FanHouse Tamba Hali

Think IDP leagues are the way to go? Then Ballhawkin' is for you. Here, we pick out a few Individual Defensive Players that could have huge weeks and are possibly sitting in your free-agent pool.

Those of you that picked up Stephen Cooper heading into Week 1 were treated to a pleasant surprise, as the San Diego linebacker notched 13 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two passes defended. In my league, he earned me 19 points, which was good enough for the top defensive performance of the week. Other great calls were Louis Delmas with 15 points, James Laurinaitis with 14 points, and E.J. Henderson with 9.5 points. I wasn't so lucky with Kerry Rhodes and Jason Taylor, although Taylor did get a sack in his game.

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.



In 2006, the Kansas City Chiefs finished with a 9-7 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Indianapolis. Since then, the Chiefs have won just six games -- four in 2007 and two last season -- causing a major overhaul of the front office and coaching staff prior to the 2009 season.

The increase in popularity of Individual Defensive Player (IDP) leagues was easy to see coming. After all, why break down offensive players individually by position yet group all defenders as a team? Of course, when IDPs come into play, the defense can't be just an afterthought.

Sleeping on defenders while other teams amass high-sack guys like James Harrison and DeMarcus Ware, or consistent 100-tackle linebackers like Patrick Willis or Ray Lewis could leave you high and dry at critical positions. You wouldn't be stuck with Donald Driver and Devin Hester as your top two receivers, would you?

However, it'll get to that point in the draft where 20 or 30 defenders are off the board at a certain position, and you need to add a sleeper or two to your IDP core, someone who has the ability to finish in the top ten at their position. Today, I'll examine a few potential breakouts at each position -- hopefully, you'll add one or two of the good ones on draft day.

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In the three drafts prior to Scott Pioli's arrival in Kansas City a few months ago, the Chiefs selected in the first round defensive end Tamba Hali, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, and defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

For varying reasons, all three players could be elsewhere a year from now. Pioli, who came to Kansas City from New England, hired Todd Haley to replace Herm Edwards, and Clancy Pendergast to rebuild a defense that lost its way in recent seasons under Gunther Cunningham. This includes a switch to the 3-4 defense, a scheme Pendergast had some success with during the Cardinals' 2008 late-season surge.

For 18 games last year, Josh McDaniels' offense in New England was a well-oiled machine, inflicting pain and embarrassment on any defense that had the audacity to cross its path. The Patriots scored at least 30 points in 13 of their first 18 games (never scoring fewer than 20) and at times resembled somebody playing a game of Madden with the difficulty set to beginner.

Then, in the Super Bowl, in a somewhat shocking development to everyone except Plaxico Burress, the Patriots offense was shut down by a relentless New York Giants pass rush, registering only 14 points in the teams only loss of the season. According to Christopher L. Gasper at the Boston Globe, that game, and performance, is still sitting with McDaniels, and he's looking to do something about it.

Judging by McDaniels's mannerisms answering that question, he is motivated by the way the offense sputtered in the Super Bowl. He is eager and excited to correct his mistakes, starting tomorrow at Gillette Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Not satisfied with an offense that was nearly perfect last season, the 32-year-old McDaniels spent the offseason tinkering and tweaking and rethinking the playbook to counter any so-called "blueprint" the Giants may have laid down and to find new ways to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers

The Chiefs may not have much to show for their efforts in terms of wins and losses, but there is a bright spot: they've had two of their better drafts in recent history, and embattled head coach Herm Edwards had a hand in both.

The Kansas City Star's Adam Teicher writes that Tamba Hali, Jarrad Page and Dwayne Bowe should develop into stars, and the only obvious miss so far was kicker Justin Medlock.

"I've had the chance to watch the two of them together, and they're very much on the same page," said Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, referring to Edwards and [vice president of player personnel Bill] Kuharich. "It's always important to have your head coach and the guy running your draft on the same page, and I think we've had two very good drafts.

Unfortunately, those guys to this point have been too young to have a tremendous impact. Going into 2008, I would expect that 2006 draft class to have a tremendous impact."

And that's the thing: the Chiefs have had solid drafts recently but it wasn't enough to offset a four-win season in 2007. Hopefully, though, that'll change.

Although the defense is in good shape, it's the offense that raises some concerns. Hopefully, new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey will mitigate some of that, but there's only so much he can do. Ultimately, it'll come down to whether Larry Johnson is healthy enough to play, and perhaps more importantly, if Brodie Croyle will be able change his draft grade from "TBD" to "quality NFL starter."

To get you ready for week 17, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Kansas City Chiefs/New York Jets preview.

