**** Official FA & Trade Rumors and Speculation Thread ****

[Discuss Thrower]

The #Raiders have turned their attention to #KCChiefs free agent Sean Smith, with Janoris Jenkins off the market. But KC isn't out of it yet

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2016

Spoiler!

Heard the #49ers have had talks with KC about acquiring De'Anthony Thomas in a trade

— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) March 7, 2016

#Chiefs free-agency tracker: I’m hearing K.C. has expressed interest in a free-agent WR: https://t.co/OrPgzX3jVs pic.twitter.com/BNXfot07kQ

— Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 7, 2016

As I wrote in Friday's #ScoutingNotebook, I'm told the #Chiefs have no interest in RGIII.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) March 7, 2016

Non-Chiefs rumors:

Spoiler!

Report: The Dolphins are interested in trading for Eagles CB Byron Maxwell https://t.co/Z5RZmIYtlg pic.twitter.com/LRt2UneCaA

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) March 7, 2016

This is a surprise: #Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to hit the free agent market, sources say. Sides are far apart on a potential deal

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 7, 2016

#Eagles have made it known that it's not just DeMarco Murray who is available, but also Ryan Mathews, as well, for the right price.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 7, 2016

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BossChief

Have you listened to Chris Jones' interviews?

This guy thinks he's gonna make the pro bowl as a rookie and genuinely thinks he will be a completely dominant DL in the mold of JJ Watt.

Kid better get his pad level down or he's in for a rude awakening.

I love the confidence, but his overconfidence is a bit uncomfortable, TBH.

I loved Morse's reaction to camp last year. He had some practices and came right out and said he knew he wasn't ready yet. I appreciated that because any rookie that says he is ready is just asking to get his ass handed to him. From the training camp thread talking about it:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Hard to say.

The bottom line is that if a rookie shows up and says he's ready to play - he's almost certainly full of shit. It's the old baseball saying but it's true - when you go to the next level, everyone on the field that day immediately got better but you.

Mitchell Morse didn't become a better football player when he got drafted - but the person on the other side of him every snap immediately got immeasurably better.

So the question is, would you rather hear swagger and confidence (misplaced or no) under the belief that it's proof that a guy will rise to the occasion? Or would you rather here someone give a very real statement as to his progress under the belief that it shows that he knows how much improving he has left to do and will work to get there?

I suspect either will work just fine and I don't really put a hell of a lot of stock in it. Both can be spun into a positive with enough creativity.

So maybe Jones will take that swagger and use it to his advantage. Personally, I see a guy with serious technique issues who, if he really thinks he's going to dominate this year, had better be working his ass off to fix that. If he thinks the way he played in college will succeed at this level, he'll be out of the damn rotation by week 8.

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballBillay

Field position has won us countless games you all are high.

Which ones?

The stats just don't back that up. We did okay on field position for the Defense, but on Offense-could improve a lot. How many holding calls negated big returns, blocks in the back, negative punt returns from running backwards, fumbled punts.

Paying 4 million for only half of the equation seems silly when they took a big step backwards setting up field position for the Offense.

MVP has had a heck of a career from where he was drafted, but like it has been stated by others-we can use that money elsewhere and not have much of a drop-off in field position.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

Which ones?

The stats just don't back that up. We did okay on field position for the Defense, but on Offense-could improve a lot. How many holding calls negated big returns, blocks in the back, negative punt returns from running backwards, fumbled punts.

Paying 4 million for only half of the equation seems silly when they took a big step backwards setting up field position for the Offense.

MVP has had a heck of a career from where he was drafted, but like it has been stated by others-we can use that money elsewhere and not have much of a drop-off in field position.

Hard to say as they are literally innumerable for Billay.

I suspect he just can't count very high.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

So maybe Jones will take that swagger and use it to his advantage. Personally, I see a guy with serious technique issues who, if he really thinks he's going to dominate this year, had better be working his ass off to fix that. If he thinks the way he played in college will succeed at this level, he'll be out of the damn rotation by week 8.

