What Should the Chiefs do at Quarterback?

Update: Sunday afternoon – Chiefs 33, Broncos – 19. Chiefs prove they are not the worst team in football, but they are still gonna need to make a move at quarterback in the off-season.

I know it’s too early in the football season to really start talking about the 2009 NFL draft, but let’s get real; my beloved Kansas City Chiefs are in the running to be the worst team in football. I can deal with that – they are rebuilding, playing young guys,… yadda yadda yadda. Overall I think we are actually in pretty good shape, we have a lot of good young players at a lot of positions. There is one thing that stands out as obviously missing though, and I said this before the 2008 draft (hoping we’d draft Matt Ryan) – there is no depth at quarterback.

People didn’t take me seriously when I said we should seriously draft Matt Ryan (it wasn’t an option though anyway, he was gone at pick #5). Damon Huard is an aging veteran backup on a rebuilding team, it’s just not a good fit, and Brodie Croyle just doesn’t seem to be tough enough to play consistently. Nothing against Croyle, it’s just you can’t develop as a quarterback when you can’t stay healthy for at least even 80% of the snaps. I honestly hope he gets healthy and leads this Chiefs team to at least 6 wins this year, but given that he’s been knocked out of almost every game he has started? You gotta get some good insurance at quarterback, and that was obvious to me last year.

We should have traded Huard and a couple other veteran role-players (we still could) for a draft pick or a decent young backup,… anything. Solid, mediocre veterans can be useful for teams vying for a playoff spot, but that’s not us, not this year. So anyways, that’s why I am going to start talking about who the Chiefs should get at quarterback in trade, or in the 2009 NFL draft. Tim Tebow of Florida?  – I don’t think so. Chase Daniels of Missouri? – Keep on dreamin’ Chase. There is one guy that stands out in college football as a premier NFL quarterback prospect, and that man is Sam Bradford of Oklahoma.

Tebow doesn’t look good at all so far this year, Chase Daniels is just not quite big enough, and there isn’t a lot of other guys with as much consistency as even the sophomore Bradford has shown in his short college career. He has got it at all, he is 6′4″, 220 lbs., has great arm strength, and great accuracy. His freshman year?  – 69.5% completion rate, 3,121 yards passing, 36 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. With Tebow’s stock sliding far early this year, and Bradford lighting it up, (so far 882 yds, 12 td’s, 2 int., 79% completion rate) there is little doubt who the top quarterback prospect is.  And I am confident Bradford will continue to shred defenses and breeze through the Big 12 this year. The only real question is will he come out for the draft? I hope so, and if he does this is who the Chiefs should target in the draft.

I don’t see any of the guys that are expecting to come out for the draft at quarterback to really be a franchise guy who you can invest in. Who do you think the Chiefs should get at quarterback? Croyle’s injury problems can’t be ignored, and the Chiefs have to make a big move at this position to have a shot at even breaking even next year. It will be Herm Edwards’ fourth year in KC in 2009, and if he’s not close to at least 8 – 8 there is a good chance he won’t be the coach in KC in 2010. (Even 6 wins might be okay if we had a tough, solid young quarterback developing.)

Post-Debate Reaction: McCain Refuses to Distance Himself From Bush W. or the Bush Administration

So John McCain did show up for the debate and did okay, (despite never looking Barack in the eyes ONCE, and standing hunched over in anger like an old codger the whole time).  His pretend to save the day with strong leadership stunt (the financial bailout in fact might not pass because of his political jockeying on the issue) failed miserably, so why worsen the damage by not showing up? Many times over the past several weeks he has made these kind of odd, out of left field, quick, gut-based decisions (stunts). Very much like in the tradition of our current president, George W. Bush. This brings me to my main point: the most surprising thing, and what stood out to me the most over the course of the debate, is that in the 10 or so times that Barack tied McCain directly to Bush and the Bush administration, not once did McCain protest, object, or disagree with these assertions..

