My Official Endorsement of the #18 Overall Pick
 

I've spent a shit ton of time thinking about it, might as well do it.

2014: WR Brandin Cooks, Oregon State
2013: QB Geno Smith, West Virginia
2012: OLB Whitney Mercilus, Illinois
2011: OLB Justin Houston, Georgia
2010: QB Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame

My official endorsement in 2015 is center Cam Erving, of Florida State.

Why not a WR: I don't anticipate that the three WRs I'd love (Cooper, White, Parker) will be available. I'm not a huge fan of DGB, and I have doubts in Perryman and Dorsett. I like the WR depth in this draft, especially on the 2nd day of the draft, and I'd prefer the Chiefs wait until then (or even better, trade down).

Why not a CB?: I believe that no player fits what John Dorsey wants in a draft pick more than Trae Waynes, but Waynes is likely a Top Ten pick. I think it's highly likely Dorsey selects Collins in the first round, but I have doubts there. Kevin Johnson is one of my favorite players in this draft but it's unclear to me if he's a schematic fit. And the character questions on Marcus Peters are too potentially severe to ignore. (Although, if the Chiefs select Peters, I'd trust Dorsey's judgement 100% since his resources are obviously drastically superior to mine, which don't exist.)

Why not an OT? I don't think tackle is a serious need for this team in 2015. Fisher should become a league average LT at least, and the team is basically married to him. We've got Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson for RT, both of whom should be fine enough there, and I don't like burning first rounders on RTs anyway. Besides, Cam Erving can play tackle.

Why not a passrusher? Everybody is jonesing really hard for Dupree right now, and justly so, but he will likely be gone before our selection. Simply put, the Chiefs must sign Justin Houston. If they cannot sign him, than they need to land two 1sts for him and my assessment here would change.

Why not an ILB? There are no ILBs in this draft that I like at #18. My favorite is Denzel Perryman, and there's a chance he lasts to our 2nd rounder.

Why Erving?

1. Erving hails from the best center factory in the country -- a factory that has churned out Rodney Hudson himself and Bryan Stork, who's surprised me by manning the center position capably for the Super Bowl champions.

2. Erving possesses all the characteristics that make centers successful. He's got long arms, fantastic pulling ability, great strength, and positional flexibility. His arrow is pointing dramatically upward, and like Hudson, you can expect him to be at an All Pro level within a couple seasons' playing time.

3. A great line, as the Cowboys and 49ers has shown, relieves pressure on the rest of the offense. Smith will have more time to diagnose, and Charles will have a longer career.

4. The Chiefs, for all their bluster, have exhibited little faith in Eric Kush, making center the most obvious hole on our roster.

The question is not "who is the best player," the question is "who will improve the team that most in the short- and long-term.

To me, that answer is Cam Erving.

Barring, of course, that the Houston situation is hopeless. In which case, I reserve the right to alter this endorsement.

****. You.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LG4hOjJ9tEs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

8 words.

**** off and die and go to hell.

What are your thoughts on my little thread here, Direckshun?

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=291860

I like it. Way to stick to your guns.

I'd take him in trade down not sure he is worth 18

"My name is Direckshun and I reach for need"

This is terrible...this idea.

I use to respect you, now I want you to die in an aids fire

Cam Erving is a fine choice. Dude can really hustle, and gives KC the top-shelf mobility to get out in space on screens and counters. Can play C or really any OL spot. He's strong, intelligent, and the fact that many of these CP losers despise the pick tells me that he should be a strong consideration. :thumb:

I think it is a fundamental misunderstanding of the league we're talking about.

Using the draft to replace players who become too expensive for the team is standard operating procedure for a league with a salary cap.

Every ****ing team has to do it, and the Chiefs are no exception.

LMAO

Why the hell is Cam Erving a reach at 18?

The guy was likely a first round pick at tackle BEFORE he switched to center.

And in half a season (!!!) he only became the nation's best center.

There's absolutely no reason why he is not a Top 20 talent in this draft, if not a Top 15 talent.

I officially despise this pick.

I'd literally go through the roof if the Chiefs pick Erving. It doesn't have a thing to do with whether I feel Erving is good or not, its the principal of drafting a center in round 1, on top of letting go of a top tier center in the off-season, on top of passing on several quality free agent players, on top of the fact that there are several quality centers beyond the first round starting with Grasu in the 2nd.

