*** 2016 Prospect Tracker: Chiefs Interest / Visits / Work Outs ***

[Dante84]

Well, this thread was delayed a few weeks this year, due to our unlikely playoff run. And thank goodness for that.

But here we are again - 5th year in a row tracking the college players the Chiefs have publicly or privately expressed interest in leading up to the 2016 NFL Draft.

Here's how we did last year.

For those who are new, the way this operates is that we collectively monitor various social media sources, blogs, articles and reports for news of the Chiefs' interest in a certain player. When posted in this thread, I will update the OP to include the player. *Please provide the link to the article, the players name, position and team.

I am going to try to link to player profiles when they exist, courtesy of draftbreakdown.com. For some of the lesser-known guys, it may just be a random video or profile from their team website.

Let's meet some of our future Chiefs:

2016 Draft - Chiefs Prospect Tracker

Offense
QB
Carson Wentz, NDSU
Kevin Hogan, Stanford
Paxton Lynch, Memphis

RB
Will Ratelle, FB, North Dakota State
Darrian Miller, Northern Iowa

WR
Braxton Miller, Ohio State
Michael Thomas, Ohio State
Quenton Bundrage, Iowa State
Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss
Mitch Mathews, BYU
Paul McRoberts, Southeast Missouri State
Moritz Boehringer, Germany
Ryan Burbring, Bowling Green
Robby Anderson, Temple
Demarcus Robinson, Florida


TE


OT
Vadal Alexander, LSU
Caleb Benenoch, UCLA
Stephane Nembot, Colorado
David Hedelin, Purdue

G
Blake Muir, Baylor
Jake Bernstein, Vanderbilt

C
Evan Boehm, Missouri

Defense
CB
Mackensie Alexander, Clemson
Juston Burris, NC State
Maurice Canady, Virginia
Xavien Howard, Baylor
Jalen Ramsey, Florida State
Jonathan Jones, Auburn
William Jackson III, Houston
Kalan Reed, Southern Miss
Elie Bouka, Calgary
Arjen Colquhoun, Michigan State
Deiondre' Hall, Northern Iowa
Morgan Burns, Kansas State *Return Specialist

S
Vonn Bell, Ohio State
T.J. Green, Clemson
Derrick Kindred, TCU
Kevin Byard, Middle Tennessee State

OLB
Shaq Lawson, Clemson
Dadi Nicolas, Virginia Tech
De'Vondre Campbell, Minnesota
Quentin Gause, Rutgers
Perez Ford, Northern Illinois
Jatavis Brown, Akron
Stephen Weatherly, Vanderbilt
Terrance Smith, FSU

ILB
Reggie Ragland, Alabama
Blake Martinez, Stanford
Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame
Josh Forrest, Kentucky
Su'a Cravens, USC

DE
Austin Johnson, Penn State
Noah Spence, Eastern Kentucky
Bronson Kaufusi, Brigham Young
Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss
Roy Robertson-Harris, UTEP

DT
Vernon Butler, Louisiana Tech
Kyle Peko, Oregon State
Destiny Vaeao, Washington State
David Onyemata, Manitoba

Special Teams
P


K

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

But the first time had nothing to do with drafting a layered player - again, Tuck was just a mid-draft find that played great ball.

And they didn't do it by having 3 dynamic pass-rushers the second time - they only had 2 as JPP's performance essentially took Tuck off the field.

And good lord, just how many draft/financial assets are you going to throw at potential backups? Because being worried about what happens when BOTH of our top pass rushers goes down to injury most assuredly shouldn't be how one goes about conducting a draft.

If only we'd have drafted the last impact pass-rusher that fell down the board, right? Randy Gregory would've been the cure to all that ailed us.

and I still maintain that though he was dealing with a high ankle sprain this season.

If you want to win with a game manager you have to invest in the other most important position on the team which is passrushers.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Ford has shown a fair amount of growth and Houston is Houston.

I don't see another home for Spence in this system.

Are you really so confident in this kid that you'll essentially be willing to bury Ford here?

I'd use a 2nd on him (he won't last that long) but I'm not going to use a 1st on a guy that makes a former 1st round pick who's showing significant potential redundant.

I don't often disagree with you, but I just don't see the "fair amount of growth" from Ford that you do.

He was marginally better as a run defender, and in coverage, and has shown little to no improvement as a pass rusher.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by milkman

I don't often disagree with you, but I just don't see the "fair amount of growth" from Ford that you do.

He was marginally better as a run defender, and in coverage, and has shown little to no improvement as a pass rusher.

He showed a fantastic motor as well as the beginnings of both a spin move and a nice little up and under that he'd demonstrate at times.

Ford's always going to be a speed rusher. In the end, he's like a fastball pitcher - he just needs a couple of 'meh' secondary pitches because the heat makes gets the opponent reacting. Suddenly that C- curveball makes guys look silly (Royals fans, recall Mike MacDougal).

