State of the Franchise - Draft Roundtable Edition - Part 3

Here is the final piece of the Chiefs draft roundtable.  One of the popular picks from mock drafts for the Chiefs is Bryan Bulaga, OT - Iowa.  Thankfully, I have a friend from Iowa and this side of Kirk Ferentz I am convinced nobody knows more about Iowa football than he does.  As such, I retained his services for an analysis on Bulaga.  For part one of the draft roundtable see here and for part two see here.

Hello jeff-report loyalists, I’m going to be pinch-hitting for Jeff on part 3 of Chief’s Draft Roundtable, not because I know anything about the Chiefs (other than Chief’s fan have this unbecoming tradition where they chant and point that they chant at opposing fans “we’re going to beat the hell out of you” at Arrowhead) but because I know something about Iowa Left Tackle Bryan Bulaga, the subject of Part 3.

I’ll start about analogizing Bulaga to a Honda Civic; nobody really “craves” a Honda Civic or in Iowa Football Coach Kirk Ferentz’s words the Civic “is not sexy,”  but purchasers are pretty happy with their Civic after then have driven the roomy, 6-seater-family vehicle over 150,000 miles with minimal repair costs or problems. Bulaga is much the same; he isn’t sexy but will be a dependable and effective NFL lineman who approaches the game the right way and can be cog on the Chief’s  o-line for years to come.

The Case for a LT at # 5: First, positional cost highly favors drafting a LT at the # 5 position. No matter who the Chief’s select they will have to pay the pick some astronomical amount money, such that he could reopen all the schools the KCMO school district just closed. At least LT is a “money” position, thus paying a LT rookie a high price makes more cap sense than making Eric Berry one of the highest paid safeties in the league as a rookie.  Second, positional value also favors LT. Anyone who has seen “The Blind Side” is acutely aware of the value of a hulking but nimble LT (and is aware that Sandra Bullock is hot for being old). The Chief’s have invested in Matt Cassel, part of that investment is ensuring he has the time throw the ball.

State of the Franchise - Draft Roundtable Edition - Part 1

Alright, so after having my first ever guest blog, and it being such a success, I have decided to continue to broaden my guest blogging horizon.  When coming to this conclusion I asked myself what would my friends want to write about?  Most of my friends like sports, and like the Chiefs, and like the NFL Draft; therefore, that's a perfect storm for a draft roundtable guest blog.  I have decided to format this in a three part series with in-depth looks at the Chiefs 3 main possibilities for the Chiefs to take at #5 in the NFL draft that takes place on April 22, 2010.  Those three players are Russell Okung, OT - Oklahoma State, Bryan Bulaga, OT - Iowa, and Eric Berry, S - Tennessee.  Myself and two of my good friends will be discussing one prospect a piece.  So without further ado here is my "Tony Dungy's" take on our first prospect Russell Okung.

Cue up cliche football movie reference. 

 

Sandra Bullock is speaking, Lawrence Taylor is sacking, and Joe Theismann is suffering.  Oh yes, every housewife knows that after you pay the mortgage, you pay the insurance.

 

The Chiefs have already made the downpayment and signed its promissory note.  The name of our mortgage is Cassel.

 

And in 2009, we tried out the Brandon Alberts insurance policy.  It's time to go Progressive and find a new agent.

 

The name of the new policy should be Russell Okung.

 

The following chart represents all offensive tackles selected within the first five picks since 1993.  The data reaches back to the 1993 draft, and, considering the average life span of an NFL tackle will last less than 17 years (unless it gets all Bruce Matthews up in here!), this period of years provides a seemingly relevant timeframe to assess the value of a top-five offensive tackle.