****... people give me shit about wanting an electric play-maker in the first round...

Seriously, if this is the pick, Erving better be the reincarnation of Bruce Matthews.

Are you sure there's not a fullback or punter you'd rather have?

LMAO

:facepalm:

The worst part is that this all ends in two weeks, then D (or V) will start his 2016 campaign to draft another meaningless positional player.

It better be one of the top wr or a cb or I'll be pissed

You just don't hear about teams doing it with centers. Maybe if the center in the draft is good value and the prospect has a Geno Smith-sized schlong that serves as an extra limb in fighting off defensive linemen at the snap. Then sure, why not.

Cam Erving is average, and you're having your period about a ****ing C that is no longer on the team.

Tell me, when we let Dexter McCluster walk in free agency last year, did you say, "UH OH. BIG ****ING HOLE IN THE ROSTER COMING UP. DRAFT A RETURNER IN THE 1ST ROUND, DORSEY!"

The fact that you're doing it over Rodney Hudson's departure is entirely laughable.

And **** you, milkman. Yes, I'm saying **** you pre-emptively, but I ****ing KNOW that if you read this, you'll immediately post some wise ancient Chinese adage about C being the most underrated position on the offensive line.

**** that. If you're so goddamn worried, then go sign a veteran like Brian de la Puente for chump change compared to Rodney Hudson. Cam Erving isn't going to be as good as Hudson for at least a few years anyway, and that's if he ever DOES become as good as Hudson is now. It's worthless to say, "UHOH WE'VE GOT A BIG HOLE IN THE OFFENSIVE LINE!" and then plug it immediately with a ****ing rookie who will get his shit pushed in all year and make Alex Smith's job just as difficult as if Eric Kush were starting.

Actually, he'll probably be worse. At least Eric Kush has NFL experience and NFL strength. We just don't know if he's a good player or not yet, that's all. With Cam Erving, the potential might be greater, but we're also dealing with more unknowns in the short term. And that's with our ****ing 1st round pick that we're jizzing away.

**** Cam Erving. **** you. **** your house. **** your car.

My guess is the Chiefs' brass figured that if they re-signed Hudson, they wouldn't have enough to sign Houston. Probably better to keep the proven pass rusher and draft a premeir center than keep Hudson and take a shot on some dipshit project pass rusher like Dupree or Shane Ray in the first and hope he pans out converting to linebacker.

Of course if they can't re-sign Houston it backfires big time, but that might be what they were thinking.

Just a guess, though.

Then kindly tell everyone why so many draft sources are having Erving in the top 30?

http://www.ourlads.com/nfl-mock-draf...k-Draft-4.0/81
http://gbnreport.com/2015-nfl-draft-...p-100-players/
http://profootball.scout.com/a.z?s=1...&lnid=124&rc=4
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015bigboard.php
http://www.draftace.com/2015-rankings/


etc... oh, but let me guess... YOU.. some nobody jackass on a forum knows better, right? Why don't you go eat shit and hang yourself from a burning aids tree splashed with antifreeze? Who the **** are you to act as if your draft evaluations are worthwhile? You're just some arrogant dickhead that should have been swallowed by momma instead. **** you!!!!

LMAO LMAO LMAO

You seem upset.

Just stop trying to control things in life that you can't control like somebody who makes you look like a flaming moron on a football message board. There's nothing you can do about being that ****ing dumb, so just chill out and enjoy the ride, man! :thumb:

great job trying to dodge every legit point made.. tapout acknowledged.

It doesn't look like #18 will be a good spot to be sitting in the draft for KC.

At 18 you are probably looking at an OL or DL being the best value.

Point to where I said he wouldn't get taken by anybody in the top 30, or go **** your grandfather.

"Tapout" indeed LMAO

What's it like being a self-righteous reerun? I'm curious.

Erving offers more than just being a starting center, although he's got All Pro talent there.

Re-read the OP. Until last year, I've only been advocating quarterbacks and passrushers.

I simply disagree that losing Hudson is like when we lost McCluster. It's closer to when we lost Albert.

Yea, that's why we're going to draft a CB to replace Sean Smith next year after he leaves. Nobody is disagreeing with that, but a C just isn't ****ing worth the 18th pick.

