FanHouse ChrisHannon

This is a continuation of a 2-part series regarding what the Chiefs must do next season to fix their woes on offense. Click here to read Part I.

Whether you like Herm Edwards or not; whether you like Herm's offensive philosophy or not, we have to recognize that the offense needs to change. Even if Dick Vermeil were still head coach, the Chiefs would still need to undergo a massive facelift. Will Shields and Casey Wiegmann have gone from terrific to average due to age. Jordan Black is certainly no Willie Roaf, and Kevin Sampson and Chris Terry are no John Tait. Ronnie Cruz is no Tony Richardson. And Trent Green... just isn't Trent Green anymore.

The writing should have been on the wall the minute we saw Herm's drafting and roster decisions on offense. The Chiefs went with Jeff Webb in the draft, a tall, big receiver--by all indications, a terrible fit for Saunders' Coryell offense. As the 5th receiver, the Chiefs went with another big guy: Chris Hannon, a 6'3", 205 lb. receiver. Lightning fast receiver Craphonso Thorpe was cut for being a "crappy" fit to Herm's new offense. Vermeil favorite Chris Horn was also not brought back into Kansas City.

Not quite as catchy as Paul Simon's choice of "Joe DiMaggio," but it's a question the Chiefs might be asking.

The answer to the title's question, of course, is New Orleans (who apparently are trying to stockpile on former Chiefs named "Horn"), and the more apt question might be, "Why did the Chiefs let you go, Chris Horn?"

Some Chiefs' fans might be wondering the same thing now that they see the current WR crew. Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker are the starters, as expected. Dante Hall is the 3rd WR, as expected. Filling the 4th slot is ... Jeff Webb?

Certainly, Chris Horn's departure didn't make many waves when his pen left the Saints' paper. But you have to think that Trent Green was thinking otherwise. Horn had become Green's safety valve, so when Tony Gonzalez inevitably had double coverage, Green had no problem looking in Horn's direction.

That safety valve might become crucial to Green this year. For all of his wondrous skills, Larry Johnson still has to prove that he is as effective a receiver out of the backfield as Priest Holmes was. Kennison is a good target, but still prone to dropping passes. Parker became a favorite target of Green's at the end of last season, but that was the same story in 2004, and he is still being counted upon as a dep threat. He remains a somewhat unknown commodity. Hall will certainly never become a possession receiver. That leaves Jeff Webb or, in a worst case scenario, Chris Hannon. In fact, Hannon's making the roster is a good indication of the depth problem the Chiefs have at WR.

I have long chastised those who criticized the Chiefs' offense for lacking talent in the WR corp. After all, this is the offense that managed to be in the top three for each of the last several seasons, and Green has thrown for over 4,000 yards consistently. But each time, Green had a WR he could look to on third downs, first Johnnie Morton, then Chris Horn.

Horn was small and slow, but dependable, and that is what Dick Vermeil loved about him. Perhaps Herm Edwards wants to make sure he puts his own stamp on the team, but for his sake and the team's, Jeff Webb better not drop any passes on third down.

Today, the Chiefs shaved their roster size down to 53.

Not a whole lot of surprises (at least, if you read my list of potential cuts before the cuts were actually made).

As i had anticipated many times over, Junior Siavii was cut from the team. While I may have joked around about his cut earlier, it is a shame that he never became quite the player he was expected to be. He still has a little time and window to turn things around, but I get the impression that his persistent knee problems will plague him for the rest of his career. Casey Printers was also cut which was a surprise; however, it really isn't, when you consider that the Chiefs pretty much had their mind set from the beginning of the preseason that Huard and Croyle would be their horses, unless Printers came in and cleaned house in training camp. Also on my original list of cuts, I predicted that Johnathan Ingram and Carlos Hall would likely not make the final 53-man roster. Ingram was not a surprise cut because he wasn't that good in the first place. Carlos Hall was a slight surprise, but he's been hurt way too often to justify keeping him on the roster.

When you scrape deeper down the surface, a few of the Chiefs' roster decisions were surprising. The Chiefs decided to keep four halfbacks on their roster (Larry Johnson, Michael Bennett, Dee Brown, and Derrick Ross). Keeping four halfbacks on the roster was one surprise; keeping only one fullback on the roster was the other surprise (J.R. Niklos was cut, very surprisingly). The other surprise, as I had briefly alluded to in my previous post, was that the Chiefs kept Chris Hannon as the fifth receiver on their roster. It was a roll of the dice as to whether he would win a roster spot over Nate Curry and the dice happened to roll in Hannon's favor. Hannon is a pretty lackluster receiver to keep on the roster and you can't help but wonder if the Chiefs will make an extra play for Branch or Rogers.

Chris Johnson, Jeremy Parquet, McKenzi Smith, and Shane Burton were four players cut largely due to playing a position that was simply too deep. Apart from that, most players that were expected to be cut were cut.

You can smell it in the air: football season is fast approaching. Great for football fans; heart-wrenching for some football players.

Here are some surprise moves the Chiefs may make in the coming week:

Cuts
I thought that cutting Craphonso Thorpe so early among such a lackluster receiving corps was one of the more surprising moves for the Chiefs this offseason. Here are a few more surprise cuts that may or may not be forthcoming:

• Casey Printers: this guy seemed like a surefire bet; a guy the Chiefs would depend on to be the "QB of the future." Printers had a lackluster preseason and has fallen to #4 on the Chiefs' QB depth chart. The Chiefs will need to be absolutely convinced that Printers has very good long-term potential to justify holding a 4th QB on their roster.
• Junior Siavii: not that it's a surprise, but your draft value can only take you so far.
  
• Eric Hicks: Sure, Hicks was hampered by a shoulder injury much of the preseason. I think it would take a lot to cut a veteran like this, especially given his status in the locker room. However, Jimmy Wilkerson has come on very strong in the preseason and it's possible that Hicks might be sweating his job more than he ever has. However, more than likely, the Chiefs will bid adieu to Carlos Hall instead--it's hard to sack the quarterback when you can't even get on the field.

Keepers
There are a few underdogs that may have risen from the bottom of the pit and just might find themselves as one of the few, the proud, the select 53-man roster for the Kansas City Chiefs.

• Jarrad Page: Don't worry, it's no longer a surprise. He will be on the roster. Still, you have to applaud a 7th round pick who was good enough to earn a roster spot in his first season.
• Chris Hannon/Jeris McIntyre/Nate Curry: The Chiefs may lean towards keeping 5 WRs. Eddie Kennison, Samie Parker, and Dante Hall are locks. Jeff Webb, by all indications, is a lock for the #4 WR spot. The duel will be between Jeris McIntyre, Chris Hannon, and Nate Curry. It doesn't really matter who wins this battle: it's like asking yourself to choose which poison you'd prefer to drink. McIntyre, despite knowing the offense backwards and forwards was extremely ineffective. Hannon and Curry appear to have the edge. You might as well flip a coin to see which one of those two will win the roster spot.
• Rudy Niswanger: Johnathan Ingram is a swinging gate. Niswanger isn't much better, but he could move into Ingram's roster spot because of his versatility.