FanHouse JeffWebb

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After winning just twice in 2008 and six times in two seasons, the Chiefs have decided to blow up the whole operation and start over. Scott Pioli and Todd Haley have replaced Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards, and the rebuilding process is currently underway.

Conventional wisdom suggests that such turnarounds might take a couple seasons, but after what the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins were able to accomplish, expectations are almost certainly higher -- which means that Kansas City could be just a few personnel moves from returning to the playoffs. The issue, of course. is which personnel moves will give Kansas City the best chance to make a postseason run in '09.

There wasn't any beer on sale at the Meadowlands during today's overtime Jets win. That meant 65 minutes of the Herman Edwards Bowl had to be witnessed stone cold sober by the hardy souls who braved a rainy, miserable day in New York just to watch their team try to win a meaningless game.

That's just not right. It took me a fifth of scotch, two 40s of OE and a polo mallet just to make it to halftime. By the time Mike Nugent made two field goals, one was negated by penalty, to win the game 13-10 in the extra period I was on a morphine drip, scraping every drop of Sterno out of a can and grinding up bumblebees to snort.

God knows I wasn't playing this one naked. There were 18 punts, 35 incomplete passes, 13 penalties and the teams combined to convert 6-of-32 third downs. There weren't even any turnovers to make things interesting, just inept offenses running a few plays before sending a guy in to punt. That 18 number doesn't even include a roughing the kicker penalty or Jon McGraw's fake of a K.C. punt. That means there were 20 times teams were in a punt formation. Not that I was counting or anything.

I haven't been graded on anything for a while, so it makes me feel good to now grade others and let others feel my wrath. The Chiefs have finished half of their games so far. Here is how I would grade them midway through the season.

Quarterbacks:
The Chiefs have two quarterbacks right now that can carry this team. Damon Huard has been razor-sharp, posting a 105.2 QB rating and a stunning 11/1 TD/INT ratio. The only thing holding back their grade is the fact that the passing game is secondary to the running game in Kansas City.
Grade: A-

HalfBacks:
Larry Johnson is not only playing outstanding, he is a top candidate for the NFL MVP. LJ got off to a fairly slow start, for KC running back standards, but he has carried this offense ever since. Michael Bennett was a big addition this year. The Chiefs often over-relied on LJ last season, asking LJ to do well more than he was capable of. The Chiefs were so deathly afraid of yanking him from games that LJ often had to take himself out of games to take a breather. That's no longer the case with Bennett in the rotation. LJ and Bennett are carrying this team. If I could give them a higher score, I would.
Grade: A+

Fullbacks:
Ronnie Cruz did his job fine, but it too often gave us flashbacks of how much the Chiefs missed Tony Richardson.

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.

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.