It's not happening. I guarantee it. Kush will be our starting C and I'm completely ok with that.

That's where the divide is, though.

Albert was a reasonably good LT. Hudson was a phenomenal C. And losing Albert has hurt us way more than losing Hudson will.

Drafting Erving is an overcompensating move, and Super Bowl teams simply don't make those kinds of moves. EVER.

Draft another C in the middle rounds for competition. Sure. I'm down with that. It worked out great for the Packers. But for ****'s sake, DON'T just say, "We have a need, there's a player who's pretty good but he's far from the BAA... eh, **** it. Draft him anyway."

:clap:

This is all just conclusions with no supporting reasoning.

The Steelers won 2 SBs, and drafted Pouncey AND DeCastro. But I digress.

Losing Albert sacked hard because Fisher was an abortion last year.

Guess what will happen if we trot out Kush.

No supported reasoning? Ok I'll elaborate. A C isn't worth taking at 18 overall when he's clearly not the BPA over a a player who can arguably be the BPA and plays a position of much more importance and value like CB or WR in this draft. If their were a C who graded out a top 20 pick in this draft i'd be more open minded about it, but there isn't and that's usually the case. It's simple.

You can't be serious. Those two weren't even on their most recent Super Bowl championship team LMAO

Guess what will happen if we trot out Erving as our starting center this year.

Mistakes will be made.

Guess what will happen if we trot out Kush as our starting center this year.

Mistakes will be made.

Here's all I care about: Avoiding a McGlynn-like abortion at C. That can be insured easily if we just sign some veteran to challenge Kush.

Badda bing badda bang. Problem ****ing solved.

You actually have a center that graded out in the top 20. Erving.

Same team with the same talent and the same personnel.

If you're saying the Steelers aren't a championship team than I don't know what to tell you.

By who other than you?

The 2013 draft had two guards who graded out in the top 10.

That doesn't mean it was smart to pick them in the top 10.

That's my ****ing point, dingus. McGlynn and Fulton were hot trash and Kush STILL didn't see the field.

You're buying this shit that he's top 20? I haven't seen one analyst I respect have him there.

The consensus (rightfully so) is this guy is a fringe 1st rounder. That's a reach at 18 when you include the fact that he's a ****ing C.

I'm not sure. He is a first round caliber OT who became the country's best center in two months. He's got prototypical size and athleticism with 34" arms.

He's a rare "safe pick" with ridiculous upside. He's probably my favorite center prospect since Mack, and probably moreso due to his upside.

What? The Steelers won their last Super Bowl two years before they drafted Pouncey, and DeCastro two years after that.

So no. They're not a championship team, because they haven't won a ****ing Super Bowl since they drafted those two players. You have to win a Super Bowl to be a championship team. "Championship" meaning you've won a championship.

Reid started McGlynn for 12 games. There were better offensive linemen sitting at home watching porn all day because they had nothing better to do after they got cut from NFL teams.

It's a fallacy to take coach decisions from the previous year to predict the future. Coaches do weird and unpredictable things all the time. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't.

The Chiefs knew about Hudson's contract when he refused an extension during the season. They let him walk and have brought in ZERO bodies in free agency. What does that tell you about Kush? That they think he's worthless, or that they want to give him a shot?

You'd agree that the personnel difference is/was minimal between those teams.

They've been shopping for centers all free agency, have they not.

Between the 2010 team that lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl when Pouncey was a rookie and the last championship team? Yes.

Since then? No.

Yes they have. Cheap guys. What's-his-ass from the Rams is the only one I can name, though. And the fact that he didn't sign with us seems to say that we're not willing to pay that much for the position.

Doesn't seem like the behavior of a team desperate to fill a hole, does it?

It's my impression that FO/Coaching staff have a slight ego about the development of their " home grown" players in which they believe that they can develop such projects to succeed. A big reason why they released every mother****ing Interior OL that was an FA or drafted by Pioli. Ooh yeah Maclin is considered as home grown player to Reid so disregard his signing as an hired gun.

Asamoah was a ****ing turd. They were right to let him walk.

I really liked Schwartz and wanted us to pay him, but the team had other plans.

And Albert... well, we know how I feel about Albert.

Hudson wasn't worth 9 million. Good move there.

