2 Kansas City CHIEFS
GLENN DORSEY went to a luncheon in Kansas City this summer expecting the standard fare: chicken breast, bread roll and all-you-can-eat optimism about the 2009 season. He wound up with an extra helping of reassurance, delivered from an unexpected source. Neil Smith approached Dorsey during the event and told him about a highly touted defensive end from New Orleans who was drafted at No. 2 by the Chiefs in 1988 but finished his rookie year with just 2½ sacks for a team that went 4-11-1. The following year K.C. drafted future Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas. With Thomas monopolizing attention, the end from New Orleans had 6½ sacks in his second season, and the Chiefs went 8-7-1. The year after that he racked up 9½ sacks for an 11--5 club.
The subject of the story, of course, was Smith himself. "I used to watch Neil when I was growing up in Louisiana, and I think he saw that we had some things in common," says Dorsey. "He wanted me to remember to keep pushing."
The similarities between Smith's background and Dorsey's are startling. Dorsey was drafted at No. 5 out of LSU last year but finished his rookie season with only one sack, in part because he never took the time to allow a sprained knee in training camp to fully heal and started all 16 games. Now that Kansas City, under first-year coach Todd Haley, is switching to a 3--4, Dorsey is moving from tackle to end, where he'll play opposite this year's first-round draft pick out of LSU, Tyson Jackson. No one is comparing Jackson to Thomas, but Jackson is also a vaunted speed rusher and should not need long to develop into a force that could free up Dorsey. They were Tigers teammates—and roommates—who still reminisce about taking their recruiting trips to Baton Rouge on the same weekend.
The Chiefs have a host of promising defensive linemen, including '06 first-rounder Tamba Hali, '07 second-rounder Turk McBride and '07 third-rounder Tank Tyler. The shift to a three-man front will move some of them out of their natural positions. While Dorsey slides from tackle to end, Hali and McBride are migrating from end to outside linebacker, and tackle Tyler is learning to play the nose. All must embrace a system in which linemen are often asked to occupy blockers while linebackers get most of the shots at the quarterback and the ballcarrier.
"We have a lot of highly drafted defensive linemen here, but I think we can use that to our advantage," Tyler says. "We're all talented enough to get ourselves in a position to make plays."
Something had to change about the K.C. defense after it finished last season ranked 31st in the NFL and mustered only 10 sacks, lowest for a team since the league began keeping sack statistics in 1982. There are a lot of reasons the Chiefs won only two games last year—inconsistent quarterback play, a dearth of contributors in their prime, an unhappy Larry Johnson, an inordinate number of last-minute losses—but the lack of a pass rush was at or near the top of the list. "We have to create more havoc in the backfield," says Haley. "It just has to happen."
Kansas City has undergone a massive makeover. In addition to the new coach and the new defense, there is a new general manager, Scott Pioli, and a new quarterback, Matt Cassel, both by way of the Patriots. Haley, the offensive coordinator in Arizona last season, brought with him defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, a 3--4 proponent. The Chiefs should be better with Cassel (who might be slowed by an injured knee to start the season), but how much better really depends on that front seven—whether all the bonus babies can realize their potential in the new scheme. "It's going to be a different mind-set," Dorsey says, "but I like the change." Playing end, he enjoys more freedom, sees fewer double teams and, when times get rough, can call on a mentor who was once in the same spot.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
WITH 2008 STATISTICS
COACH: TODD HALEY
0--0 in NFL, first season with Chiefs
OFFENSE
Dwayne BOWE
POS WR
REC 86
YARDS 1,022
TTD 7
Barry RICHARDSON
POS RT
HT 6'6"
WT 319
G 6
Larry JOHNSON
POS RB
ATT 193
YARDS 874
AVG 4.5
REC 12
YARDS 74
AVG 6.2
TTD 5
Mike GOFF
POS RG
HT 6'5"
WT 311
G 16
Matt CASSEL
POS QB
ATT 516
COMP 327
PCT 63.4
YARDS 3,693
TD 21
INT 11
RATING 89.4
Rudy NISWANGER
POS C
HT 6'5"
WT 301
G 15
Bobby ENGRAM
POS WR
REC 47
YARDS 489
TTD 0
Brian WATERS
POS LG
HT 6'3"
WT 320
G 16
Mark BRADLEY
POS WR
REC 30
YARDS 380
TTD 3
Branden ALBERT
POS LT
HT 6'5"
WT 316
G 15
Ryan SUCCOP (R)
POS K
FG 20--30
POINTS 90
Sean RYAN
POS TE
REC 1
YARDS 8
TTD 0
Free agents Amani Toomer and Bobby Engram add veteran WR depth; second-year RB Jamaal Charles (5.3 yards per carry) backs up the mercurial Johnson.
