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]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Jon Baldwin has to be in the on deck circle

He's battling for his life right now.

[Rain Man]

#51. Sid Smith, 1970, C. 26th pick.

Maybe those glory-era Chiefs were so good that even 1st rounders couldn't crack the lineup. Sid is one of those. Drafted as a center, presumably due to the retirement of E.J. Holub and an injury to a previously drafted young center named Jack Rudnay, Smith may have been victimized by Rudnay's recovery and emergence as a pro bowler.

But regardless, he didn't stick. They tried to move him around on the line, but with no luck. He was with the team for three seasons, got one start, had great seats on the bench to watch the Christmas 1971 game, and then was gone after the 1972 season. In a short-lived players strike in 1974 he returned to the NFL with the Oilers, but didn't last the season.

It seems like he wasn't a high-risk pick as an All-American, and he was notably larger than Rudnay, so who knows?



Here's an interesting fact about Sid, though. He actually caught a pass in an NFL game, on Monday Night Football and from Lenny Dawson. It wasn't exactly a Joe Valerio touchdown grab, though, and it sounds like it almost cost the Chiefs a field goal, but hey, he caught it. Here's the paraphrased story, from this site: https://fs64sports.blogspot.com/2014_12_06_archive.html

It was the Chiefs versus the 49ers on Monday Night at Candlestick Park. As the first half came to a close, the Chiefs were up 13 to 10. With a minute left in the half, they punted to the 49ers, but on the next play Emmitt Thomas intercepted a pass and ran it back to the San Francisco 17. The clock was down to 12 seconds as the Chiefs lined up for a field goal, but Dawson instead passed to OT Sid Smith, an eligible receiver, and on the last play of the half Stenerud kicked a field goal for real from 12 yards out to make the halftime score 16-10. The Chiefs eventually won 26-17.

And that, my friends, is the story that Sid Smith probably still talks about today.

[Rain Man]

#50. Brian Jozwiak, 1986. G. 7th pick.

In 1986 I was getting ready to graduate from college. The internet was still several years off and I didn't follow college football, so I could only read reviews of drafts.

All of the reviews - ALL of them - said that Jozwiak was a no-brainer pick. They said he should walk into the starting lineup and stay there for a decade.

Instead, he had three years in the league, and he made three starts during the time. Then he was gone, like a ghost in the night. The no-brainer pick was a whiff.

Looking back, it appears that he had a long-term hip problem that had gone undiagnosed. According to this book by a former West Virginia coach, https://books.google.com/books?id=b8...%20hip&f=false, Jozwiak's senior year was hampered by what they thought was a groin injury, but the coach said that it was the hip problem starting to manifest itself.

So Jozwiak wasn't really a bad draft choice. He was a good draft choice who had an undiagnosed medical issue that showed up at the worst time for the Chiefs.

I can't even find a picture of Brian as a Chief, so here's a great advertisement that spells his name two different ways in the same ad:

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

#50. Brian Jozwiak, 1986. G.

In 1986 I was getting ready to graduate from college. The internet was still several years off and I didn't follow college football, so I could only read reviews of drafts.

All of the reviews - ALL of them - said that Jozwiak was a no-brainer pick. They said he should walk into the starting lineup and stay there for a decade.

Instead, he had three years in the league, and he made three starts during the time. Then he was gone, like a ghost in the night. The no-brainer pick was a whiff.

Looking back, it appears that he had a long-term hip problem that had gone undiagnosed. According to this book by a former West Virginia coach, https://books.google.com/books?id=b8...%20hip&f=false, Jozwiak's senior year was hampered by what they thought was a groin injury, but the coach said that it was the hip problem starting to manifest itself.

So Jozwiak wasn't really a bad draft choice. He was a good draft choice who had an undiagnosed medical issue that showed up at the worst time for the Chiefs.

I can't even find a picture of Brian as a Chief, so here's a great advertisement that spells his name two different ways in the same ad:

Damn looks like a brute. Its a shame he had hip problems and didn't work out I bet he beast in college though.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

#52. Trezelle (not Leroy) Jenkins, 1995. 31st pick.

It seemed like Marty and Carl could find linemen, so I have no idea where this pick came from. Trezelle was with the team for 3 seasons, but appeared in only 9 games and had 1 start in his career. I can't find any information about what happened to him, other than a comment in a book that the Chiefs "realized that he wasn't a very good player and soured on him quickly".

Here's a photo of a game-worn Trezelle Jenkins jersey. These are really, really rare for obvious reasons. It can be yours for $300. http://www.gamewornuniforms.com/cata...ins-p-2663.php

Jenkins was the result of a trade down. Dammit, Carl.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

#52. Trezelle (not Leroy) Jenkins, 1995. 31st pick.