So far they've made the right move about half the time, with one of those times (the Fisher-for-Albert switcheroo) being a huge abortion.

Respect for posting this bc you aren't trolling and you knew everyone would hate Erving. I'd rather have a CB but I understand your logic. A trade back would be better with a team looking for Gurley or Dupree if you want Erving but I understand you are assuming that can't happen right? Where do you think Erving goes if we don't pick him? Which team? Who else needs a center?

If KC drafts Dupree/Gregory with what's occurring with Houston, besides the monetary issue the ego sentiment that I'm suspicious of could be vindicated.

If Clark wants him to be " A Chief for Life" per Clark, but at the same time if Dorsey and Reid drafts a prospect that prove otherwise then I'm just sayin there is partial credence to that notion.

Seems like the behavior of a team with no cap space.

Thank god your endorsement doesn't mean jack.
We will not be taking a C at #18.

If the ancient Chinese were espousing the belief that centers would be under valued, they were not only wise, they were prescient.

How can you ignore that?

Seriously, though, I am not endorsing the pick.

I just wouldn't hate it to the degree that most of you dumbasses do.

What if I told you it was actually the behavior of a team who spent the most money on a free agent WR this year and also gave decent deals to a mediocre ILB and backup OG, while they also re-signed their CB-turned-FS with one year of starting experience to a pretty good deal and traded a 5th rounder for Ben Grubbs and gave him an extension to save money in the short term? All of this while they knew what the market was for Rodney Hudson and still chose not to fork over the cash for either him or someone like Stefan Wisniewski.

What do you think that says about what they think of Eric Kush?

If you are going to do a positional conversion, I'd rather have John Miller or Shaq Mason.

Both play with great leverage and strength and hold the point of attack much better than Erving.

Erving is not going to hold up against NFL defensive tackles. He's just not. He doesn't have the leg strength to handle those guys. He can't lock his lower half and anchor. Miller and Mason probably do that better than anybody in this draft. And they come up quicker than Erving, who also had two high level guards next to him.

You want a RT? They you draft Erving. He's long, athletic and has nice feet. You don't draft Erving and expect that you are going to get a functional NFL center. You won't.

Like the other former All-American LT turned C, Barrett Jones, Erving is not near as good at the same point and Jones was going to be able to play center at the NFL level because he had the strength and mass to anchor.

My opinion is that if you want to take a center high, you do it in round 2 with Hroniss Grasu, who has been consistently top notch at the position for years now. 52 consecutive games at Center.

I think that it's far more likely that we will take a defensive lineman compared to an offensive lineman because of the following reasons:

1. DeVito is old and likely in his last season. Howard is a decent rotational DE in a contract year.
2. Catapano is a complete unknown.
3. We just paid Bailey considerable money and still need to pay Poe, which means they likely will let Howard walk if/when a team overpays for him next spring. A rookie DE would fit well in the budget for the position.
4. Our DL was overused last season and it hurt our run defense. We could really use another player there IMO.

Looks like you aren't alone Direck:

Where the **** does it say that he wants them to upgrade it through the draft?

I guess they are drawing the conclusion that, since there are no more quality linemen left in FA, the only other way to upgrade now would be to draft one.

And I'm of the assumption that we already have. That's not to say that we should pass on an offensive lineman if he's BPA at that point but we've improved this offensive line already in my mind.

I think that really depends on how big of a step down it is from Hudson to Kush as well as how much improvement we could expect from Fisher and whoever will be starting at RG and RT for us.

Well let's take a look at each position.

LT - Can it get worse? Sure....but I don't think anyone thinks that it will. Fisher should have a full offseason to get better.

LG - Grubbs is immensly better than McGlynn last year. Vastly improved.

C - Kush as of right now is a downgrade from Hudson. We don't know how much of a downgrade it truly is at this point. Could be huge....could be small.

RG - Fulton should get better with an entire offseason. Fanaika is better depth than we had last year.

RT - The truly unknown spot. Which Stephenson will show up? Will Allen succeed at RT?

here's more of the quote... still doesn't exactly say draft.

I think even though RT is an unknown, there are some posters who equate "unknown" with "dumpster fire." And that's stupid, because we have to be even 50/50 on getting worse at RT to legitimately consider that the offensive line as a whole could get worse, provided that Kush is the worst thing since Rudy Niswanger

It is overwhelmingly likely that between Stephenson and Allen there is a player who is better than Ryan Harris as our starting RT, and that's just without an extra OT at some point in the draft. The chances increase if we do.

