FanHouse Jordan Black

The Houston Texans lost three offensive lineman for the season due to injuries during what were supposed to be non-contact drills last May. Dan Stevenson and Jordan Black both suffered labrum tears in their respective shoulders, while Chukky Okobi injured his triceps.

Black is now employed by the Jaguars, Okobi has no team just yet, and Stevenson's career is jeopardy (though he's technically still on the Texans). According to ESPN, Stevenson plans to sue the Texans, while Black and Fred Weary -- a former Texans' lineman -- have signed affidavits supporting Stevenson's claims.

I spent so much of my time over the past few weeks wrapping up the Chiefs' 2006 season. It's about time that I put the final nail in that coffin. Here is my overview of the good, the bad, and the ugly for the Chiefs last season.

Offensive player of the year:
Larry Johnson. Raise your hand if you're surprised by that choice.

Defensive player of the year:
Tamba Hali. You know what pisses me off about the sports media? They have become so obsessed with fantasy football that they are now blindly choosing award winners by paper statistical achievements. Tamba Hali should have been neck-and-neck with Demeco Ryans for Defensive Rookie of the Year; instead, Hali did not even crack the top 4 in the voting. I absolutely cannot believe there are voters out there who actually think Mark Anderson was a better defensive end than Tamba Hali. First, Hali lines up to two career backup defensive tackles; Anderson lines up with Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson, one of the most lethal tandems in the NFL. Anderson is a pure pass rusher; Hali is an every-down lineman. Anderson's outstanding 12 sacks were only marginally better than Hali's very good 8.5 sacks, but Hali's 58 tackles far surpass Anderson's 28. Tamba, you deserved better than that.

Biggest disappointment
The big uglies up front becoming... just ugly. Jordan Black was better than expected, but he was still lousy. The problem is, the rest of the offensive line was just as bad.

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.

Every offseason for the past several years, Chiefs' fans have clamored for change. Changes on defense. Changes at wide receiver. Changes within the coaching staff.

But never the offensive line. Why would they have to? For years, the Chiefs boasted the best offensive line in the league, made up of veterans who were still in their primes.

Last offseason was a taste of something slightly different. There were worries that Will Shields would retire, but not many people seriously expected him to retire. It wasn't until training camp that we all of a sudden learned Willie Roaf would not return and John Welbourn purported to retire.

This offseason is completely different. The offensive line was not particularly dominant, and was downright bad at times. The only surefire starters are Brian Waters and Casey Wiegmann, and Shields' potential retirement is more realistic now.

By most accounts, left tackle is the most worrisome position. Although I felt that Jordan Black played fairly steadily for most of the year, he is certainly not Willie Roaf, and his performance in the playoffs was, shall we say, regrettable. Further, I have opined previously that the Chiefs did an awful job this year of picking up blitzes; one has to wonder if that was the case because there was more help assigned to Black, rather than in detecting blitzers. The Chiefs appeared to have been grooming Will Svitek for the job, but Svitek was extremely raw as a rookie and missed most of this year with injuries. Kyle Turley simply cannot be an option anymore.

So... I interviewed a 3-year-old kid. He barely knows any English, cannot read, and still has to have his Mom dress him in the morning, and even HE knows that LJ is going to carry the ball 30+ times today when the Chiefs square off against the Colts.

When the Chiefs pass the ball:
So many experts want to tell us that LJ is the key to this football game. He is not. The key for the Chiefs is their passing game and how they will help set up LJ. If the Chiefs can effectively move the football in the air, it is scary to think about how much damage LJ can inflict on a Colts' defense that isn't loading up every player in the box.

That means that the two most important Chiefs' players in today's game are going to be Jordan Black and Trent Green. I know, I know. Disconcerting, isn't it? Jordan Black has got to give Trent Green time to throw the ball and Green has got to give his offense a chance to move the ball in the air. More importantly, Trent Green has GOT to stop throwing the ball into the hands of his opponents. As I mentioned in a radio spot on "360 the Pitch", I think a sleeper in this game is going to be Eddie Kennison. He is exactly the guy that can stretch the defense out and, the less defenders paying attention to LJ the better.

Realize one thing: the most important thing the Chiefs can do to win the game is to keep Peyton Manning and the Colts' offense off the field. If Solari is smart, he will utilize a short passing attack.

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.

When it rains it pours. The Chiefs can't buy a break this season and it's all happening up front.

• The Chiefs don't re-sign standout blocker Tony Richardson
• Starting right tackle John Welbourn "retires" out of the blue
• Starting pro bowl left tackle Willie Roaf suddenly retires
• The Chiefs lose starting right tackle Kevin Sampson to injury for the season opener
• Trent Green misses half the season with a concussion (forces KC to go into a completely run-centered offense)
• The Chiefs lose Kyle Turley for an extended time because of back problems

Now, it's reported that starting fullback Ronnie Cruz will miss the entire season.

Larry Johnson has to be asking himself what he's done wrong. Perhaps he is a real version of Earl Hickey from the NBC sitcom My Name is Earl. Perhaps LJ should start preparing a similar karma list. Either way, the odds keep stacking up against him.

That means that in the course of one half-year stretch, Larry Johnson has lost two Pro Bowl blockers, two starting left tackles, one starting right tackle, and now two fullbacks, in the process of earning a new role as the Chiefs' lone hope on offense.