DEFENSE
Tamba HALI
POS OLB
TACKLES 55
SACKS 3
INT 0
Brandon CARR
POS CB
TACKLES 73
INT 2
Tyson JACKSON (R)
POS DE
TACKLES 36
SACKS 4½
Jarrad PAGE
POS FS
TACKLES 84
SACKS 0
INT 4
Tank TYLER
POS NT
TACKLES 41
SACKS 0
Derrick JOHNSON
POS ILB
TACKLES 85
SACKS 1½
INT 1
Glenn DORSEY
POS DE
TACKLES 46
SACKS 1
Corey MAYS
POS ILB
TACKLES 5
SACKS 0
INT 0
Mike VRABEL
POS OLB
TACKLES 62
SACKS 4
INT 1
Bernard POLLARD
POS SS
TACKLES 98
SACKS 0
INT 1
Dustin COLQUITT
POS P
PUNTS 70
AVG 44.4
Brandon FLOWERS
POS CB
TACKLES 68
INT 2
Tenth-year veteran SS Mike Brown (74 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INTs for the Bears) will push leading '08 tackler Pollard.
New ACQUISITION
(R) Rookie: College Statistics
TTD: Total touchdowns
my SI
SI.com/Chiefs
Get the latest and best Chiefs stories, statistics and fan blogs from across the Web, handpicked by the editors of SI.
2009 SCHEDULE
2008 RECORD 2--14
NFL RANK (Rush > Pass > Total)
OFFENSE 16 > 20 > 24
DEFENSE 30 > 28 > 31
SEPTEMBER
13 at Baltimore
20 OAKLAND
27 at Philadelphia
OCTOBER
4 N.Y. GIANTS
11 DALLAS
18 at Washington
25 SAN DIEGO
NOVEMBER
1 Bye
8 at Jacksonville
15 at Oakland
22 PITTSBURGH
29 at San Diego
DECEMBER
6 DENVER
13 BUFFALO
20 CLEVELAND
27 at Cincinnati
JANUARY
3 at Denver
SCHEDULE STRENGTH
NFL Rank: 17T
Opponents' 2008 winning percentage: .484
Games against playoff teams: 6
ANALYSIS
Starting with Week 3, the Chiefs play four straight NFC East opponents. At least new coach Todd Haley knows those clubs from his time as offensive coordinator with Arizona: The Cards played all four NFC East teams last year and also knocked off the Eagles in the conference title game. A young team will be battle-tested before the bulk of its divisional matchups.
SPOTLIGHT
Branden Albert, Tackle
AFTER BEING drafted at No. 15 as a guard out of Virginia in 2008 and then missing all of his first NFL preseason because of a foot injury, it hardly figured that Albert would start at left tackle for the Chiefs in Week 1 at New England, play every snap and do better than hold his own against Patriots Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour. But he did.
At 6'5", 316, Albert is stout, smart and nimble, the kind of offensive lineman Kansas City would clone if it could because the line is clearly an area of concern. Projected starting guards Mike Goff and Brian Waters both have 10 or more seasons under their belt, so Albert provides youth and promise to a unit that could use more of both. The Chiefs are banking on him to invigorate running back Larry Johnson by blowing open a few more holes and to protect the blind side of the franchise's most valuable asset, new quarterback Matt Cassel. "Last year I was trying to establish myself," Albert says. "Now I'm trying to become a leader." He has already taken the first step, defending his linemates against training-camp criticism and insisting they'll improve as a group this season. "As a whole, we're going to get better," Albert says. "But it's easy to tell people that. We've got to prove it."
PHOTO
CLIFF WELCH/ICON SMI
TIGER TALE Dorsey (left) will pair up at DE with '09 pick Jackson, his Baton Rouge roomie.
PHOTO
WD/ICON SMI
PHOTO