I absolutely agree.

However, when looking at the offensive line, the right side from the center over is a question mark.

Kush is a completely unknown. As many have said, including myself, if he was good enough to allow the Chiefs to let Hudson walk and become our starting center, then he should have been good enough to have manned either guard position last year rather than the dumpster fires that the team continued to roll out there every week. If he's good enough to start at C, he's definitely good enough to start at guard and you get him reps so he becomes a better player. Huge question mark and I think that the team got caught with their pants down regarding Hudson. They should have signed him to a long term earlier versus letting him hit the free agent market. I'm sure that they never envisioned him getting that much money, but here we are.

Fulton at right guard was nearly as bad as McGlynn/Linkenbach at left guard. There were times during the season that he was a turnstile. Hell, at least a turnstile has those metal arms and can get in your way. Fulton often did not. You can point to him as being a rookie and the arrow only points up at this juncture, but he's slow of foot (was noted as such during his entire time at Tennessee) and lack lateral agility.

Right tackle was an abortion. Sure, I'd be the first to believe that between Stephenson, Allen and Sherrod, all very talented and skilled tackles when they came out of college, that there is no way in hell that they don't find a guy who will perform at a level that is markedly better than what we saw last year from Harris. However, there are questions. Can Stephenson play at this level without the aid of PED's? Can Allen even play at the NFL level effectively? He hasn't yet. Can Sherrod get his head back into the game of football after his broken leg? Despite his enormous upside, he hasn't yet.

Now, my opinion is that we are going to be just fine. Hudson was basically playing the three interior line positions by himself last season. Grubbs is an enormous upgrade at LG. Fisher will be better. Fulton will be better and if he's not, Allen can play RG at a 60% level, which should be good enough. And between Stephenson and Sherrod, they'll have a decent RT - maybe even something special if either finally gets it to click.

That being said, I think that the team would be foolish not to look at potentially upgrading the C, RG and RT positions in the draft in the event that none of these guys "get it." With ten picks available, there is ample opportunity to fill the holes and build the depth at WR, DB and LB while also addressing the potential hot spots on the offensive line.

This should be a "core" draft class for Dorsey. The team is on the verge right now and this should be a draft class that allows them to get over the playoff hump and stay there for a while.

Let's just all agree that it isn't a good thing that this OL has been in flux the entire time that Reid and Dorsey have been here, especially when you consider the fact that Reid's schemes tend to be more complex than the majority of other coaches and much of what he does requires a really well-coordinated effort up front.

But I don't know what you want him to do about that. It apparently is uncouth to pay a good solid player like Geoff Schwartz who fits what Reid does. Meanwhile they HAVE looked to the draft to select linemen.

You can't have it both ways. You can't let your good players walk and also avoid the position group being in flux

LMAO. That's classic. I can't stop laughing.

So I'm not totally against Erving, and I'd probably agree he's the safe pick. But just think, 3 yrs down the road Chiefs fans are going to be screaming "why the hell didn't we take _____ in the 2015 draft!?" How many star WRs are going to be picked after us at #18? How many beastly front seven defenders? and lock down DBs? ...point is, even if there are only 2 or 3 legit stars taken after #18, Erving as a Center will never be one of them. Does that really make him BPA?

BPA > Filling holes is Dorsey's philosophy

I'm late into this discussion, but this nicely sums up my feelings as well.

I've seen zero indication from the offseason activities that tell me they have questions about our starting C this year, and it's Eric Kush.

I won't be totally pissed if they take Erving, think he's got a great chance to be a great player. However, let's not get carried away with his prospects at RT, which I don't believe he's ever played, but I could easily be wrong, just haven't heard anything about that. What I have heard is here was much concern over his real prospects at LT, where he was showing some big holes in his game. And half a season moving to C, while he was impressive, doesn't give me huge confidence to take a C in the 1st round, which even a 4 year starter would be questionable value.

I'm down with BAA, which i have a suspicion may be DLine. Hoping it's a CB tho, jones or collins.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...pects-to-teams

Mayock doesn't link us to Erving specifically but he does link us to two OL players, Flowers and Collins.