Best draft picks by Round - Round 1

[Rain Man]

I'll switch this up a little. Before posting my top 10 list, I'll start from the bottom, revealing in reverse order all 56 of the Chiefs' 1st round picks over the years. Then I'll put the top ten in this OP and put up the poll.

Feel free to share your memories, happiness, or disgust at each pick. I'll post one whenever I'm slightly bored.

#1 Buck Buchanan, DT
#2 Tony Gonzalez, TE
#3 Derrick Thomas, ROLB
#4 Ed Budde, LG
#5 Eric Berry, SS
#6 Gary Green, CB
#7 Derrick Johnson, ILB, OLB
#8 Art Still, DE
#9 E.J. Holub, OLB/C
#10 Tamba Hali, OLB/DE

[Rasputin]

I know the power outlet prank happened under Hank Stram but id like to think if it happened during Gunther Cunningham lmfao he would come unglued and cus them up and down.

[Rain Man]

#36, Greg Hill, RB, 1994. 25th pick.

You can't tell the story of Greg Hill without telling the story of Marcus Allen, because Marcus career-blocked Greg for his whole career. Marty liked veterans, we all know that, and Allen arrived a year before Hill, in 1993.

So during Hill's four years in KC, let's compare statistics.

Starts:

Hill 19
Allen 43

Rushing Attempts:

Hill 588
Allen 726

Rushing Yards:

Hill 2436
Allen 2934

YPC:

Hill 4.1
Allen 4.0

Rushing TDs:

Hill 6
Allen 32

Receptions:

Hill 38
Allen 107

Receiving Yards

Hill 323
Allen 915

Yards per Reception

Hill 8.5
Allen 8.6

Receiving TDs:

Hill 1
Allen 0

Total Yards From Scrimmage:

Hill 2,759
Allen 3,849

Fumbles:

Hill 5 (1 per 125 touches)
Allen 11 (1 per 75 touches)

So let's review. Marcus Allen got the starts, and Marcus Allen got the touchdowns. Hill was slightly more productive (probably equivalent overall if you take Allen's short-yardage TDs into account), did a lot of heavy lifting between the 20s, and was notably more reliable on ball protection.

Was Hill really a disappointment, or would he have been a good pick if he'd been handed the ball? Objectively, he played Marcus Allen to a draw, and Allen is highly regarded. I guess we'll never know what Hill could have been, but the bottom line is that he was with the team for four years, got 19 starts, and he produced about 2,800 yards in offense.

He left KC and went to the Rams. He started to set the place on fire with 240 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first two games, and then he broke his leg and was lost for the year. He came back again in Detroit with 8 pedestrian starts, and presumably then retired to try to get his girlfriend back from Marty.

Here's Greg cheering an opportunity to carry the ball.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

I know the power outlet prank happened under Hank Stram but id like to think if it happened during Gunther Cunningham lmfao he would come unglued and cus them up and down.

If it happened under Herm, he wouldn't have noticed.

[rico]

"Here's Hill cheering for an opportunity to carry the ball!"



Holy cow that's funny.

I remember Hill fairly well (I was around 10 years old when we drafted him). I didn't realize that Hill had some better stats on some categories and wouldn't have guessed it. I remember always feeling pessimistic about Hill when he'd touch the ball while being super pumped every time Allen racked up a carry...those TD's can really distort a young kid's perceptions of these types of things.

[KC_Lee]

If I am remembering correctly Marty would "start" Hill in Hill's second year by putting him in for the first offensive play and then put Allen into the line up. One of the bigger dick moves ever.

[Quesadilla Joe]

[rico]

Rain Man: If you were to write a Chiefs history book of some sort and self publish it or publish it however books are published these days... I would totally buy it.

There are a ton of different approaches you could take... Hell, this thread is a perfect example/idea. If you were to lump the stories you've written for the idea you came up with for this thread, I'd LOVE to own a hard copy of it... only catch is, it'd have to include your brand of jokes that every one of these excerpts have ...funny as hell, man.

I'm serious when I say that I may print out this list of players with their stories and organize them and put them in a binder...would love to have a hard copy to read at work.

Good stuff. I can't believe this isn't the most burst-happy thread on CP right now...I love reading about the history of the NFL and considering this is Chiefs history (which is rare to find), it makes it so much better.

