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

[Rain Man]

#48. Jon Baldwin, WR, 2011. 26th pick.

How do we explain Jon Baldwin? He made the over the back catch, which is a pretty amazing highlight. And he ran at night, which is apparently cool. But he didn't do much else other than fight in the locker room.

To his credit, he managed to make the team for two years, and then had enough value to warrant a very low-level trade. But you want a 1st round pick to produce more than 10 starts and 607 receiving yards.

Does anyone remember the story with him? Why did he bust so hard? He was battling for the #2 WR spot with Steve Breaston and Keary Colbert and Dexter McCluster, and he eventually got the boot because Donnie Avery was signed. It's not like he was walking into a crowded wide receiver group.

In KC, one could possibly argue that the #2 WR got no looks because Matt Cassel was dropping to the ground if the first read was covered, but the fact that he did nothing in SF and no one else would sign him points toward an inability to be an effective WR. In fact, in 2012, he was the second leading wide receiver after Bowe unless you count McCluster as a wide receiver, and yet he only had 20 receptions. He got traded to San Francisco for a loaf of day-old bread, and recorded 3 receptions before being cut.

If your memory is fading, here's a picture of him possibly catching a ball or possibly dropping it. He tarnished the cherished #89 jersey by wearing it.

[Rain Man]

Here's a pre-draft report from 2011 that said that Baldwin was a potential locker room problem. I'll award Mayock full points for this.

https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2...tion-as-a-diva

[Rasputin]

Jon couldn't even have an h in his name John. That should have said something.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

Jon couldn't even have an h in his name John. That should have said something.

Too lazy to write out that extra letter, I guess.

He's an annoying bust because there wasn't any reason for him to bust. He never got hurt, and he had a clear runway to take a starting position. He had good combine numbers http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/...win?id=2495445 and great size. He just didn't translate it to productivity.

If someone remembers technical flaws, let me know. But I'm going to chalk this one up to a guy who just didn't want it very much.

[rico]

Man, I remember the 2012 TC reports were GLOWING about him. Apparently he did some crazy good things at TC. Didn't translate to the regular season though and I have always wondered why.

Anyone remember why Baldwin and Jones fought with each other?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by rico

Man, I remember the 2012 TC reports were GLOWING about him. Apparently he did some crazy good things at TC. Didn't translate to the regular season though and I have always wondered why.

Anyone remember why Baldwin and Jones fought with each other?

I don't think I ever knew why they fought. Given their reputations, though, I suspect it's not flattering to Baldwin. Did anyone ever hear the full story?

[Deberg_1990]

Junior Siavii?

Oh wait, he was 2nd round. Never mind

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Junior Siavii?

Oh wait, he was 2nd round. Never mind

They fought over Junior Siavii? That's not what I would have expected.

[dmahurin]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Too lazy to write out that extra letter, I guess.

He's an annoying bust because there wasn't any reason for him to bust. He never got hurt, and he had a clear runway to take a starting position. He had good combine numbers http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/...win?id=2495445 and great size. He just didn't translate it to productivity.

If someone remembers technical flaws, let me know. But I'm going to chalk this one up to a guy who just didn't want it very much.

I vaguely remember an issue with his stride and it causing issues getting off the line and making cuts.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by dmahurin

I vaguely remember an issue with his stride and it causing issues getting off the line and making cuts.

It seems like a reasonable person would relearn their stride if it meant their career.

[Rain Man]

#47. Anthony Hancock, 1982. WR. #11 pick.

The Chiefs traded a third round pick and the #16 pick in the draft to move up and take speedster Anthony Hancock with the #11 pick. When the #9 pick went off the board, they saw two playmakers on the board that they liked, so they traded up, knowing that they were guaranteed to get one of them. The Raiders had the #10 pick and they took one of those two guys, a running back named Marcus Allen, so the Chiefs took Anthony Hancock.

