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AWARDS IN A NUTSHELL
January 21st – 3:48 PM

Over the last 96 hours we’ve recapped every player at every position  on the Chiefs roster and handed out awards along the way. Here’s the end-all, be-all kcchiefs.com 2009 Awards Week recap.

Offensive Player of the Year: RB Jamaal Charles
Defensive Player of the Year: CB Brandon Flowers
Breakthrough Player of the Year: RB Jamaal Charles
Comeback Player of the Year: QB Brodie Croyle
Role Player of the Year: OL Wade Smith
Comeback Player of the Year: QB Brodie Croyle
Rookie of the Year: K Ryan Succop
Offensive Line MVP: C Rudy Niswanger
Tight Ends MVP: TE Leonard Pope
Running Backs MVP: RB Jamaal Charles
Quarterbacks MVP: QB Matt Cassel
Defensive Line MVP: DE Wallace Gilberry
Outside Linebackers MVP: LB Tamba Hali
Inside Linebackers MVP: LB Derrick Johnson
Cornerbacks MVP: CB Brandon Flowers
Safeties MVP: S Jon McGraw
Specialists MVP: K Ryan Succop

2009 RECAP: THE SPECIALISTS
January 21st – 3:39 PM

We’ve taken a look at every position on offense and defense…that accounts for a total of 62 players. Once we recap the specialists, the Chiefs final 53-man roster and injured reserve will be complete.

Without further adieu, lets take a glimpse and give out of final MVP award.

Ryan Succop - Succop is the best rookie kicker ever. Seriously, you can actually say this and it’s not an opinion as there are facts to back up your statement.

Succop’s 86.21 field goal percentage ties as the highest mark of any rookie kicker since the AFL merged with the NFL in 1970. There you go, opinion becomes fact. Succop also made the most kicks of any rookie kicker in franchise history (25), surpassing Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud’s mark of 21 established in 1967. He was perfect inside 40 yards and knocked through six of seven kicks between 40-49 yards.

So go ahead and brag to your friends that the Chiefs have the best rookie kicker the game has seen in the last four decades. It’s something to hang your hat on as a Chiefs fan.

Dustin Colquitt - Colquitt jammed 41 punts inside the 20 yard line in 2009 to establish a team record. If he would have popped just one more, it would have been an NFL record (so maybe there was one small downside in dismantling the Broncos). Statistically, he’s the best punter the Chiefs have ever had, owning the club’s highest career net average (38.92) and highest career gross punting average (44.09).

At one point in 2009, Colquitt held the NFL record for highest career net punting average before a five-quarter hiccup shanked that average down a few notches. Currently, Colquitt ranks third in league history with a 38.92 career net average. There should be a lot of jostling going on over the next few years as all of the players in the top four are currently active (Donnie Jones, 39.0; Mike Scifres, 38.97; Shane Lechler, 38.45).

The Chiefs are blessed to have two legs like Succop and Colquitt.

Thomas Gafford - Gafford appeared to be the odd man out when he was released just prior to training camp after a two-man battle with Tanner Purdum for the 2009 long-snapping chores. He went back to his home in Houston and continued to train and shortly got the call to come to River Falls with the Purdum experiment fell flat.

“The other T.G.” has been a solid long-snapper over his 25 games played in Kansas City. Fans will remember the errant snap in Cincinnati, but that one play doesn’t represent Gafford’s full body of work. We were spoiled with Kendall Gammon.

Specialists MVP: Ryan Succop - Don’t call him Mr. Irrelevant.

2009 RECAP: SAFETIES
January 21st – 2:35 PM

The Chiefs strong and free safeties are the final defensive positions to recap from 2009. We’ll start with the free safeties before moving on to the strong side. As a whole, this may be the position group with the most questions pertaining to 2010 of any on the roster.

Lets take a look…

Free Safeties
Jon McGraw - “Johnny Mac” turned in a career year. The eight-year pro has now played in 100 career games, but set personal highs for starts, solo tackles, sacks and interception return yardage. He played in 14 games overall with nine starts.

