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

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Elmore was a second-rounder, though I'll nod that he would be the lowest-ranked second-rounder on that whole list.

Chiefs lose to the Patriots again.

Hernandez was a 4th rounder.

[BlackOp]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I hesitate to mention it, but Wiegman was holding really blatantly on that play. He got lucky that it wasn't called.

Damn..went back and re-watched it. It reminded me of the Tampa game last year...the Bucs were holding with impunity.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Well, Jim Tyrer lost it and killed his wife and himself 1980.

If not, he'd probably be a HOFer.

Probably?

When he retired he was widely considered to be the best to ever have played the game.

[oldman]

I really don't care how you break it down, Rainman, this has been an enjoyable thread. And Milkman is correct, Tyrer should be in the HOF.

[RippedmyFlesh]

Originally Posted by milkman

Probably?

When he retired he was widely considered to be the best to ever have played the game.

People just don't realize how rare a 6'6 athletic lineman was such a freak of his time. The chiefs of back then seemed to have a lot of players like that just off the charts athleticism for their size. That is one of the reasons the chiefs were one of the most fun teams to watch back then. I like that they seem headed in that direction again.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I've had enough. Welcome to my ignore list!

Now you'll never know who #11 is.

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Now you'll never know who #11 is.

I'm going to hold my breath until you post it.

[patteeu]

Did someone say something?

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Now you'll never know who #11 is.

He can't ignore people who quote ignored people.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

He can't ignore people who quote ignored people.

You'll quote the #11 post for me, won't you?

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by patteeu

You'll quote the #11 post for me, won't you?

Maybe

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by oldman

I really don't care how you break it down, George, this has been an enjoyable thread. And Milkman is correct, Tyrer should be in the HOF.

Here's an interesting bit of Jim Tyrer trivia I never knew. He was drafted by the Chiefs (technically, the Texans) in 1961, and played for the Chiefs until 1974, making at one point 180 straight starts. After 10 straight seasons as a pro bowler or all-pro, he wasn't named in the 1972 and 1973 seasons, but was still playing. The Chiefs thought he was wearing down, so they traded him for three picks before the 1974 season.

Interestingly, though, the picks carried forward. He was traded for a 1975 draft pick (8th round), 1976 draft pick (6th round), and 1977 draft pick (4th round).

He went to the Redskins for one year and apparently was miserable there, so he retired.

The Chiefs' 1975 and 1976 picks didn't make the roster. Their 1977 pick was a cornerback named Eric Harris. Harris immediately signed with the Canadian Football League, but three years later he returned to the United States and the Chiefs had his rights. He was a three-year starter for the Chiefs from 1980 through 1982.

In 1983, the Chiefs were desperate for a running back (remember Joe Delaney), so they traded Eric Harris to the Rams for a running back named Jewerl Thomas. Thomas played sparingly for the Chiefs in 1983.

At the beginning of the 1984 preseason, Jewerl was no longer needed, so the Chiefs traded him to the Chargers for a 7th round pick in 1985. Unfortunately, the chain ends here because they drafted Vince Thomson, who didn't make the team.

But in the end, isn't that cool? The Chiefs' 3rd round pick in 1961 was still producing trade value in 1985.

[jjchieffan]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Here's an interesting bit of Jim Tyrer trivia I never knew. He was drafted by the Chiefs (technically, the Texans) in 1961, and played for the Chiefs until 1974, making at one point 180 straight starts. After 10 straight seasons as a pro bowler or all-pro, he wasn't named in the 1972 and 1973 seasons, but was still playing. The Chiefs thought he was wearing down, so they traded him for three picks before the 1974 season.

Interestingly, though, the picks carried forward. He was traded for a 1975 draft pick (8th round), 1976 draft pick (6th round), and 1977 draft pick (4th round).

He went to the Redskins for one year and apparently was miserable there, so he retired.

The Chiefs' 1975 and 1976 picks didn't make the roster. Their 1977 pick was a cornerback named Eric Harris. Harris immediately signed with the Canadian Football League, but three years later he returned to the United States and the Chiefs had his rights. He was a three-year starter for the Chiefs from 1980 through 1982.

In 1983, the Chiefs were desperate for a running back (remember Joe Delaney), so they traded Eric Harris to the Rams for a running back named Jewerl Thomas. Thomas played sparingly for the Chiefs in 1983.

At the beginning of the 1984 preseason, Jewerl was no longer needed, so the Chiefs traded him to the Chargers for a 7th round pick. Unfortunately, the chain ends here because they drafted Vince Thomson, who didn't make the team.