Yeah, there's two ways to look at Jones and his proclamations:

1. He'll do anything it takes to become a Pro Bowler his rookie season.

2. He's overconfident in his abilities and thinks that his style of play will easily translate to immediate dominance without any coaching or changing of stance or technique.

Hopefully, it's #1 and not #2.

[staylor26]

Do you guys even listen to rookie interviews? They all throw out names like that. What do you expect them to say when the media asks for a comparison?

Robinson compared himself to ODB. Ehinger said his goal is to start and then make the Pro Bowl, and also compared himself to Staley. Terrance Smith compared himself to Telvin Smith when I talked to him.

I don't think it's going to take Jones long to see he has to work for it, since he's not being handed a starting job.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Do you guys even listen to rookie interviews? They all throw out names like that.

In the Chiefs rookie interviews I've heard over the years, most of the guys (if not all) have been extremely humble and grateful for the chance.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that Chris Jones' big personality and confidence are a bad thing but it's something that could come back and bite him in the ass if he doesn't impress immediately.

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Hard to say as they are literally innumerable for Billay.

I suspect he just can't count very high.

IMO a lot of the "field position battle" is perception. We have seen games where the other team kept pinning us down inside the 5 or even the other way-MVP was killing it. But we end up with a worse punting "net" for the game.

The Browns game last year was like that-they "seemed" to be killing us on field position-but we won the game.

Look at the Pats loss. We had some chances with Great starting field position and went nowhere. We pinned them down a few times-only to see Brady march all the way down the field.

Punting field position is important, but not as much as having a good Defense and an Offense that sustains drives so you don't have to punt.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

Which ones?

The stats just don't back that up. We did okay on field position for the Defense, but on Offense-could improve a lot. How many holding calls negated big returns, blocks in the back, negative punt returns from running backwards, fumbled punts.

Paying 4 million for only half of the equation seems silly when they took a big step backwards setting up field position for the Offense.

MVP has had a heck of a career from where he was drafted, but like it has been stated by others-we can use that money elsewhere and not have much of a drop-off in field position.

The ****ing punter had nothing to do with setting up field position for the offense...

JFC guys

[RunKC]

Dee Ford was cocky and looked like complete ass as a rookie. But Jones is a bit different than him as a prospect.

Ford had questions about his thin hips/legs and experience standing up rushing as an OLB. Jones doesn't have many issues aside from pad level, which I think can be fixed in camp and resolved as the year goes on.
Here is what we know about Jones:

-he's got an elite build
-he has the strength to play day 1.
-he has elite footwork and movement in the first 10 yards.
-he has multiple pass rush moves down.

I thjnk he can be a big force lined up next to Poe. IMO this kid is going to dominate slow OL like Zach Fulton bc they can't keep up with his quickness while focusing on lining up against his power.
Not expecting 10 sacks, but a few sacks and a lot of disruption is to be expected.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Dee Ford was cocky and looked like complete ass as a rookie. But Jones is a bit different than him as a prospect.

Ford had questions about his thin hips/legs and experience standing up rushing as an OLB. Jones doesn't have many issues aside from pad level, which I think can be fixed in camp and resolved as the year goes on.
Here is what we know about Jones:

-he's got an elite build
-he has the strength to play day 1.
-he has elite footwork and movement in the first 10 yards.
-he has multiple pass rush moves down.

I thjnk he can be a big force lined up next to Poe. IMO this kid is going to dominate slow OL like Zach Fulton bc they can't keep up with his quickness while focusing on lining up against his power.
Not expecting 10 sacks, but a few sacks and a lot of disruption is to be expected.

Eh...I think you're overstating his pass rush moves by a fair amount. He has the rudimentary beginnings of a fair number of moves but the only move of his that I see as truly NFL ready was the grab/rip. And even that needs a little work (not gonna shoulder past guys if you lose the leverage battle).

In 37 games the kid had 8.5 sacks. He generated pressures, sure, because he's a big ol' bastard that could bull into the interior. That will help his PFF ratings and things like that, but it doesn't demonstrate anywhere near a polished pass rusher. Raw sack numbers are generally going to be a pretty good proxy for that kind of thing because it's the actual polish and ability to string moves that will allow a guy to get through clean enough to actually finish the sack.