2007 Records:

Kansas City Chiefs: 4-11 (4th in AFC West)
New York Jets: 3-12 (3rd in AFC East)

Last Week:

Lions 25, Chiefs 20
Titans 10, Jets 6

When the Chiefs have the ball: There's some good news as it looks like Brodie Croyle will be healthy enough to play on Sunday. Good news is relative when discussing the K.C. offense, of course, but with Croyle in line to start next season every little bit of preparation helps the cause. Despite their miserable record, the Jets defense won't provide an easy opponent. They've been much better since the bye and did yeoman's work in last week's loss. They are still vulnerable to the run but the Chief offensive line hasn't offered much space for Kolby Smith or anyone else to operate. The more aggressive Jets can put some heat on Croyle and could force some mistakes if he looks to make the big play.

Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.

This week I sat down with Robert Zepeda of BoltHype, an independent blog that covers the San Diego Chargers.

Dan Benton: "Who in the world are the San Diego Chargers? One week they're dropping the defending Super Bowl champions, then they're getting beat up by the Minnesota Vikings."

Robert Zepeda: "The Chargers are like Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. One minute they're knocking guys out like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, and Renato Sobral, but then the next minute they go and lose to guys like Keith Jardine. Maybe they just got tired of winning and wanted to feel the pain that is associated with a loss. After all, if you are in MMA or Professional Football then you have to be at least somewhat masochistic, right?"

To get you ready for week 4, FanHouse is previewing all this week's games. Here is the San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs preview.

2007 Records:
Kansas City Chiefs: 1-2 (t-2nd in AFC West)
San Diego Chargers: 1-2 (t-2nd in AFC West)

Last Game:
Chiefs 13, Vikings 10
Packers 31, Chargers 24

When the Chiefs have the ball: They could come out throwing against the weak Charger secondary that the Patriots and Packers exploited. San Diego's giving up nearly 250yds in the air to opponents. Look for Damon Huard to get rookie Dwayne Bowe and veteran Tony Gonzalez plenty of action in the aerial attack. Bowe has caught touchdown passes in each of the last two weeks, and Gonzalez blew up for his first big game of the season last week. Larry Johnson will still see plenty of carries, but it's difficult to attack that potent Charger front seven.

When the Chargers have the ball: Expect them to hand the ball off to LaDainian Tomlinson who will have a huge week. The Chiefs defense has played well this year, but that's probably because they've matched up against weak passing attacks the last two weeks in Minnesota and Chicago. The Chargers will be wise to run straight at the Chiefs defense whose strength comes from the stellar pass-rushing ends Jared Allen and Tamba Hali.

Let's try a little exercise for a moment here. Close your eyes and think of a 'crooked' college football program. What comes to mind? USC? Florida State? Ohio State? Alright now close your eyes and think of a 'clean' college football program. Now what comes to mind? Penn State probably tops that list what with Joe Paterno and all the talk of doing things the right way, right?

But is there really a significant ethical difference between many of these schools?

Let's take a closer look at Penn State for a moment. They've spent the greater part of four decades cultivating an image as college football's white picket fence and apple pie team. They are led by the amiable, cuddly and grandfatherly Joe Paterno, among the most respected coaches in the game's history. They wear simple blue and white uniforms without names on the backs. They play in gritty central Pennsylvania and graduate their players.

But beneath that veneer is just enough to make you wonder.

The big recruiting hoopla this week was over USC's alleged recruiting violation in pursuit of Joe McKnight. USC coach Pete Carroll allegedly had McKnight directly or indirectly speak with Reggie Bush, a no-no per NCAA rules as Bush and all former players are considered boosters.

Well guess what, Penn State is perhaps just as guilty of a similar violation. When the Nittany Lions hosted tailback Broderick Green a few weekends ago, he met at least two former Nittany Lion players: Larry Johnson Jr. and Tamba Hali.

Broderick Green took an official visit to Penn State two weeks ago and came back very excited about his time in Happy Valley. He got to speak with Larry Johnson Jr. and Tamba Hali as the two were in town for the weekend.

"He called me from Penn State and he was so excited," [Green's Mother Wilma] Mrs. Murdock told BWI. "When he wasn't calling me, I was calling him. He loved the place and fell in love with the players."

Exsqueeze me? Whistle blowing time here. Based on what we've learned from the Joe McKnight situation this sounds like a similar recruiting violation. Last I checked Hali and Johnson are big name former Nittany Lions who are clearly classified as Boosters in NCAA rulespeak.

Noticeably absent is the requisite media firestorm about this apparent violation.

Update: Several commenters add that for various technicalities this is in fact not a violation. Apparently booster contact is illegal, except when it isn't illegal. Iike I wrote yesterday, welcome to the hell that is NCAA bylaws.