McGraw is the type of player that an organization places high value on as a reserve. He’s the special teams captain and is versatile. At one point in 2008, McGraw took reps at nickel, corner, free safety, strong safety and even as a second-level linebacker. In 2009 we saw him come off the bench to make nine starts when Jarrad Page went down to injury. He’s like basketball’s sixth man - a guy who can come in and play effectively regardless of the situations he’s thrust into. Essentially, that’s been McGraw’s role on three different teams since entering the league in 2002. He knows his role and performs it well.

Jarrad Page - Page had a 38-game starting streak broken in 2009 after landing on injured reserve November 4th with a calf injury. The 2006 seventh-round draft pick signed a three-year contract in 2006 and was tendered a year ago. He’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent once again entering 2010.

Exactly where the Chiefs go with Page is a difficult question to answer. He was a healthy inactive at one point before injuring his calf in practice and going to injured reserve. What Arrowhead’s leadership decides to do with Page will likely play a major role in how this position group aligns in 2010.

Ricky Price - Price went to camp with Kansas City, but was released in the final round of cuts. The rookie free agent from Oklahoma State eventually found his way back to Arrowhead via the practice squad in late October and ultimately earned a promotion to the 53-man roster on December 26th.

Price was thrown into the fire head-first in the season finale at Denver, playing significant snaps, and finished the day with three solo tackles. That recaps Price’s NFL career to date. He’ll have some competition for a roster spot in 2010, but it’s obvious that the Chiefs think highly enough of him to give the youngster a solid look.

Reshard Langford - Who? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Unless you follow the Eagles closely or are a huge Vanderbilt fan, you’re not likely to know much about this guy.

Langford was plucked from the Eagles practice squad on Christmas Day and was on the inactive list for the final two games of the season. He wears #48. He’s obviously a young player who the Chiefs think may help the secondary in the future. We’ll focus a bit on him when spring OTAs and mini-camp start up this offseason.

Strong Safeties
Mike Brown - Brown’s first season in Kansas City was a roller coaster ride. There were the two bad angles/missed tackles vs. Dallas’ Miles Austin and the time he felt he needed to take the blame following the Jacksonville loss, but there was also the two INT performance at Oakland and the 13-tackle turnout in Cincinnati.

When the Chiefs signed Brown to a one-year deal, there was some definite concern about his injury history. Brown had a history of landing on IR, not having turned in a full season of football since 2003. He started all 16 games in Kansas City (kind of ironic that Brown plays all 16 games, while Mike Goff landed on injured reserve - Goff entered 2009 with 106 consecutive games played).

While Brown had some issues in coverage, he showed that he is still a major threat running the alleys to stop the run. He’s in the same boat as Page in regards to what the Chiefs decide to do with him bring a major factor in how the Chiefs secondary aligns in 2010. Brown will be an unrestricted free agent in 2010.

DaJuan Morgan - We’ve seen glimpses of what Morgan can do. His breakout preseason finale at St. Louis assured him a roster spot and offered fans excitement about the potential of the former third-round pick. He would up playing in 13 games and made two starts at free safety when both Page and McGraw were treating injuries. His ability to go from strong to free safety in an emergency situation was impressive.

Morgan recovered his first career fumble at Jacksonville and established a career-high eight tackles vs. Cleveland, but he didn’t make himself a lock for promotion if the Chiefs decide to let either Page or Brown walk via free agency. Regardless, Morgan is another young factor to consider in a wide open position for 2010.

Safeties MVP: Jon McGraw - The 2009 season was the epitome of McGraw’s value to a team. He can step up and play at a high level when asked and that’s exactly what he did. He’s not a guy who is going to do flashy things, although his blocked punt at Baltimore and one-armed pick at Cincinnati were pretty impressive plays, but he’ll play turn in technically sound play snap after snap. Players like Jon McGraw give head coaches and general managers one less thing to worry about.


Up Next: The Specialists

2009 RECAP: CORNERBACKS
January 21st – 10:30 AM

There seemed to be mixed feelings throughout 2009 regarding the Chiefs secondary. Over the course of the year, the safeties and cornerbacks played very different roles. Roles unlike any we’ve recently seen in Kansas City and the previous “Tampa Two” defense.