Hell, I have a book called "War Room." Which is about the Patriots mafia...and while I don't care for that team, I love that book... Would love it if there were a book like that about the Chiefs.

[Rasputin]

I agree with Rico this thread rocks. Rain Man usually outdoes himself again and again. The only thing I'm ready for the top 10 first round picks because a lot of these seem like wasted opportunities to build championships with even though we've had almost 50 years of wasted opportunity.

[stumppy]

More more more....more football talk, more more more.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

I agree with Rico this thread rocks. Rain Man usually outdoes himself again and again. The only thing I'm ready for the top 10 first round picks because a lot of these seem like wasted opportunities to build championships with even though we've had almost 50 years of wasted opportunity.

All 10 of them are currently flying over the south pacific in one of these, so manage your expectations!

[rico]

Man...I'm looking forward to the non-top ten moresso than I am the top 10. Educational. I likely know a lot about the top 10...the outsiders and Rain Man's quirky sense of humor is what is making this unbelievably awesome for me.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by rico

Man...I'm looking forward to the non-top ten moresso than I am the top 10. Educational. I likely know a lot about the top 10...the outsiders and Rain Man's quirky sense of humor is what is making this unbelievably awesome for me.

Let's both guess who #11 will be. I'll put my guess in a spoiler so it gives RainMan a chance to avoid being influenced one way or the other.

Spoiler!

Art Still

[Rain Man]

#35 - Woody Green, RB, 1974. #16 pick.

One might argue that Woody could be rated lower, but he's a case study in bad luck, at least in his football career. It appears there were some judgment errors off the field that didn't help.

Podolak was winding down, and as we saw earlier Jeff Kinney wasn't panning out as an earlier first-round pick. So the Chiefs took a surefire pick with Woody Green, a two-time all-American who had come in 8th for the Heisman his senior year.

Woody took over the starting job in Week 4 for a declining Chiefs team, with mixed but promising results. He had two 100 yard game, including 146 yards in San Diego, but he also had a 30-carry game against the Giants that produced 66 yards. He got hit a lot, and finished his season in Week 12 with a collarbone injury. His first year produced 509 yards rushing.

He then spent his offseason in court facing charges (along with a Buffalo Bills player) of raping a 16 year-old girl. Lamar pulled out all the stops to help him, going to court in Oregon with him and convincing several Chiefs players (Lanier, Stenerud, Podolak) to provide character references for him even though Lanier acknowledged that he didn't really know Woody very well. Woody was found innocent roughly three weeks before the season started.

He came back as the Week 1 starter in 1975, but had a disappointing year. He posted two 100-yard games, but averaged 4+ ypc in only five of the 14 games and was part of a big platoon of running backs. He then came back in Year 3, and was looking good even though he was still splitting carries. In Week 6, though, he left a knee on the field and never played again.

The final tally was three years as the starter, mostly amidst a running back committee, and two of those years ended early in injury. There are references to him having "multiple knee injuries" in his NFL career, so maybe he was playing hurt a bit. He ended up producing just over 2,000 total yards from scrimmage.

Interesting trivia - Woody's three years in the NFL ended with 5-9 records every year.

After the NFL, he got himself in some trouble, doing time for burglary, but is apparently out and living amongst us again. Makes you wonder a little bit about that rape charge.

Here he is on the cover of Sports Illustrated before the whole collarbone/ rape/ knee/ burglary thing.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Let's both guess who #11 will be. I'll put my guess in a spoiler so it gives RainMan a chance to avoid being influenced one way or the other.

Spoiler!

Art Still

Actually, I don't even know who #11 is yet. I've sorted them in a moderately precise order based on a variety of stats, and then for each pick I look at the bottom 5 or 6 in detail to identify the odd man out. It's interesting how they tend to fall into a natural continuum, though, as I work through them.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Actually, I don't even know who #11 is yet. I've sorted them in a moderately precise order based on a variety of stats, and then for each pick I look at the bottom 5 or 6 in detail to identify the odd man out. It's interesting how they tend to fall into a natural continuum, though, as I work through them.

That's what will make it even more impressive when my prediction comes true. I like your approach. I did the same thing when I identified #11.