He's more raw than you're allowing, IMO. It isn't just a pad height issue, though that's his biggest problem. And while he has 'prospect elite' feet, he doesn't have 'NFL elite' feet by any means. Which again gets back to hubris; what is elite for a prospect is pretty much fringe/average for a regular NFL player.

If he thinks he can just get his pads down more often and excel, he's in for a rude awakening, especially if he thinks that 40% of the time effort he gives is going to fly at this level. It's extremely frustrating to me how often he just gave up when he was engaged. It was often enough that it made it difficult to actually gauge just how good his hands are. It's hard to know how effective/consistent is punch is when more often than not he'd just quit on the play when the O-Lineman got inside his arms.

[Chief Northman]

Thread officially de-railed.

Pad level/braggart rookies/Dee Ford/Punters as weapons

FFS

Let's get some "scoops" about FA signings dammit!

[DJ's left nut]

Patience, sweetheart. This all arose from a conversation regarding potential free agents and roster construction going forward.

There really isn't any news right now. So if you'd like we can just dispense of the football discussion altogether, let this fall off the front page and allow you to peruse more candy and lawn shitting threads.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Eh...I think you're overstating his pass rush moves by a fair amount. He has the rudimentary beginnings of a fair number of moves but the only move of his that I see as truly NFL ready was the grab/rip. And even that needs a little work (not gonna shoulder past guys if you lose the leverage battle).

In 37 games the kid had 8.5 sacks. He generated pressures, sure, because he's a big ol' bastard that could bull into the interior. That will help his PFF ratings and things like that, but it doesn't demonstrate anywhere near a polished pass rusher. Raw sack numbers are generally going to be a pretty good proxy for that kind of thing because it's the actual polish and ability to string moves that will allow a guy to get through clean enough to actually finish the sack.

He's more raw than you're allowing, IMO. It isn't just a pad height issue, though that's his biggest problem. And while he has 'prospect elite' feet, he doesn't have 'NFL elite' feet by any means. Which again gets back to hubris; what is elite for a prospect is pretty much fringe/average for a regular NFL player.

If he thinks he can just get his pads down more often and excel, he's in for a rude awakening, especially if he thinks that 40% of the time effort he gives is going to fly at this level. It's extremely frustrating to me how often he just gave up when he was engaged. It was often enough that it made it difficult to actually gauge just how good his hands are. It's hard to know how effective/consistent is punch is when more often than not he'd just quit on the play when the O-Lineman got inside his arms.

I think it's somewhere in the middle. I don't think he's as polished as RunKC is saying he is, but he was a much better pass rusher than you give him credit for. The guy was the most dominant interior pass rusher I watched this year on tape, and it was in the SEC. I don't know what more you could ask for from a guy that came out a year early. His basketball background clearly shows when you watch him, as he doesn't move like a 300+ pounder at all, and the 3 cone and 10 yard split backs that up. He also does a great job of using his long arms and big hands. He didn't just bully his way to all those pressures. There were plenty of "instant wins". He needs to work on his pad level (which like I said is normal for a 21 year old with that kind of length), and he needs to learn how to finish.

[DJ's left nut]

No, he doesn't move like a 300 lber but that's WHY he was dominant.

It wasn't a myriad of moves he was demonstrating; most of his moves fell flat. It was just physical ability. That's not gonna get it done at this level, especially not if he hopes to be truly excellent.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

No, he doesn't move like a 300 lber but that's WHY he was dominant.

It wasn't a myriad of moves he was demonstrating; most of his moves fell flat. It was just physical ability. That's not gonna get it done at this level, especially not if he hopes to be truly excellent.

I agree with you there. I think putting him in the situation we have here will bring the best out of him. He's going to have to work his way into the rotation and then the starting lineup. Our scouts/coaching staff rave about our DL group, and they clearly see him excelling surrounded by those guys. It also helps that he has a chip on his shoulder for not being a 1st rounder.