The tackle totals from 2008-2009 dropped drastically among the cornerbacks. This isn’t surprising considering the Chiefs corners found themselves more involved in downfield coverage this year. As a result, passes defensed increased from 23 to 57 among CBs and the starting cornerbacks increased their INT total from four to six.

Let’s take a peek…

Brandon Flowers - Kansas City finally seems to have found a true lockdown corner, something that the Arrowhead faithful haven’t seen since the 1990s when players like Albert Lewis, James Hasty and Kevin Ross made running routes a nightmarish task for Chiefs opponents.

Flowers showed his toughness throughout 2009, playing on an injured shoulder throughout the entire regular season. He did miss the season opener due to the malady, but that was it. Flowers confirmed last week that he recently underwent surgery on that injured shoulder. He should be fine.

In just his second-year as a pro, Flowers may very well be the most talented all-around defender on the Chiefs roster. He showed in 2009 that he isn’t afraid to step up and fill in the run game (injury or not) and was often times left manning the lonely island against the top opposing receiver when the Chiefs would bring in a safety for run support. Flowers finished the year with a team-high 28 passes defensed and a career-high five INTs.

Flowers looks like he’ll be roaming the Chiefs secondary for years to come. This is one position the Chiefs don’t have to worry about for quite some time.

Brandon Carr - Carr often finds himself manning the most difficult position in the passing game. When the Chiefs man up, do you think quarterbacks are more likely to test Flowers deep or Carr deep? When you’ve got a guy like Flowers playing opposite your wing, you know that if you take one false step it’s going to be exposed…or at least it will try to be exposed.

Honestly, having Flowers opposite Carr is the best thing for this corner. The repeated tests are only going to make him a better player. Despite coming from a NCAA Division II school (Grand Valley State), Carr has started all 32 professional games of his career in the Chiefs secondary. He’s only 23 years old and has HUGE upside. Plus, he’s a “big corner” standing at 6-0-, 207…that’s a nice asset to have as well.

Travis Daniels - Daniels didn’t make the team out of training camp. He was an unrestricted free agent from Cleveland, but ultimately lost out on the final secondary position to veteran Richardo Colclough. The training camp battle was so tightly contested that the two eventually switched places later in the season. Daniels was brought back to Kansas City when the Chiefs secondary was banged up in early November. His familiarity with the program and ability to play corner, nickel and even an emergency safety spot likely contributed to his return.

Once Daniels found his way back on to the team he ended up playing in nine games and made two starts. Most of his snaps came as the club’s nickel corner, a position he wrestled away from Mike Richardson (who wrestled away from Maurice Leggett). Daniels is under contract for 2010 and will likely find himself in a fierce battle during the offseason once again.

Mike Richardson - When the team parted ways with Colclough on September 29th, Richardson came in and began learning the way of the Chiefs defense. By mid-October Richardson was the club’s primary nickel back and by mid-November those duties belonged to Daniels. Despite the role as a reserve DB, Richardson kept his roster spot after Daniels took over nickel duties. He proved to be a reliable special teams player, notching the fourth-most special teams tackles on the team (12) despite playing in just 11 games. Richardson is under contract for 2010.

Donald Washington - Washington took some time to adjust to the pro game, and rightly so. Having played at Ohio State, NCAA graduation rules would not allow Washington to join the Chiefs spring workouts until they had just about concluded. The Chiefs 2009 fourth-round pick spent the majority of his first few months on the job playing catch up.

Don’t let Washington’s lack of playing time as a rookie fool you. He only played in three games defensively (eight overall), but his build (6-1, 197), athleticism and speed will likely have him in the mix in 2010. By the end of the year, Washington was also taking practice reps at safety. He’ll have a full offseason to prepare this time around, so hopefully we’ll see some major strides in Washington’s second season.

Maurice Leggett - The Chiefs 2008 Mack Lee Hill Award winner (rookie of the year) got off to a rough start in 2009 filling in for an injured Flowers at Baltimore. When Flowers returned, Leggett shifted back to his familiar nickel duties and eventually saw those go to Mike Richardson (then Travis Daniels). Leggett then saw himself go back-to-back games without playing a defensive snap. He was facing adversity.

