 |
 |
 |
|
At the 82nd spot, the Chiefs found Morgan, and what looked like a good draft suddenly started shaping up as a bullet-proof one.
| Advertisement |
|||
| |||
"He was our second safety behind (Kenny) Phillips," Kuharich said. "We liked this guy from a year ago when we were watching (their third-round choice) Tank Tyler. We were watching tape, and number 7 kept showing up.
"I remember Herm asking, 'Who's this number seven?' And. I said, 'Don't worry about it. We'll talk about him next year.'
"He's not Bob Sanders, but he has Bob Sanders qualities. He's a ferocious tackler. He loves the game. He has passion. He throws his body around. He's tough. He's physical. But in no way is he a reflection of what we feel about (Bernard) Pollard or (Jarrad) Page.
"He's going to be a good special teams player, and he was the highest rated player on our board. There were other positions equally valued, but we had him rated at the bottom of the second round, and we were at the bottom of the third."
Fourth round
I don't know much about Missouri wide receiver Will Franklin, other than he caught a lot of passes (48) his junior year and is someone who can stretch the field -- both of which are why the Chiefs were interested.
"He has 4.37 speed and good hands," Kuharich said. "There were four or five receivers we were talking about at that time, but in their offense -- which was a spread offense -- he was productive, and he's a home-run threat because of his speed.
"At the end of the discussion, with the other wide receivers that were there, we were looking for someone who could stretch the field. His value was that he fit that criterion."
Fifth round
Of all the Chiefs picks, cornerback Brandon Carr might've been the closest to a reach. But Kansas City had him placed in the fifth round, loved his size (he's 6-feet, 207 pounds) and felt he fit its defense. When Edwards spoke up for Carr, he was chosen.
"This is someone whom Matt Littlefield, our area scout, found," Kuharich said. "He's a physical, Cover-Two corner who's a very good tackler and is very, very smart.
"We brought him in (prior to the draft), and Herm quizzed him about angles, pedal and 'windows' in the Cover-Two; how you open your hips, and what you look for in crossing routes coming the other way and so forth. And he nailed it.
"So he understands football, and he understands coverages. We hope we found Herm Two."
Kansas City considered other options here, like another wide receiver or offensive tackle. In the end, the Chiefs settled on Carr because they didn't trust the competition to stay away from him.
"We were afraid to go in the sixth with him because that's when people tend to go scattershot on players," Kuharich said. "We had him rated here, so we said, 'Let's take him.'"
Sixth round
I admit it -- I didn't know much about sixth-rounders Barry Richardson and Kevin Robinson, either. Richardson is a tackle from Clemson; Robinson a wide receiver/kick returner from Utah State. Both fill needs, and I'll let Kuharich explain.
"Richardson was a left tackle, but he's going to be right tackle for us, Kuharich said. "He's a massive man who is more of a run blocker. He can knock you off the ball, but he needs to grow as a pass blocker.
"He fits what we're going to do as a power team, with moving people off the ball, and he has a chance at right tackle. We don't have anyone penciled in there, so he's going to compete for the position."
And Robinson?
"He had eight touchdowns by returns in career, four on punt returns and four on kickoffs," Kuharich said. "He was the star of a team that struggled offensively, and they tried to get him the ball any way they could -- with hitches, slants, double reverses.
"He has marginal speed but really good quickness and a strong lower body to break tackles. What sold me on him was at the East-West game he returned a punt 70 yards and caught a touchdown pass. He showed the same things that game that he showed on his college tape, and we need to find a punt and kickoff returner."
Seventh round
With defensive end Brian Johnston and tight end Mike Merritt, the Chiefs put an exclamation point to one of their best drafts ever. Johnston is a pass rusher they hope can become the next Jimmy Wilkerson; Merritt could be the fourth tight end on a team that may, just may, play without a fullback.
"In my 22 years (in the NFL) the only draft (I've been involved with) that compares to this was when I was with New Orleans, and we had Willie Roaf and Irv Smith in the first round (1993)," Kuharich said.
"We also got Lorenzo Neal; Derek Brown, who became our leading rusher in 1994; and Tyrone Hughes, who was Devin Hester before Devin Hester. We didn't have 12 draft choices then. We had eight. But we had two No. 1s, and that puts you ahead of schedule. And that's what happened this year."
