Chiefs Wrap Up OTA's
Wednesday was the final OTA practice at Arrowhead, as Thursday the Chiefs wrapped up practice in St. Joseph, MO. Nearly 4,000 showed up in Missouri to greet the Chiefs. Rumor has is that St. Joseph may be a place for the Chiefs to have training camp, that would be awesome because that way fans could watch their favorite team, and the team would not have to travel 600+ miles.
Also a round of applause to Brian Waters who I have a lot of admiration for. He and many Chiefs players held an event for kids with special needs. The kids had the chance to punt, pass and kick (PP&K) with the Chiefs. I asked a lot of the players why they chose to help Brian with this event. Many said that Waters is a classy guy and that anytime they can give back like this to the community, they are more than willing to do so. “It really makes you grateful for what you have when you come out here,” said quarterback Brodie Croyle. “These kids, they’re awesome. Just look at them, they’re just thrilled to death to be out here, and it’s very humbling for us to be able to partake with them.” When I asked Waters why he set up an event like this, he told me that when a close friend of his, former Chiefs fullback, Tony Richardson, originally held events like this. But when he left Kansas City to go to play for the Minnesota Vikings (now plays for the New York Jets) gave Brian a buzz before he left KC and asked his close teammate if he would take over. Waters always holds great events like this, but this was my first time I got to see this type of stuff in person. I will always have respect for Brian Waters not only on the field, but off the field. Winners who had the longest throw, punt or pass went home with an autographed football, but everyone went home with a medal and a day they will remember for the rest of their lives.
On to some football now as I will give you guys my positives and negatives.
Negatives:
Brad Cottam—The third round giant dropped a pair of touchdowns delivered straight to his hands. He may be a good blocker in the NFL, but like he told me, his receiving skills will take a while. It’s now apparent to me why he only caught twenty passes in college. If he was used more as a receiving tight end in college, then there is no doubt that he would have been a first round pick. Cottam did get beat up a couple times by the defensive line as well. Let’s just hope it was a stroke of luck, because Cottam will need to come through a lot this year in blocking.
Running backs—The offensive line made some nice holes for the RB’s, but it seemed the defensive line was able to contain them to small yardage. Branden Albert did not participate due to an injury on the ankle, but that still worries me a little bit. The Chiefs have good players in Glenn Dorsey and Tamba Hali, but what about the other side? I don’t think Alfonso Boone is the answer to left end. But it did not matter as the defensive line did a good job for the most part.
Branden Albert—Yes, I said he was out due to an ankle injury. Herm Edwards said that if the season was to start today, Albert could still play. They wanted to avoid the risk of making his ankle worse.
Bernard Pollard—Has not been impressive in OTA’s. He gave up on a couple plays in which at times, he could have gotten himself an interception.
Positives:
DaJuan Morgan—The third round safety has been very impressive again, while Pollard has not shown a lot of consistency. Morgan continues to break up passes and play good coverage defense. Look out for Morgan and Pollard to go at it for the starting spot at training camp.
Jamaal Charles—The speedy running back is just so good that he may be heading into training camp competing for two spots. One of them has been mentioned ever since he has been drafted, and that is the back up running back spot to compliment LJ. But when head coach, Herm Edwards was asked about the kick return competition, he said it’s high on the priority list and that it will be interesting to see how things unfold between B.J. Sams, Kevin Robinson and he also added Charles’ name to that mix. With the speed Charles has, he has just as fair of a chance to win the starting KR spot just as much as Robinson and Sams.
Bobby Sippio—Sippio was an HBO star last year after showing off his catching abilities. Lately, I have not been pleased with the number of passes he has dropped. However, he finished the last two days of practice strong and has made some great catches during scrimmage. When I asked the former Arena League champ if he was going to compete for the #2 WR spot, he responded by telling me that he is competing just to be on the team.
Next up is River Falls, but we’ll still be talking about the Chiefs here.
Check out my show called the “Chiefs Endzone Show” on TheSportsStuff.com and Itunes. And watch my video blogs on youtube.com/busbrain1. I will have photos of camp and of Brian Waters’ event.