Leggett responded by reinventing himself as a safety. Eventually, Leggett was back in the game on nearly every third-down passing situation at free safety and he seemed to be playing at a high level up until he landed on injured reserve (shoulder) covering a punt vs. Pittsburgh.

In two years since coming into the league as an unheard of rookie free agent from NCAA Division II Valdosta State, we’ve seen Leggett win team rookie honors and play three different possessions (corner, nickel and free safety). Not bad.

Conerbacks MVP: Brandon Flowers - Likely the most complete player on the defense, Flowers earned kcchiefs.com Defensive Player of the Year honors. He is the unanimous choice among the cornerbacks. At age 23, Flowers is only going to get better from here. He is the definition of an ascending player.

Up Next: Safeties

2009 RECAP: INSIDE LINEBACKERS
January 21st – 6:12 AM

Today we finish the defensive recap and hand out positional MVP awards for our final position groups – inside linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.

Let’s begin the day by taking a look at the Chiefs inside linebackers. Did anyone out there expect Corey Mays and Demorrio Williams to start the entire 2009 season as the Chiefs inside linebacking tandem? Certainly not. Heading into training camp, those roles looked like they’d be manned by Zach Thomas and Derrick Johnson.

That’s not exactly how it all unfolded once the regular season rolled around.
Expect the unexpected with the Chiefs inside linebackers. Essentially, this group boasted four starters with two different pairings in base and nickel packages. There was no handicapping what would happen in 2009 with this position group. Let’s take a look.

Demorrio Williams – Here is your unexpected tackle leader in 2009. I say unexpected because Williams was one of the final players to take the field in training camp after missing nearly the first two weeks due to injury. The late start didn’t hamper Williams the way most thought it would, including Williams himself.

Williams said it himself that back in training camp he was just hoping to get on the field as soon as possible so he could make the team. He went on to log a career-high 142 tackles, which is the most by a Chief since Scott Fujita had 151 in 2003.

Fans didn’t exactly flock to the sight of seeing Williams start over Derrick Johnson. That’s probably due to Johnson’s knack for making big plays and Williams’ lack of game-changing plays (he had only two tackles for loss). While Williams didn’t have the glitzy picks and fumble recoveries, he did play the season at an extremely high level of consistency that Todd Haley demanded.

Review the tape…Williams was all over the place, shedding offensive linemen and making tackles from sideline-to-sideline. There is more than meets the eye with Williams. Take a second look if you didn’t see it the first time around.

Corey Mays – The guy that you hadn’t heard of at the start of training camp changed that with his play during the preseason. Mays just kept showing up in play after play and he found himself in the starting lineup for the rest of the season as a result. 

From there, Mays showed his relative “newness” as a starting NFL linebacker, but he also made some nice plays. His inches from safety tackle of Bengals RB Cedric Benson couldn’t have been drawn up any better. In fact, cut that play out and package it in an instructional video for aspiring high school linebackers.

Mays’ productivity saw a monumental surge in 2009. After totaling 16 tackles over his first three seasons, Mays logged triple digits in the tackle department with Kansas City this past year (100). Will this year’s performance be enough to keep him in a starting role for 2010? He’s scheduled to be a restricted free agent.

Derrick Johnson – The man with unquestionably the most natural athletic ability of any player in the position group (and maybe the defense as a whole). DJ is flat out gifted. Take a look at the defensive highlight reel; nearly half of the “big plays” defensively came courtesy of Derrick Johnson. He’s a proven play-maker and wants to return to a starting status in 2010. The Chiefs, on the other hand, want DJ to play more consistently in between those big plays.

Johnson represents the most intriguing offseason situation of any Chiefs player. He fits into the “CBA Category,” meaning that if a new labor deal isn’t reached by March (which it looks like it won’t), Johnson will lose his unrestricted free agency status and become a restricted free agent. In short, this scenario gives the Chiefs a number of advantages when looking over options with DJ.