They tried to use him, they really did. They kept him on the roster for four years. His rookie season was cut short by the player's strike, but he looked good on returns. He moved forward to get 7 starts in 1983, though his return game dropped off, never to return. He battled injuries in 1984, couldn't regain ground in 1985, and missed most of 1986 with a knee injury. He was cut in training camp in 1987.

In his Chiefs career, he gained a little more than 1,200 yards receiving and added about 1,500 more on returns.

Overall, he made some big plays over the years, but couldn't seem to get on the field, despite the pass-happy Chiefs offense that was in place at that time. Most agreed that he wasn't terrible, but ... he couldn't gain a starting spot. On his release, he mentioned that he couldn't get enough playing time to build consistency, citing competition from Carlos Carson, Stephone Paige, and Henry Marshall. It seems that Anthony wasn't terrible, but he just wasn't good enough to move up the depth chart.

He ran for state rep in 2012, but lost. Here's his Facebook page if you're interested.

https://www.facebook.com/HancockForState/

[rico]

Interesting.

[Rain Man]

I worry that I may have ranked Hancock a little low. There's a whole mess of guys who are all pretty close, and I didn't account for the fact that he was competing for playing time against Carson, Paige, and Marshall.

However, as I look at it, Paige was an undrafted rookie who arrived a year after Hancock, and Paige played himself into a starting job. So maybe Hancock's in the right spot.

[Rain Man]

#46. Jeff Kinney, RB, 1972. 23rd pick.

It's early 1972. You're a Nebraska power back who just won the national championship, and you scored four touchdowns in the "Game of the Century" that pitted undefeated #1 Nebraska against undefeated #2 Oklahoma. Here are the scores of the 13 games Nebraska played that year.

W*34–7** Oregon*
W*35–7** Minnesota*
W*34–7** Texas A&M*
W*42–6** Utah State*
W*36–0** at*Missouri
W*55–0** Kansas
W*41–13** at*Oklahoma State
W*31–7** No. 9*Colorado
W*37–0** Iowa State
W*44–17** at*Kansas State
W*35–31** at*No. 2*Oklahoma
W*45–3** at*Hawaii*
W*38–6** vs.*No. 2*Alabama*

You've just been drafted by a powerhouse AFC team that lost the longest game in NFL history a couple of months ago, and is two years from a Super Bowl victory. The team has seven future Hall of Famers coming back for the 1972 season, and a strong, seasoned core of veterans. Your LT has ten straight pro bowls, your left guard has six straight pro bowls, and your center is about to start a string of four straight pro bowls.

What could possibly go wrong?

Man, you tell me. The Chiefs were in decline, first and foremost. They were above .500 for Kinney's first two seasons, then sank below sea level for a decade. Kinney couldn't wrest the starting job from Ed Podolak, and then a couple of years later after Podolak retired he couldn't beat out Woody Green. He was a Chief for slightly more than four seasons, amassing a little more than 800 yards at a 3.4 ypc, and adding a little more than 400 receiving.

This local newspaper article http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1053703.html says that he was a Hank Stram guy, and when Stram left after his second year the new coach didn't feel that he was a fit.

Kinney had one season in Buffalo blocking for O.J. Simpson after he left KC, but that was it.

I'm not sure what to think about Kinney. He was on perhaps the strongest college team ever, so maybe that was an easy job for a running back. But I'm not sure that any of his linemen even made the NFL, so it's not like he was on one of the Miami teams that was full of 1st round picks. One could argue that his performance in the Game of the Century inflated his draft stock, and it was a very good performance, but he also carried the ball a lot of times to get those 171 yards.

My theory is that Kinney looked better at Nebraska than he really was, and it showed up in the pros.

Here's a picture of the back of his football card since I can't find a photo that those sleazeballs at Getty Images haven't stolen. It says that he was traded, but everything else I've seen says that the Bills claimed him off of waivers.

[BossChief]

All those years of drafting bust DL and WRs and then in one draft KC hits home runs with picks for both positions (Jones and Hill) and then breaks the QB streak by moving up for Mahomes the next year.

Pretty fun little turn of events there.