas City. The fight is on between KC, Cleveland and other NFL bottom-feeders to find their new franchise QB. But, regardless of whether Smith starts for the Chiefs next year or not, the franchise knows it needs improved protection for the QB. The offensive line is loaded (with or without franchise-tagging Brandon Albert) with talent and youth, much like the rest of the team. All KC should need is a talented, young coach to mentor them, right? Let's hope so.

Andy Heck- this Fargo native offers 20 combined seasons of NFL O-Line experience- 11 years as a player for the Redskins, Seahawks and Bears, and 9 from a long tenure as the offensive line coach in Jacksonville. There, Andy did what the rest of the Jaguars did- he wallowed in mediocrity for most of a decade. The numbers aren't impressive. The Chiefs allowed 8 more sacks than the Jaguars did last year, but only Indianapolis allowed more hits on their QB. According to Advanced NFL Stats, the Jags' offensive line earned a lower overall ranking than the Chiefs' line for the last five years.

The stat's don't signify much of an improvement from this hire, but Heck's never coached an offensive line like the one taking the field for KC next year. Andy Reid shows a lot of faith here by hiring him from an almost-always-crappy franchise and giving him a chance to play a huge role in a totally rebuilt offense. While the two Andys prepare this offense for 2013, Chiefs fans and employees alike will simply have to trust the 'Stache with this odd decision. Maybe Reid just thinks he fits perfectly with the new assistant offensive line coach. Which is a totally smooth segue that brings me to...

Eugene Chung- here, we have another example of Andy Reid sticking with what's comfortable. New England drafted Chung 13^th overall in the '93 draft, and after three years with the Pats, Eugene played a season each with Jacksonville and Indy. From there, Chung went on to coach under Reid for three years as an offensive line assistant.

The Chiefs roster includes Pro Bowl tackles Eric Winston and Brandon Albert, as well as Jon Asamoah, Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson- three raw, athletic, young linemen drafted no later than the 3^rd round. Those draft picks need to make a difference out on the field, and they need to do it this year. Chiefs fans should all be hoping beyond hope that these two coaches realize just how important their roles will be to the team's chances. It doesn't matter if we pick up Alex Smith or Colin Kaepernick or Tom Brady- if we can't keep our new quarterback safe in the pocket, this team will continue to fail.

Is Alex Smith Coming To KC?

The new coach introductions go on the back burner for the moment, in lieu of exciting potential news. According to Eric Branch of the Niner Insider Blog, Andy Reid wants Alex Smith. Branch quotes Trent Dilfer, who has strong ties with former teammate Alex Smith, in saying that Reid "really likes Alex." He's shown it before in 2011, when he expressed interested in grabbing Smith during free agency. Dilfer also confirms a "courtship" between the two in prior years, and goes on to explain the adaptable and ready-to-learn nature of Andy Reid.

"I think Andy wants to change a little bit offensively," Dilfer says.

This comes in stark contrast to the resounding wave of complaints from Eagles Nation (Eagles Kingdom? Eagleville? Yeah I don't care.) Many fans in Philly stormed the message boards and the radio talk-shows to shout "Good riddance" when Andy left town. Eagles fans with this opinion claim Reid was stubborn and unchanging. He did coach a talented team to a terrible, underwhelming season, after all. The reasons for anger seem logical. However, if anyone knows exactly how fan anger can cloud one's opinion to the point of illogicality, it's a Chiefs fan. Are my presumptions about Andy unfounded? Could he seamlessly alter his style to cater to this team's unique skill-set? Since it may be the difference between rooting for playoff seeds and rooting for draft picks, I certainly hope so.

Unless San Francisco wants to pay $7.5 million to their back-up who respectfully and justifiably wants to play elsewhere, Smith will be on a different roster by April 1st. Knowing this league, it won't be long after the Big Game until Alex finds himself holding a new uniform while the press takes photos. The Chiefs haven't missed a beat so far. This is the piece that brings it all together. This is the moment that solidifies the future. Pray for me and my blood pressure.