It’s hard to see Johnson returning as a nickel-only player for a second-straight season. It’s also unclear whether his career day against Denver in the season finale will play a role in his status for next year in Kansas City. Sit back and watch this one, DJ’s future is anything but crystal clear.

Jovan Belcher – He’s like the Energizer Football Player….Belcher just kept playing and playing and playing. Originally just a special teams henchman, Belcher continued to impress the Chiefs defensive coaching staff and eventually found himself in a full-time nickel role with some base substitutions mixed in as well.

Belcher seems to have the best sideline-to-sideline speed of any inside linebacker on the team. He runs and hits at a rapid pace over and over again. Belcher, an undrafted rookie from Maine, outperformed any and all expectations set prior to the season. He was exposed as a rookie at times, but not as a rookie free agent. Belcher can only improve with time. His 2009 season was a heck of a start to his pro career.

Oh yeah, Belcher also led the team in special teams tackles. There’s that whole “run and hit” thing again.

David Herron – Herron can be thought of as the Terrance Copper of the defense. He was well aware of his role as virtually only a special teams player and that’s the role that he served. Herron was brought in just after the Chiefs parted ways with Monty Beisel to take over the duties that Beisel was serving as a reserve.

Herron battled a knee ailment, but got into 10 games after signing with the team as a free agent on September 30th. He averaged over one special teams stop per outing.

Weston Dacus – We hardly knew the second-year player out of Arkansas. Dacus went down with an ankle injury in training camp and subsequently spent the entire season on injured reserve.

Justin Rogers – He’s on the team, he’s off the team, he’s on the team, he’s off the team…Rogers spent two weeks on and off the roster before he appeared in a regular season game with Kansas City. There is very little tape on Rogers as most of his work came in practice. After signing with the team as a free agent on October 14th (released on the 17th) and again on November 11th, Rogers only appeared in one game before landing on injured reserve with a thigh injury.

Inside Linebackers MVP: Derrick Johnson – This was the most frustrating season of Derrick Johnson’s career, but you didn’t hear him complain about it. He accepted his reduced role, but continued to make big plays when granted an opportunity. Lots of former first-round picks would go in the tank when placed in Johnson’s shoes, but DJ did not. He continued to be a good teammate and played with full effort on each gameday regardless of his total snap count. 2009 tapped into Johnson’s character, which is one thing about hi that isn’t up for debate.
Up Next: The Cornerbacks

2009 RECAP: OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
January 20th – 2:33 PM

We just finished discussing the role of the defensive linemen in the 3-4 defense. If they’re not supposed to be the primary pass rushers, than who is? That responsibility would lie with the outside linebackers.

The group of players might have been the Chiefs best positional group as a whole in 2009. On one end you have the most feared pass rusher on your team, and on the other you have the “smartest player in all of football.” Those two played virtually every snap when healthy, but when they weren’t the Chiefs got big-time production from their reserves.

Who are these guys? Let’s take a look.

Tamba Hali - Tamba is the pick of many as the Chiefs Defensive Player of the Year. I went with CB Brandon Flowers for that honor, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t impressed with Hali’s 2009 accomplishments.

Here is a guy who made the single-most difficult transformation of any football player on this roster. He went from a hands-in-the-dirt defensive end to an outside linebacker role that spends plenty of time chasing down athletes in space. Honestly, more players fail during a switch like this than succeed. There was a very real possibility that a switch like this could have ended Hali’s tenure with the Chiefs.

Obviously, Hali’s time in Kansas City didn’t end. In fact, it might have gotten extended. Hali took the challenge head-on and looking surprisingly comfortable adapting to zone drops and run recognition while he excelled in the pass rush. He still has “little things” that he needs to improve to become a complete player, but Hali’s 2009 season was a best-case scenario.

Mike Vrabel - Earlier this year we heard Cleveland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan refer to Vrabel as the “smartest player I’ve ever coached.” Ryan served as Vrabel’s position coach for years in New England.