But in the end, isn't that cool? The Chiefs' 1st round pick in 1961 was still producing trade value in 1985.

That is pretty cool RainMan. Rep!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by jjchieffan

That is pretty cool RainMan. Rep!

Oh, and the other interesting, if tragic, snippet is that Tyrer had been dead for almost five years when the last trade was made.

[Rain Man]

#26. Mo Moorman, G, 1968. 19th pick.

65 Toss Power Trap put Mike Garrett in the end zone in Super Bowl IV, a play that made Hank Stram chortle with glee.

It wasn't just 65 Toss Power. The 'trap' was essential, and the 'trap' was RG Mo Moorman. He was a second-year right guard, coming around to quite successfully make the trap block.

In keeping with right guards, Mo must have been low key, because it's hard to find much information about his Chiefs career. We can tell that college was a challenge, though. He was drafted from Texas A&M, but actually started his college career at Kentucky. He didn't like their conditioning program, and transferred to A&M. He had to sit out for a year, then became an All-America tackle before being moved to guard. He was the lead blocker for A&M's bread and butter play and went in on defense in goal-line situations, so all seemed great.

However, Moorman was kind of an idiot and screwed it up. Here's the newspaper article from 1967: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/29994395/

Spoiler!

The saga of Mighty Mo was at an end today so far as Texas AM was concerned--Maurice Moorman's college career in football was over. The huge tackle, once called by Coach Gene Stalling: "the greatest lineman in the country," was dismissed from the squad Thursday for failing to attend classes. Moorman came a hero from Louisville after playing as a freshman at Kentucky. He had to lay out a year under the transfer rule and became eligible for the varsity in (illegible).

Stories of what he could do and would do preceded him. He lived up lo expectations when he made the All-Soulh-wcsl Conference team and landed on several All-Americas. He also became a prime target of the pros. This season, however, he has played only average football. But it was cutting classes that got him in trouble. Stallings announced Thursday that he and Max Clark, a reserve fullback, were both dismissed. Clark also was taken off the squad tor failing lo attend classes. They're dropped for only one year but that meant the end of college football for Moorman, who is a senior. Clark, a sophomore, has two more years.

"Texas A&M University is an educational institution that is represented in intercollegiale football by student-athletes," said Stallings. "These two young men were not attending classes regularly and they have been dismissed from the squad." Stallings would make no further comment.

Moorman refused to discuss the situation with newsmen by telephone, but the Houston Post sent a writer here and Moorman talked. "There's nothing else Coach Stallings could do," Moorman said, admitting that he had cut classes. "I didn't have any reason. I just didn't particularly like to attend class. I never thought they'd kick me off the team--not for missing classes. Coach Stallings asked me personally not to miss them. I just took too much tor granted."

Moorman said he would stay in school and try to get bs degree. He also said, "If I get a chance to play pro football, I'm going to take advantage of it."

So the guy missed his senior year, but the Chiefs still drafted him. Weirdly, they had two first-round picks that year and drafted two right guards, so Moorman had to compete with George Daney for the job. But he won it and never gave it up, starting consistently from his rookie year.

He never actually played a full season due to injuries, but he generally only missed one game a year, so he piled up a total of 57 starts over 6 years, plus one key Super Bowl block.

However, his drama about picking teams didn't completely end at college, though it wasn't his fault. In 1971, he had a serious enough injury that he missed almost half the season. From what I can figure out, there wasn't an injured reserve, so players were put in "injured waivers". They were technically eligible to be claimed by another team within the first 24 hours, but it never happened because the other team would then have to give an injured player an active roster spot, and there were fewer roster spots than we have now.

Well, the Boston Patriots apparently liked Mo. They immediately made a waiver claim on him and suddenly he was a Patriot.

But the Chiefs didn't want him to be a Patriot, so they sent an emissary to the Patriots to get him back. Because the Patriots had formally acquired his rights, the Chiefs were forced to pay blackmail, and ended up giving the Patriots a second-round pick to get their own player back. I envision that the Chiefs and Patriots met at a bridge on the East German border, the Chiefs threw a suitcase with the draft pick in it toward the Patriots, and then a bound and blindfolded Mo Moorman stumbled across the bridge into friendly territory. Stupid Belichick - always gaming the system to rip off other teams.

He played a couple more years for the Chiefs, but in the end he got dinged too often and just didn't want to deal with it any more. He retired after spending six years with the Chiefs and one day handcuffed to a basement radiator with the Patriots.

Here's Mo (#76) making an awkward but effective block in Super Bowl IV.