Dorsey and The Domino Effect

 So, another piece of the puzzle falls into place. This Monday, John Dorsey signed on to fill the confusing co-general manager position here in KC. The signing ends a long stint with the Packers, where Dorsey spent 12 years as Director of College Scouting, then earned a position as Director of Football Operations just last year. Dorsey will report only to Hunt, but for the first time in franchise history, the head coach will also report directly to the team owner. Clark explained to the press that Dorsey will have control of personnel decisions, while Andy has full control over the team on the field.

This move reunites Dorsey and Reid after they worked together in Green Bay from '92 to '97. The Packers averaged nearly 11 wins per season over that time, and never ranked lower than 6^th league-wide in total points scored. Their final three seasons together include a Super Bowl win, a Super Bowl loss, 7 playoff wins and 37 regular season wins. Those years brought some legendary moments, with Elway and Favre simultaneously playing their best football. But, as much as I love thinking back to those times, the nostalgia brings with it more proof of a very important point.

Andy Reid has a strong resume and loads of success in the NFL. That much is clear. But, his presumed expertise is the ability to engineer a pass-happy, top-shelf offense. He is generally well-respected in the league, and his reputation is strong enough to improve the resume of others around him. The NFL had enough faith in Andy to offer head coaching jobs to five coaches he hired previously. But forget about all that respect and reputation nonsense, and look at the numbers. Andy Reid is a successful coach, but he has never succeeded without an elite quarterback. In the four seasons of coaching without McNabb or Favre starting at QB, teams led by Reid average 6.75 wins in the regular season. In those four years, Andy Reid has exactly zero playoff victories.

So what does that mean? Are we screwed? Are we really back to a situation where indecision at the quarterback spot is this team's biggest flaw? Oh god, what if we sign Michael Vick? The realization of Reid's limitations brings up plenty of unnerving questions. Sadly, many of them will go unanswered until this year's draft, unless a bold move is made in the free agency market before then. But either way, I'm either gullible or wise enough to believe it will work. Even though looking at the options we have for improving at QB makes me weep softly, I think this duo will make the team a winner. There are just too many pieces, too many uber-talented skill players on the offense for Dorsey and Reid not to make something good out of it. John Dorsey earned this job by providing vital insight for the draft. His impressive list of draft choices include Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, BJ Raji, Jermichael Finley, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and AJ Hawk. Reid has utilized players similar to Jamaal and Bowe and Moeaki well enough to make them all Pro Bowlers. It sounds crazy, but if you take the misused offensive weapons from last year and supplement them with the first pick in every round of the draft, this team is already a winner on paper.

Obviously, all this hinges on Dorsey and Reid's communal choice of a franchise QB. Considering how quickly Mr. Hunt made his moves for coach and GM, one would assume he'll be prompt in bringing a new QB to Kansas City. The options are plentiful, but nobody stands out as a special franchise quarterback. There will be a lot of rumors and a lot of time to analyze the possibilities, especially if the team waits until this April to draft their next QB. For now, I see one option as being markedly more interesting than any other:

First, wait until the 49ers season is over, and figure out what they're doing with Alex Smith. Then, if and however we can, offer him a contract. After Smith is signed on, spend your second draft pick on Matt Barkley, who many project to fall as far as the third round. Now, you have two competent, highly motivated guys to compete for the starting job. Imagine it: in one corner is Smith, who went to the Pro Bowl this year and was then benched for an unproven young QB. At the season's end, he gets (hypothetically) cut or traded or whatever, then he ends up in Kansas City fighting against another young unproven QB to take back his starer position and avoid holding the clipboard yet again. Then, in the other corner, there's Matt Barkley. Will he finally be the USC quarterback that lives up to expectations? Will he live the rest of his life regretting coming back to college for his senior year? With all those questions weighing on him, Barkley has all the reasons in the world to succeed.

With this option, we have a Pro Bowl QB fighting for his pride against an elite college prospect with everything to prove. Sounds better than Tebow to me. At this point, I'd be happy knowing that only one of those guys will be given a chance at the starting spot next season. Are we really so down on Barkley that we'd rather see Cassel or Quinn? Again? Seriously? There's no way that can happen. So, as we keep this pie-in-the-sky idea in mind, we can only kick back and wait for the rumors to spread. We'll hear a lot of names in the next few weeks, from Matt Flynn to Geno Smith to Jason Campbell to Mike Glennon. But, amidst the plethora of options, Smith and Barkley's battle for respect still stands out as the most intriguing possibility.