The Chiefs got exactly what they thought they were getting when Vrabel was packaged with QB Matt Cassel in an offseason trade for a second round pick. Vrabel was a consistently smart and fundamental leader in every sense and fashion. His locker room presence was an amazing thing to watch. He served as a mentor by example each and every day, plus his grade sheet on Monday mornings wasn’t too shabby either.

It was a rough transition for Vrabel coming from New England to Kansas City with just one dial of the phone, but Vrabel didn’t let it get to him (at least publicly). He’s now an unrestricted free agent and there’s no telling if he’ll be in Kansas City anymore. Wherever he signs, it will likely be his final stop of his career. Kansas City doesn’t seem like a bad place to wind things up and raise a family, does it?

Andy Studebaker - “Studie” became an instant fan favorite when he picked off two passes (one for a 96-yard return) vs. Pittsburgh (11/22) in his first career start. That 96-yarder was the longest INT return of any linebacker in the league this year, by the way. The second-year pro stepped up in a major way in his two spot starts for the injured Vrabel. Studebaker, however, was always quick to praise Vrabel for the preparation and advice that the veteran gave him during those two weeks of action. Studebaker had played just two defensive plays before Vrabel was injured at Oakland (11/15) and just 26 snaps prior to his breakout effort vs. Pittsburgh.

Will 2010 be Studebaker’s time to shine? He’s scheduled to become an exclusive rights free agent in 2010.

Pierre Walters - The small-school development player made the Chiefs opening day roster despite a Tamba Hali-like switch from collegiate defensive end to professional linebacker. He likely earned his way with his size, speed and ability to hit. He played in three games as a reserve on defense and special teams, which is likely more that people would have given him credit for back in July. Walters can run and hit, so his ability to contribute on special teams definitely pays dividends while the Chiefs continue to develop the former rookie free agent.

Outside Linebackers MVP: Tamba Hali - Not only were Hali’s 8.5 sacks a career-high, but they also represented 85% of Kansas City’s 2008 TEAM sack total. Hali was constantly in the opposing backfield and often times drew critical holding calls, which are just as costly to an offense as a sack. He led the team in sacks by 4.0 and finished first among all outside linebackers with 66 tackles (also a career-high).

Up in the AM: Inside Linebackers

Join me in the Cover It Live forum for the Red Zone with Soren Petro today at 3:00 PM (CST).

2009 RECAP: THE DEFENSIVE LINE
January 20th – 11:28 AM

Defensive success starts up front, so that’s where we’ll begin with our positional recap of the defense.

Take one peek at the Chiefs defensive stats from 2009 and it’s easy to see that improvement needs to be made up front. The Chiefs responded by hiring a highly-respected defensive coordinator with a background specializing in tutoring defensive linemen. With two top-five picks manning the end spots, it’s a big offseason for progression.

The ends and nose tackle in a 3-4 have very different responsibilities than the ends and tackles in a 4-3, as Chiefs fans saw first-hand in 2009. They’re primarily asked to occupy blockers while the linebackers take the cake in both tackles and the pass rush (ie, Tamba Hali). It’s not a sexy role, but it’s a vital one.

Here’s a recap of the defensive linemen involved in the first 3-4 defensive scheme played in Kansas City since 1991, under Bill Cowher (the Chiefs three defensive linemen that year were Neil Smith, Dan Saleaumua and Bill Maas).

Ron Edwards - “Big Ron” was asked to man the most difficult and important position of a 3-4 defense. 3-4 success is build from the inside out and everything revolves around the play of the man manning the middle.

Asking a player to take responsibilities for both “A Gaps” is no easy task and it takes a very special player to do the job at a high level consistently. Typically, when a team can run the football at will against the 3-4, it’s an indictment on the nose tackle, followed by the two defensive ends. We all know how the Chiefs finished against the run (31st). With that said, I still believe Edwards performed above expectations.

Edwards was originally slated to be a backup this season, but like nearly every year he’s been in KC, Edwards found his way into the Chiefs starting lineup. As the Chiefs grew thinner at the position over the course of the season, Edwards found himself sometimes playing more than 50 snaps a game. That’s a tall order for a man well over 315 pounds who has been used to playing between roughly 15-25 snaps per game over the past few years.