If Ford shows just a little more growth on those secondary moves, they'll play up because of how much respect opponents have to give his speed. And this year I saw flashes of those moves. And don't sleep on the motor either; a lot of guys have carved outstanding careers for themselves merely by refusing to give up on a play. Just as many guys have failed to ever realize their potential because they lacked that kind of tenacity.

The fact that he'll never be a 'complete' rusher means he's not going to be a 16 sack guy. But off nothing but his speed alone, he can be a double digit sack guy as early as next year. Moreover, that speed will also need to be dealt with by either passes to the RB or keeping the RB in altogether because his recovery speed will make merely chipping him ineffective.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He showed a fantastic motor as well as the beginnings of both a spin move and a nice little up and under that he'd demonstrate at times.

Ford's always going to be a speed rusher. In the end, he's like a fastball pitcher - he just needs a couple of 'meh' secondary pitches because the heat makes gets the opponent reacting. Suddenly that C- curveball makes guys look silly (Royals fans, recall Mike MacDougal).

If Ford shows just a little more growth on those secondary moves, they'll play up because of how much respect opponents have to give his speed. And this year I saw flashes of those moves. And don't sleep on the motor either; a lot of guys have carved outstanding careers for themselves merely by refusing to give up on a play. Just as many guys have failed to ever realize their potential because they lacked that kind of tenacity.

The fact that he'll never be a 'complete' rusher means he's not going to be a 16 sack guy. But off nothing but his speed alone, he can be a double digit sack guy as early as next year. Moreover, that speed will also need to be dealt with by either passes to the RB or keeping the RB in altogether because his recovery speed will make merely chipping him ineffective.

Hey, that's my analogy.

[Tribal Warfare]

http://walterfootball.com/ProspectMeetings/ByTeam

Vernon Butler, DT/NT, Louisiana Tech (SR)

[Dante84]

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

http://walterfootball.com/ProspectMeetings/ByTeam

Vernon Butler, DT/NT, Louisiana Tech (SR)

added, thanks!

[kccrow]

Very much looks so far like the Chiefs are intent on replacing Jaye Howard early on.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Very much looks so far like the Chiefs are intent on replacing Jaye Howard early on.

Penn State's Austin Johnson would be ideal. Fits the profile in terms of what Dorsey wants from his DL players. And he's a beast defending the run - something that Poe still lacks.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Penn State's Austin Johnson would be ideal. Fits the profile in terms of what Dorsey wants from his DL players. And he's a beast defending the run - something that Poe still lacks.

Vernon Butler

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Vernon Butler

Interesting. Haven't seen anything on him but he does a nice job against a K-State offensive line that will see a guy or two get drafted. Seems pretty raw, but he's really active.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Interesting. Haven't seen anything on him but he does a nice job against a K-State offensive line that will see a guy or two get drafted. Seems pretty raw, but he's really active.

Chris Jones > Johnson/Butler

Most underrated DL in the draft.

https://youtu.be/vguCmKduWrY (Sorry don't know how to embed these)

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Chris Jones > Johnson/Butler

Most underrated DL in the draft.

https://youtu.be/vguCmKduWrY (Sorry don't know how to embed these)

Jones, huh?

Loaded DT draft. No way I see them signing Howard for big money with DeVito as an easy resign and a stacked draft class at the position.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Jones, huh?

Loaded DT draft. No way I see them signing Howard for big money with DeVito as an easy resign and a stacked draft class at the position.

It is absolutely LOADED.

Jones is a guy that is being overlooked because of his sack total this year (2.5), but he was among the best interior pass rushers in pressures according to PFF and it shows on tape.

6'6" 308 lbs. This is the type of guy that will make our entire front 7 even better. Good luck trying to block him 1 on 1.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Chris Jones > Johnson/Butler

Most underrated DL in the draft.

https://youtu.be/vguCmKduWrY (Sorry don't know how to embed these)

Disagree that he's better than Johnson and Butler. I'm not as high as most on Butler either though, to be honest.

I think Jones needs a ton of work coming out of his stance, using his hands, etc. NFL lineman are going to plant that kid on his ass his rookie year. Given some time, I think he has the possibility to become a Malik Jackson type, which isn't a bad thing. Like Jackson though, I just don't see him going in the first couple of rounds. Round 3 I might bite hoping he improves and puts it all together, but that's the top end.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Disagree that he's better than Johnson and Butler. I'm not as high as most on Butler either though, to be honest.

I think Jones needs a ton of work coming out of his stance, using his hands, etc. NFL lineman are going to plant that kid on his ass his rookie year. Given some time, I think he has the possibility to become a Malik Jackson type, which isn't a bad thing. Like Jackson though, I just don't see him going in the first couple of rounds. Round 3 I might bite hoping he improves and puts it all together, but that's the top end.

I disagree that he can't have a day 1 impact, but you don't draft DL for year one. All of those things are very coachable for a guy that big that can penetrate and be disruptive like he was this past year. I'll take a 6'6" 308 lb "Malik Jackson" type all day.