Earlier, I posted that the Chiefs' defense matches up very well against the Steelers' offense. I'm not sure that the Chiefs how the Chiefs will match up against Pittsburgh.

Pass Offense
Damon Huard has been terrific of late. His impressive play last week, in fact, earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He is accurately throwing the ball around and has even done well, at times, throwing downfield. Pittsburgh is a completely different animal.

Huard will need to do adopt the same strategy he has used all season: minimize mistakes and don't try to be a hero. However, the success of the pass offense isn't completely in Huard's control. This game is a huge statement game for the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive line, particularly for Jordan Black. Black has been pretty solid so far this season in pass protection but he will face a much bigger test this Sunday against the Steelers. Huard has played with relatively good protection over the past three games. I don't expect that same kind of protection against Pittsburgh. It will be interesting to see how Huard responds if his protection puts him on his back all game long.

Fantasy Football owners, I wouldn't rush to start Tony Gonzalez this week. The Chiefs know how important it is for Huard to stay protected and you should expect to see Gonzalez in a lot of protection plays. However, also keep in mind that Herm has mentioned that he needs to get Gonzalez much more involved in the offense, so you never know. However, I would rush out to nab Eddie Kennison while you still can. The Chiefs will attack the Steelers' corners, likely as far away from Troy Polamalu as possible. Huard has shown that Kennison is easily his favorite target. This likely won't translate into TDs, but expect Kennison to get a lot of balls thrown in his direction.

Also, games are won on third downs and Samie Parker is quickly becoming the Chiefs' go-to guy in those situations. For as lousy as his hands have been, he's actually been very remarkable at catching possession passes. Probably because he's the only Chiefs' WR, barring Tony Gonzalez, of course, who isn't afraid to catch the ball in the middle of the field.

I think the consensus pick around NFL gurus for the best coach in the first quarter of the season is Lovie Smith. I would lean more toward Sean Payton for the terrific turnaround he's helped stage in New Orleans simply because Payton turned a team around whereas Lovie Smith is coaching a team that was already terrific last season.

However, anyone else think it's crazy to think Herm Edwards should earn this distinction? This is a homer pick for sure, but can you think of a single coach who has dealt with more adversity? The Chiefs have had major turmoil in the two most important offensive positions in the game. They lost their pro bowl quarterback, Trent Green, in week 1. Their pro bowl left tackle, Willie Roaf, retired suddenly late in the offseason. They lost their replacement starting left tackle, Kyle Turley, to an injury that has sidelined him for two weeks. Worse, their replacements were spare parts you would buy at a garage sale. Damon Huard's arm was so rusty, he probably lathered it up weekly with WD-40. Jordan Black was so horrible at left tackle last year that even the Raiders probably thought of him as a downgrade to their offensive line.

I wrote in my other blog that Herm Edwards has completely facelifted the Chiefs at just the right time. With all the woes on offense, Herm Edwards, notorious for being a defensive coach with no clue on how to run an offense, could consult his veteran offensive coordinator about ways to fix the problems on offense, right? Wrong. He instead had to lean on an unstable crutch--Mike Solari, the rookie offensive coordinator. Solari has made his share of mistakes and has shown his inexperience on many occasions. Herm Edwards has had a pretty big hand in helping the offense turn things around, which is a strange statement for a coach that has been labeled as a dunce with an offensive clipboard. When Damon Huard was named the starting quarterback, Herm responded coolly and tactfully. Instead of playing the "woe is me" card, Edwards did a terrific job of lifting pressure off Huard's back. First, Edwards' contribution to improving the defense has limited Huard's mindset that he needs to win football games in shootouts, like they had to do last year. Secondly, Edwards' offensive approach thusfar has revolved around asking Huard to manage the offense rather than to run it. In other words, Edwards is not asking Huard to win football games; he is simply asking him not to lose games--limit mistakes, go for the high percentage plays, and don't be afraid to dump the ball off to your safety valve, Larry Johnson, if nobody else is open.

Our fellow Cardinals blogger already wrote a very good breakdown of the Chiefs/Cardinals game on his Arizona Cardinals blog. Here is my take on the various battles to watch for in Sunday's game:

KC Offense vs. Arizona Defense:
The Chiefs' offense showed signs of life against San Francisco last Sunday; however, realize that Mike Solari is still a rookie offensive coordinator. The question is if Solari can continue to build upon his success in San Francisco. I have some slight suspicions that KC's offense dominated SF's defense moreso because of the element of surprise. The 49ers expected Kansas City to play ultra-conservative and the Chiefs did the exact opposite. It will be interesting to see how Dennis Green approaches his defensive gameplan after having a week to break down Kansas City's offensive gameplan. It will be equally interesting to see how Mike Solari responds--he has to avoid making the mistake of being too predictable this weekend, just because his gameplan worked last Sunday.

When the Chiefs pass the ball:
Expect the Chiefs' passing strategy to be slightly more conservative than it was against San Francisco, though not nearly as conservative as it was against Denver. Damon Huard's main job is to throw downfield enough to open up the running game. The reason why I expect the Chiefs' passing gameplan to be more conservative is because a) the Cardinals' defense likely won't crowd the box as much as the 49ers did, b) because the Chiefs are playing on the road and will try to take the crowd out of the game by holding onto the ball for long stretches, and c) because the Cardinals should bring a lot more heat than San Francisco did.