Edwards can play a major role for the Chiefs in the future, but he needs help. Whether that assistance comes via free agency or the draft doesn’t particularly matter. What matters is that the two can rotate effectively, remain fresh and play at a high level. “Big Ron” signed a four-year deal in 2007, so he’ll likely play a role defensively once again in 2010.

Glenn Dorsey - “Putt” made some serious progress in 2009. He was visibly quicker off the football and to the point of attack. He held his ground much better on the edge and was a much better pass rusher as a sophomore (I know, I know…but you’ve got to get past correlating sacks with defensive ends in the 3-4; that’s a role for your outside backers). As a result, Dorsey rarely came off the field when healthy.

Dorsey’s contributions seemed to go largely unnoticed until he went missing from the lineup with a knee injury. Once that occurred the “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” song by Cinderella played on repeat. In the game that Dorsey missed, Cleveland ran for 351 yards on the ground. In the 15 games that Dorsey played, opponents averaged 133.4 yards per game. That total certainly isn’t good enough, but it’s still only 38% of Cleveland’s rushing binge. Also, keep in mind that Buffalo ran for 200 yards when Dorsey was injured just six plays into the game.

Saying that Dorsey’s 2010 offseason is “BIG” would be an understatement.

Tyson Jackson - Read the final sentence of Dorsey and repeat. Jackson got into camp late and the learning curve certainly showed. Jackson admitted it himself, telling reporters that he was still learning his role and the technique of the position one month into the season. That’s fine. As we looked at this morning, Jackson played at a level which puts him at the top of the 2009 rookie class among defensive linemen. The challenge for him is to remain at the top as players make major jumps in production from year one to year two.

Wallace Gilberry - This guy makes the most of his opportunities. Gilberry is a player who plays with a high motor and has a chip on his shoulder. He’s seen the practice squad life, entering the league as a rookie free agent, and obviously doesn’t intend on going back. Whether his gameday role was five snaps or 45 snaps, Gilberry found a way to make plays. He still has plenty of work to do with his game, but he was one of the biggest surprises on the Chiefs defense in 2009.

Dion Gales - Haley referred to Gales as “Jefferson” from Fast Times at Ridgemont High when asked to describe the rookie free agents game. Gales’ constant harassment of the Chiefs offense in practice earned him a promotion from the practice squad for the final four games of the season. He showed the raw ability to perform, but was unable to finish on a few big plays. His raw power and talent make him an intriguing prospect for 2010. Is he better suited to play defensive end or defensive tackle? Is he a “tweaner?” The Chiefs added “DT” to his “DE” status upon promotion to the 53-man roster.

Derek Lokey - An undersized underdog, Lokey works as hard as anyone who has walked into the Chiefs locker room over the past decade. As a result, Lokey found his way from the practice squad to the active roster at the end of the season in each of his first two NFL campaigns. He’ll likely always be on the fringe, as was shown each of the past two seasons on his transaction sheet. But he’s also a guy that is what we call a “tough out.” FYI, Lokey played fullback in goal line sets while at Texas. Maybe he can man the wishbone alongside “Big Ron” to pave room for J.C. on fouth-and-short.

Alex Magee - Mr. Magee typically played no more than 15 plays a game during his rookie season. There were extremes in the bell curve each way, but 15 seemed to be about the average each week for the Chiefs third-round pick. What’s nice about Magee is his versatility. He can play any position along the front with his size and athleticism. We’ll probably learn more about him as his career progresses, but he already seems to be ironing out a niche as a nice “flex player.” This could be a key asset if Romeo Crennel plans on utilizing a multiple-front defense.

Defensive Line MVP: Wallace Gilberry - A reserve role didn’t keep Gilberry from leading all Chiefs defensive linemen in both sacks (4.5) and pressures (5). In training camp, Gilberry got on the map with a 50-yard fumble return scoop-and-score in the team scrimmage. From that point on, the big plays seemed to keep popping up. Yes, Gilberry is a reserve, but you can’t ask for a better season than the on that Gilberry produced in 2009 from a backup defensive end.