I was really expecting for McCain to try and seperate himself from W. at least a little bit. Especially considering the fact that recently he has tried to say that he is the true agent of change,  (which is just laughable). Which is it McCain? Are you for change? Then why did you NOT ONCE, protest when Obama tied you directly to the continuation of the Bush administration policies? McCain is also trying to make a case for himself touting his experience, his experience though is one of participating heavily in this last eight years of unprecedented Republican control of the government, which put us in the disaster we are currently in. And 10 days ago he was saying the foundations of our economy are strong. Now it’s a disaster the likes of which we’ve never seen, McCain can’t make up his mind. The last thing we need is another cowboy-type president who makes quick gut-based decisions, and McCain has shown that is clearly how he operates. In fact instead of a maverick, we should call him John McCain; professional stuntman.

Post Debate Polls:

• CBS News: Obama won 39%, McCain won 25%, Draw 36%
• Insider Advantage: Obama won 42%, McCain won 41%, Undecided: 17%
• CNN: Obama “did better” 51%, McCain “did better” 38%

McCain is Scared of Debating Obama

Latest word is that John McCain wants to not debate on Friday, in lieu of the financial crisis.  So NOW, he calls it a crisis so bad he can’t debate, …this coming from the same man who called the foundations of the economy strong 15+ times in the past few weeks. McCain’s flip-flopping is extremely laughable on so many levels (get a clue man). Obama has said that he is for a bipartisan solution and this issue should not be politicized,  but that now is precisely the time we need to hear debates with only 40 days until a new president signs in.  By suspending his campaign and going to Washington, McCain sends the wrong message. He should stay the course of this race and not cause even more distraction by trying to inject himself into the already ongoing negotiations. (Supposedly they were close to a deal BEFORE McCain went back to Washington, and now they aren’t).

This is a political stunt, he is scared, and he should be. It’s the same reason Palin has had ZERO press conferences and only two interviews. The McCain – Palin duo is already looking like a Bush W. presidency – no press conferences if they can help it, shy away from the media and tough questions, and hope to skate through unscathed. Pathetic. If there is no debate on friday or if McCain doesn’t show up, that is the biggest bunch of BS I will have seen in a long time. Stop running McCain….! Stop running Palin….! How about actually answering some real questions! Hillary Clinton was run through the wringer like a prisoner at a firing line. You really think Hillary voters are gonna go for someone who can’t even answer a few tough questions without folding like a house made out of playing cards? Not in a million years.

Fall Photos

As I have said before, digital art is not my forte (drawing, watercolor and acrylic painting by hand is), but I do like taking pictures as well, (and messing around with them in graphic editing programs). Here are a couple of my recent digital photo works. They are originally from a batch of photos I took at a local state park a couple of years ago around this time. The second one there is meant to kind of mimic a relief monoprint.

Down on the Hill by Ed T. ©2008

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Bare-branched Tree by Ed T. © 2008

No Cheap Shot: Brady Should Never of Been on the Field Against the Chiefs

I know I am like a day late and a dollar short with this article but I feel like I have to get my two-cents in on Tom Brady going down for the season. First off, it was NOT a cheap shot from Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. Tom Brady should never have been in the game in the first place and everyone knows it. The Patriots are under the illusion (despite their defeat at the hands of the Giants) that somehow special rules apply to them, (although we all know that there are ‘Patriot’ rules that go into effect when it looks like they might lose). Football is a brutal sport and a quarterback with a questionable foot is a sitting duck in this league. Belichick is the one that should be on the hook for Brady going down. Brady should of never been on the field. What WAS cheap was the excessively devestating force that was used on Brodie Croyle’s shoulder when he was sacked, that was the only cheap shot in the game.

Dragons and Man

Yet another old sketchbook entry of mine, this one is called Dragons and Man for obvious reasons, and is a couple years old. (I have A LOT of old unpublished work that needs to be photographed still, so you’ll be seeing a lot more). It’s like the big dragon is breathing down the neck of the guy and about to eat him or something. While at the same time he is setting a smaller dragon free. There’s his house in the background there. No real intended meanings or anything; my drawings are kind of like dreams – maybe they are supposed to make sense or maybe it’s just randomness, or both, or it’s a mix of conscious and unconscious intention. Or it’s just a doodle I made when I was bored one day!

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"Dragons and Man" by Ed T ©2008.

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