The Mail Bag

We often talk about the listeners at WHB… and for good reason.  I’ve listened to sports stations all over the country and no other station gets the type of consistent, quality callers and e-mailers that WHB does.  It makes it easy as a host to put together quality shows.

While the callers get a chance to shine, the listeners that prefer to share their thoughts, opinions, and questions via the e-mail do not get that same chance.  So each week I will devote one of my blogs to the e-mailers.  I’ll answer questions and forward the hi-lights of the last week.

E-Mail from Keeno

Broncos have Dummervil, The Cowboys have DeMarcus Ware etc.  The Chiefs do not have that big time pass rusher at the OLB position.
 
I love Jerry Hughes, DE out of TCU.  I loved Brian Orakpo coming out of Texas last year.  These guys are/were elite pass rushing DEs in college that profile out to be 3-4 OLBs in the pros.
 
The Chiefs blew it by not taking Orakpo in the 09' draft (Orakpo currently leads all rookies with 7 sacks; he's doing that as an OLB in a 4-3 defense - which is a position that doesn't pile up sacks), and if Hughes is available when they draft in 2010, they can't afford to pass on him.

I remember you calling for Orakpo before the draft and he has done a very good job so far for the Redskins.  He is off to a great start but only time will tell if he is just a quick starter or truly a great player.  Here are a couple of things to think about.

First… the Haynesworth factor.  The Skins invested over $100-million in the defensive tackle for a reason.  He is massive and a force in the middle of the defensive line.  He stuffs the run and crushes the pocket on passing plays.  QB’s can’t step up to avoid the outside rush when Haynesworth is shoving the center and guards straight back into their face.

Orakpo had seven sacks in the first nine games.  He has zero in the last two.  In fact he has zero QB hits in the last two games as well.  Haynesworth has missed the last two games with injury.  No Haynesworth equals no sacks for Orakpo.

There is no Albert Haynesworth in the middle of the Chiefs defensive line.  Tamba Hali is tied for the Chiefs lead in sacks with 3.5.  I don’t think Orakpo has any more than that… if that playing for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs selection of Tyson Jackson with the third pick may prove to be a mistake in the long run.  But the logic behind it is sound.  Quality defensive lineman collapse the pocket and allow the outside rushers to work one on one.

While Lamar Woodley and James Harrison are very productive rushing the QB from their outside linebacker positions for the Steelers, they are part of a bigger picture.  The Steelers have a great attacking scheme with every player understanding his role.  There is a reason the Steelers have paid Casey Hampton a lot of cash over the years and just this off-season gave defensive end Brett Keisel a $19-million contract extension and used a first round pick on Ziggy Hood.

You mentioned Dumervil and Ware as big time pass rushers… the kind the Chiefs don’t have.  Let’s take a look at how they were acquired.  Ware was the 11^th overall pick in the 2005 draft.  That is still eight picks after the Chiefs spot at number three.

And please don’t say “just trade down.”  That is the biggest myth in football.  No team picking has high as number three has been able to trade down since 2000 (Washington moved up from #12 to land OT Chris Samuels).   In fact only three times in the last 12 years has a team traded down out of the top five.  Only three times… and the other teams trading down traded out of pick number four and five.

Dumervil makes a huge case for the Chiefs taking a defensive lineman before looking at the pass rushing linebackers.  He went in the last ten picks of the fourth round in the 2006 draft. 

Note:  The two players that most closely resemble Orakpo in that draft were Manny Lawson who went #22 to the 49’ers and Mathias Kiwanuka who went #32 to the Giants.  Lawson has 10 career sacks right now and Kiwanuka 19.5.

In fact Dumervil is not the only big time pass rusher to go well out of the first round.  Last year’s sack leader, Joey Porter, was a third round pick.  The Steelers combo of Woodley and Harrison went in the second round and undrafted respectively.  That’s right… Harrison wasn’t even drafted coming out of college.

Finally… let’s go back to December of 2006.  At that time people were calling the Texans fools for passing on Reggie Bush and Vince Young to take Mario Williams.  Now Williams is one of the best D-Lineman in the game and has tallied 35.5 sacks for his career.  He didn’t take off immediately but the Texans look like the smart guys now.

It could be that this time next year we will be talking about how Tyson Jackson is emerging as one of the best young 3-4 DE’s in the game.

Or we could be lamenting the Chiefs passing on a great outside pass rusher like Brian Orakpo.

Keeno continues…

P.S.  Cassel is not the answer at QB.  There's a lot to like about the guy, but his pocket awareness is amateurish and he's a slow read - not to mention that he has an issue with throwing the deep ball.
 
Cassel is the classic back-up QB that has been thrust into the role of being the "franchise" guy.  The Chiefs need an upgrade at QB within the next couple of years ....., in my opinion.

I’ll agree with you that Cassel is not a “franchise” quarterback.  But I think that phrase gets thrown around way too much.  In my mind there are only a handful of truly “franchise” QB’s.  Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger are for sure…  Brett Favre was (and certainly looks like he is again though 11 games)…  and Donovan McNabb, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, and Aaron Rodgers are just a step away from  becoming one, and that is it.

So saying Cassel is not a “franchise” QB is not a shot at him or the Chiefs, it is just reality.

Also his much hyped $63-million contract gets way too much hype.  It is a ton of money for regular dopes like us, but it is just over half the amount of the highest paid QB’s in the game.  He is not being paid like a franchise quarterback.

I won’t draw any final conclusions about Cassel’s pocket awareness or decision making until he gets a better line in front of him and better weapons around him.

But I will agree with your thoughts on his ability to throw the ball deep.  Even his big plays deep have required the receiver to wait on the throw.  At some point teams are going to start taking away the short stuff and forcing him to beat them long.

It might just be that Cassel compares to a Jake Delhomme, Trent Dilfer, or Brad Johnson.  All three were good enough to get their team to the Super Bowl, with Dilfer and Johnson being good enough to win it.