Up Next: Outside Linebackers

TIME TO RECAP THE DEFENSE
January 20th – 6:12 AM

The kcchiefs.com positional awards have been reviewed and distributed on the offensive side of the football. Before we get to the defensive side of the football, let’s review each offensive positional MVP.

Offensive Line – Rudy Niswanger
Tight Ends – Leonard Pope
Running Backs – Jamaal Charles
Quarterbacks – Matt Cassel
Wide Receivers – Chris Chambers

Two other Chiefs were recognized earlier this week for their efforts in 2009 as well. These awards, however, came externally via Pro Football Weekly . The highly-respected industry publication named DE Tyson Jackson and K Ryan Succop to the 2009 NFL All-Rookie Team. Succop was the hands-down favorite to win the kicking honors, but a good amount of Chiefs fans were surprised to see Jackson’s name on the list.

Jackson’s inclusion among the top four rookie defensive linemen shouldn’t be a surprise. Let’s dig a little deeper.

It’s been said multiple times by multiple franchises, “Rookie defensive linemen take time to adjust to the pro game.” Jackson certainly wasn’t the exception to the rule, but neither were his fellow classmates.

The easy and uninformed way to analyze a rookie defensive end is to look purely at sack totals and draw conclusions from there. Whether that’s fair or not, especially for a guy playing in a 3-4 defense, doesn’t really matter. Although it’s an inaccurate and often times flat-out wrong evaluation tool, that’s the reality of the situation; let’s go ahead and roll with it.

Let’s make this easy. We’ll start by narrowing the field down to a list of NFL defensive linemen drafted in the top 50 overall slots of the 2009 NFL Draft, regardless of defensive scheme or role served with their respective teams this season. From there, we’ll look at three “major” categories to see how each of them compared to Jackson and the other All-Rookie d-linemen.

The statistical categories we’ll use for comparison are as follows: games started, total tackles and sacks.

First, here are the four members of the defensive line from the 2009 NFL All-Rookie Team (overall selection in 2009 NFL Draft in parenthesis).

DE Tyson Jackson, KC (3) – 14 starts, 37 tackles, 0.0 sacks

DT B.J. Raji, GB (9) – 1 start, 25 tackles, 1.0 sacks

DT Terrance Knighton, JAX (72) – 16 starts, 45 tackles, 1.5 sacks

DE Matt Shaughnessy, OAK (71) – 2 starts, 29 tackles, 4.0 sacks

Those are your top rookie defensive linemen from 2009. Now, here’s how the rest of the players drafted among the top 50 picks finished in 2009.

DE Aaron Maybin, BUF (11) – 0 starts, 16 tackles, 0.0 sacks

DE Brian Orakpo, WAS (13) – 16 starts, 50 tackles, 11.0 sacks
*Orakpo was classified as a LB in 2009 and earned All-Rookie honors

DE Larry English, SD (16) – 2 starts, 32 tackles, 2.0 sacks
*English was classified as a LB in 2009

DT Peria Jerry, ATL (24) – 2 starts, 1 tackle, 0.0 sacks

DE Ziggy Hood, PIT (32) – 0 starts, 8 tackles, 1.0 sacks

DE Everette Brown, CAR (43) – 1 start, 22 tackles, 2.5 sacks

DE Connor Barwin, HOU (46) – 0 starts, 15 tackles, 4.5 sacks

All stats taken via NFL Gamebook totals for consistency

As you can see, the 2009 rookie class didn’t exactly tear the cover off of the football this past season, at least statistically. Jackson is very deserving of the honor despite the surprise that occurred among many whom have been critical of Jackson’s play as a rookie.

By all means, Jackson has a lot to work on and enters an absolutely critical season for individual, positional and team progress. He will be expected to make major strides from year one to year two of his professional career.

For now, Jackson ranks among the top of his draft class after one season. The challenge is to remain there throughout his career. As the ship sails, some will fall off and some will move forward. Which way will Jackson go?

Up later this morning is a recap of the Chiefs defensive line and the kcchiefs.com defensive line MVP from 2009.