What’s your approach to the cap and drafts?

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I still find it fascinating that the brightest defensive mind arguably in the history of the sport has trended towards stacking his secondary and getting by with 2nd tier talents on his DL for years.

If Belichick is doing something, we might want to consider following suit.

But yeah, conventional wisdom says get your rusher.

I put a lot of stock in legit CB play and, especially, having a guy that can consistently lock down another team's best target. I know many here don't, or at least don't value it high in the draft because Veach has lucked out a few times.

I think letting Ward walk was an enormous mistake because he was as elite as CBs get in today's NFL. Corners as good as Ward are very hard to find and he was quickly scooped up.

I'm hoping the young kids make up for it. I do really like McDuffie, but he likely isn't stepping in and replacing what KC had on day 1.

All that said, I do value a pass rusher slightly higher. I think you have to have a guy that can disrupt the QB's clock, and if you don't then you're very much playing at a disadvantage unless you assemble a roster than can cover everyone. Easier said than done against teams like Cincinnati, for example.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I put a lot of stock in legit CB play and, especially, having a guy that can consistently lock down another team's best target. I know many here don't, or at least don't value it high in the draft because Veach has lucked out a few times.

I think letting Ward walk was an enormous mistake because he was as elite as CBs get in today's NFL. Corners as good as Ward are very hard to find and he was quickly scooped up.

I'm hoping the young kids make up for it. I do really like McDuffie, but he likely isn't stepping in and replacing what KC had on day 1.

All that said, I do value a pass rusher slightly higher. I think you have to have a guy that can disrupt the QB's clock, and if you don't then you're very much playing at a disadvantage unless you assemble a roster than can cover everyone. Easier said than done against teams like Cincinnati, for example.

For the most part, I don’t like signing corners to big multi year contracts after their rookie deal. They will probably be productive during the first half of the deal, and not so great in the second half.

[Couch-Potato]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I put a lot of stock in legit CB play and, especially, having a guy that can consistently lock down another team's best target. I know many here don't, or at least don't value it high in the draft because Veach has lucked out a few times.

I think letting Ward walk was an enormous mistake because he was as elite as CBs get in today's NFL. Corners as good as Ward are very hard to find and he was quickly scooped up.

I'm hoping the young kids make up for it. I do really like McDuffie, but he likely isn't stepping in and replacing what KC had on day 1.

All that said, I do value a pass rusher slightly higher. I think you have to have a guy that can disrupt the QB's clock, and if you don't then you're very much playing at a disadvantage unless you assemble a roster than can cover everyone. Easier said than done against teams like Cincinnati, for example.

Esp now that we have $14m just sitting around would have been nice to keep Ward

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I put a lot of stock in legit CB play and, especially, having a guy that can consistently lock down another team's best target. I know many here don't, or at least don't value it high in the draft because Veach has lucked out a few times.

I think letting Ward walk was an enormous mistake because he was as elite as CBs get in today's NFL. Corners as good as Ward are very hard to find and he was quickly scooped up.

I'm hoping the young kids make up for it. I do really like McDuffie, but he likely isn't stepping in and replacing what KC had on day 1.

All that said, I do value a pass rusher slightly higher. I think you have to have a guy that can disrupt the QB's clock, and if you don't then you're very much playing at a disadvantage unless you assemble a roster than can cover everyone. Easier said than done against teams like Cincinnati, for example.

Bah!

You're not allowed to play cover anymore. Look at what Chase did to Ward.

Draft 'em, develop, and let someone else pay 'em Rinse and repeat

The only caviat being versatile guys as far as scheme fit/inside/outside corner/safety types.

Sneed I might pay. McDuffie has the sort of varied skillset that might be more than just an outside corner.

There is no such thing as a shutdown corner anymore. Let someone else pay for the myth

Rush the passer, stuff the run. Confuse with scheme and hope for the best.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Bah!

You're not allowed to play cover anymore. Look at what Chase did to Ward.

Draft 'em, develop, and let someone else pay 'em Rinse and repeat

The only caviat being versatile guys as far as scheme fit/inside/outside corner/safety types.

Sneed I might pay. McDuffie has the sort of varied skillset that might be more than just an outside corner.

There is no such thing as a shutdown corner anymore. Let someone else pay for the myth

Rush the passer, stuff the run. Confuse with scheme and hope for the best.

I disagree, quite a bit.

Chase did get Ward on the sideline in the first matchup. Not the same deal the 2nd time around. When Ward shut Chase down in round 2 by altering how he used the sideline to his advantage, they exploited the slot matchup. That is reason and exhibit A on why you need good corners 3 deep. You don't need stars 3 deep, but you can't be as weak as the Chiefs were after Ward and Sneed. No Ward is likely going to be a problem early on this year unless Sneed steps up another notch and the rookies play well.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I put a lot of stock in legit CB play and, especially, having a guy that can consistently lock down another team's best target. I know many here don't, or at least don't value it high in the draft because Veach has lucked out a few times.

I think letting Ward walk was an enormous mistake because he was as elite as CBs get in today's NFL. Corners as good as Ward are very hard to find and he was quickly scooped up.

I'm hoping the young kids make up for it. I do really like McDuffie, but he likely isn't stepping in and replacing what KC had on day 1.

All that said, I do value a pass rusher slightly higher. I think you have to have a guy that can disrupt the QB's clock, and if you don't then you're very much playing at a disadvantage unless you assemble a roster than can cover everyone. Easier said than done against teams like Cincinnati, for example.

I think you get diminishing marginal returns at the very top of the CB scale. I don't worry much about having a 'true shut down #1 CB' that much because honestly, even they get beat in this era.

But give me 3 viable above average CBs at the price of a #1, 2 and fill-in 3, and I'm gonna be a happy camper.

Secondary depth is more important than it's top end to me. But like you, I think Ward at his price was someone we should've brought back because that's exactly the sort of solid value #2 sort you can add/extend another guy just like him to and then draft your 3 and 4 to get your full DB set for around $28 million or so? Yeah - I'm down with that.

Not having a hole in your secondary {coughcough}Mike Hughes{/cough} is more important than having Jalen Ramsey out there.

And the Bengals regular season loss vs. the Bills playoff win provides both sides of that coin. No DB in the world shuts down Chase that day. Ward was constantly in his pocket and it just didn't matter. Chase was locked in and when that happens your DB loses.

But against the Bills, Allen just kept dropping back, finding Hughes and attacking the inevitable misstep. And made it look EASY. Whereas Chase was making miracles happen out there.

Just keep the easy shit from happening and I'll live with the occasional miracle.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I still find it fascinating that the brightest defensive mind arguably in the history of the sport has trended towards stacking his secondary and getting by with 2nd tier talents on his DL for years.

If Belichick is doing something, we might want to consider following suit.

But yeah, conventional wisdom says get your rusher.

Bc you can have several variations of blitz packages if you have a strong secondary. You can’t do that the other way as seen by the 2018 Chiefs.

Look at what the Patriots did to us in 2018 with below average rushers? Look at what we did to Josh Allen in the 2020 championship game to confuse him?

That’s why I think coverage is more important if you had to choose.it’s rare to have both