BTSC Mock Draft - Pick #5 by Kansas City Chiefs: Jake Long, OT Michigan

The BTSC Mock Draft rolls on with the Chiefs' 5th overal selection made by nerves of steel. Guys, fantastic job rolling these out so quickly while still doing a commendably thorough job with your analysis and writing. I thought we could make it work, but I'm beyond pleasantly surprised thus far. Keep it up! Next up: New York Jets and SteelerMike

The Kansas City Chiefs are in an interesting spot in the BTSC draft in that they have to answer two questions: Is Brodie Croyle the quarterback of our future?  And will we be able to stop Vernon Gholston from getting into his grill the two times a year we face the Raiders?

The immediate needs of the Chiefs following a miserable 2007 and a 2006 that was not as successful as their playoff berth might suggest are: OL, CB, and WR.

I reviewed the recent history of the Chiefs' draft (since 2002) as part of the fact-finding process in my role as GM for a day and here is what I found: This pick is the highest overall pick the Chiefs have had since 2002 when they took Ryan Sims 6th overall. With their first picks since that year (either in the first or second round), they have taken a defensive player 4 times in 6 years (DT, DT, OLB, DE). The knock on them for the longest time during the Dick Vermeil era was their awful defense. Now, with the defense in good shape, they have a realistic expectation that their first round pick will be on offense and can assume a starting role and quite possibly make an immediate impact.  LJ made it after Priest Holmes went down, and Derrick Johnson ('05), Hali ('06), and Bowe ('07) are key cogs in the team now, but they have not taken an OL higher than the 4th round in that time frame.

As GM, here is what concerns me--at the start of the 2007 season, my offensive line was, left to right, MacIntosh, Waters, Wiegmann, Welbourn, and Turley.  That unit played together for just five games then Chris Terry spelled Turley at RT a bit and Switek played at both LT and RT at various times. Entering '08, Wiegmann, Welbourn, and Turley are all gone (60% of the OL).  In fact, I don't think my squad has gotten over the departures of Wille Roaf and Will Shields, who had 22 Pro Bowl starts and made 19 All Pro teams between them. In nine games and six starts, Mr. Croyle was sacked 17 times (that projects to over 30 in a full season). LJ was hurt and there was no one really behind him to take the pressure off of my young QB. That, combined with the fact that Croyle might develop into a solid quarterback and could with time and a running game he might be our guy, I pass on remaking the franchise under the guise of Matt Ryan right now.  

Therefore, through the good fortune of the way the draft picks before me have fallen, with the 5th pick of the 2008 NFL draft the Kansas City Chiefs select:

Larry Johnson, for one, will be pleased if Long
is opening up holes for him in KC

BTSC Mock Draft Team Selections

#1 - Miami Dolphins, Darren Mcfadden
#2 - St. Louis Rams, Chris Long
#3 - Atlanta Falcons, Sedrick Ellis
#4 - Oakland Raiders, Vernon Gholston