It seemed like Marty and Carl could find linemen, so I have no idea where this pick came from. Trezelle was with the team for 3 seasons, but appeared in only 9 games and had 1 start in his career. I can't find any information about what happened to him, other than a comment in a book that the Chiefs "realized that he wasn't a very good player and soured on him quickly".

Here's a photo of a game-worn Trezelle Jenkins jersey. These are really, really rare for obvious reasons. It can be yours for $300.

Art Shell, who was the Chiefs offensive line coach at the time, convinced Carl he could turn Jenkins into an All Pro.

Shell was fired after the 1996 season.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

Damn looks like a brute. Its a shame he had hip problems and didn't work out I bet he beast in college though.

Honestly, he may be my most disappointing 1st round pick, because he seemed to have a really high ceiling and a really high floor. If he was a beast, it would've helped Blackledge as well, so it was a double treat to draft him.

I wonder if his hip condition would've been caught in today's draft process.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Honestly, he may be my most disappointing 1st round pick, because he seemed to have a really high ceiling and a really high floor. If he was a beast, it would've helped Blackledge as well, so it was a double treat to draft him.

I wonder if his hip condition would've been caught in today's draft process.

He must of been our Tony Mandarich that's who I was thinking of when I read all that.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

WoW ! Never realized we drafted Gale sayers.

The Dallas Texans also drafted Don Meredith.

[Rain Man]

#49. Rod Walters, Guard, 1976. 14th pick.

You'll see Walters listed sometimes as one of the worst first-round guard picks ever. I remember nothing about him.

He was drafted in 1976, then missed the entire 1977 season with an injury. He was back in 1978 and 1979, then got cut mid-season in 1980. Overall, he was active for 52 games and got 7 starts. He had very short stints with the Lions and Dolphins in 1980, and then drifted away from the NFL.

He lost his job because as a first-round pick he couldn't replace Tom Condon and Bob Simmons at the guard spots. If you couldn't make the team in the late 1970s, you're a bona fide bust. Sorry, Rod.

I can't find any pictures of Rod in a game, but I think he's #76 in this 1976 team photo. These were the years that the team wasn't even organized enough to take a team photo lined up in numerical order.



Apparently he participated in the 1970s afro trend when he was playing at Iowa.

[rico]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Honestly, he may be my most disappointing 1st round pick, because he seemed to have a really high ceiling and a really high floor. If he was a beast, it would've helped Blackledge as well, so it was a double treat to draft him.

I wonder if his hip condition would've been caught in today's draft process.

I wonder if he had what I have.

I dinged up my hip in wrestling practice my Junior year of college and when I went to the doctor, I was expecting to be told that I had a labral tear...well, I did get this news, but there was more. It was a labral tear brought on by hip dysplasia... I had hip dysplasia my entire life, and at that point had wrestled for 15 years and played baseball, football, track, etc. growing up and I never found out that I had that until my freaking Junior year of college. I should have had leg braces as a kid.

I have a scar the size and shape of a boomerang across my right hip from surgery. They performed a Ganz osteotomy to fix it... They cut my right pelvis into 3 pieces, reformed and restructured it, cut the ball off my femur, relocated it via screws and then reformed my entire hip. My hip has felt wonderful since, but I never wrestled competitively again.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by rico

I wonder if he had what I have.

I dinged up my hip in wrestling practice my Junior year of college and when I went to the doctor, I was expecting to be told that I had a labral tear...well, I did get this news, but there was more. It was a labral tear brought on by hip dysplasia... I had hip dysplasia my entire life, and at that point had wrestled for 15 years and played baseball, football, track, etc. growing up and I never found out that I had that until my freaking Junior year of college. I should have had leg braces as a kid.

I have a scar the size and shape of a boomerang across my right hip from surgery. They performed a Ganz osteotomy to fix it... They cut my right pelvis into 3 pieces, reformed and restructured it, cut the ball off my femur, relocated it via screws and then reformed my entire hip. My hip has felt wonderful since, but I never wrestled competitively again.

I'm curious about it, but can't find any information other than 'hip problems'. Interestingly, his son was a behemoth offensive lineman as well, but the son had health issues including a heart problem. This article references Brian saying that he had the same thing, including an incident when he was in college that was apparently never diagnosed: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article...GZ02/150619663. It seems like the Jozwiak family pays a health price for their size.

[ndws]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

WoW ! Never realized we drafted Gale sayers.

and Bob Lily

[Titty Meat]

How bout the tight end we drafted got cut in camp and then went to prison for murder?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballBillay

How bout the tight end we drafted got cut in camp and then went to prison for murder?

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