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The Todd Haley era came to quite the end in Kansas City in 2011, and I missed my prediction of him being the first coach fired in the season thanks to the incompetence of Jack Del Rio and the Jaguars.

Damn you Jacksonville.

Then the Chiefs contended under Romeo Crennel and Clark Hunt decided that it would be best to hire him to be the full time coach.

What happens next?  The Chiefs, despite contending until December 24^th for a playoff spot still ended up with the 11^th pick in the draft, and that can be explained one of two ways.

Either 2010 was an aberration or last year was the result of the plethora of injuries and the coaching turmoil, but we can see, through the drafts, that the Chiefs may be building to something better than the 5.4 wins a year they have averaged since the 2007 season.

Let’s see what the 2012 Kansas City Chiefs off season review looks like.

2007 Kansas City Chiefs Draft Results

23 Dwayne Bowe, WR Louisiana St
54 Turk McBride, DE Tennessee
82 Tank Tyler, DT North Carolina St
148 Kolby Smith, Louisville
160 Justin Medlock, K UCLA
196 Herb Taylor, T TCU
231 Michael Allen, TE Whitworth

This was one of those drafts that would define the success of the Chiefs for the next several seasons. The Chiefs had come off another playoff appearance, losing in the wildcard round of the playoffs to the Indianapolis Colts.

Trent Green was 36 and was injured much of the season, Damon Huard played very well in his eight starts by not turning the ball over, but wasn’t a QB you could ride to a Super Bowl and Brodie Croyle wasn’t ready. Meanwhile Larry Johnson was ridden hard and put away wet, he rushed the ball 416 times and also had 41 receptions, and would never be the same back again after getting 752 touches in the previous two seasons.

The Chiefs knew they needed weapons to add and take some of the strain off of LJ, their best receiving threat was TE Tony Gonzalez and their best WR was a 33 year old Eddie Kenninson in 2006.

To say that everyone knew that the Chiefs would be looking WR in the draft would be a gross understatement.

Bowe made an impact right away catching 70 passes and racking up 995 yards with 5 TDs and has progressed nicely, but since 2008 Bowe leads the NFL in on target drops, with 37.  The next closes?  Roddy White and his 31, which leads Chiefs fans to continually question whether or not Bowe is in fact a number 1 receiver in the NFL.

As for the rest of the draft?  Tyler has been the next best player from the class, but he plays in Chicago now, and McBride and Taylor are still in the league, but the rest are done.

Expert Grades:

Mel Kiper: C
Pete Prisco: B-
Actual Grade: C

This was an average draft in that McBride and Tyler are still players in the league, and you can’t kill them for missing on their next 4 picks, I know Kolby Smith was semi-productive in 2007, but he was awful the rest of the time, and they took a kicker in round 5 that didn’t even make a roster in the NFL, and passed on Mason Crosby.

If Bowe ever cashes in on his tremendous potential this could change, but for now, I think saying this was an average draft may even be a little generous.

2008 Kansas City Chiefs Draft Results

5 Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU
15 Branden Albert, OT Virginia
35 Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech
73 Jamaal Charles, RB Texas
76 Brad Cottam, TE Tennessee
82 DaJuan Morgan, SAF North Carolina ST
105 Will Franklin, WR Missouri
140 Brandon Carr, CB Grand Valley St
170 Barry Richardson, T Clemson
182 Kevin Robinson, WR Utah St
210 Brian Johnson, DE Gardner Webb
239 Mike Merrit, TE Central Florida

Un-freaking-believable draft here, and I really don’t even need to go through it.  Look at the names, look at the Chiefs roster, and then you realize that 6 players drafted were starters.

Even if Dorsey has been a slight disappointment, Albert, Flowers, Charles (get healthy), and Carr have all been tremendous additions.

I don’t even care that the rest of the draft didn’t even make it in the league, the fact that you nailed almost 30% of your starting lineups in one draft is beyond reproach.

NOTE: I am aware Richardson is being replaced, but he started every game in the 2010 playoff season so he is a plus, as much as Chiefs fans thought he was a minus.

Expert Grades:

Mel Kiper: A
Pete Prisco: A+
Actual Grade: A

This draft is a franchise changer, and if Charles can stay healthy, and they can get any improved play out of Dorsey, it is a contract year, just saying, this could be huge.

2009 Kansas City Chiefs Draft Results

3 Tyson Jackson, DE LSU
67 Alex McGee, DT Purdue
102 Donald Washington, DB Ohio St
139 Colin Brown, T Missouri
175 Quinten Lawerence, WR McNeese St
212 Javarris Williams, RB Tennessee St
237 Jake O’Connell, TE Miami of Ohio
256 Ryan Succop, K South Carolina

Jackson is a slightly above average 34 defensive end, Donald Washington is a solid special team’s player and back up, Jake O’Connell is a body, mostly used in blocking situations, and Succop is a good kicker in this league.

This is what is so interesting about the Chiefs, they have created a sandwich made up of day old bread, with prime rib in the middle.

Can a team survive on stale bread but fantastic meat?

Expert Grades:

Mel Kiper: C-
Pete Prisco: C
Actual Grade: C-

Jackson is a good player, but was a bit of a reach at 3, I mean would you rather have a slightly above average 34 defensive end or a dominate NT like BJ Raji?  It is a draft, that’s a bookend with another draft, that happens to have one of the 5 best drafts of the last decade sandwiched in between.

Off Season:  The Chiefs have to be considered one of, if not the biggest winners in the off season, shoring up need positions, getting healthy at others, and only having one significant loss in Brandon Carr.

Signing right tackle Eric Winston, running back Peyton Hillis, CB Stanford Routt, TE Kevin Boss and getting another arm in at QB in Brady Quinn.

They have given themselves a plethora of options in the draft now as they have some glaring needs still, that 34 defensive line still needs help, but also can take best player available and feel comfortable in doing so.