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Nick Athan
WarpaintIllustrated.com
April 25, 2007
One thing is abundantly clear as we move closer to Saturday’s NFL Draft. The Chiefs are going to get an impact player at #23. On Monday we talked about Brady Quinn, and Tuesday we offered our take on Justin Harrell. We go back to offense and look at the wide receiver position today, which is stacked with playmakers who could fall to the Chiefs.
I’m not a big fan of picking wide receivers in the first round. I think it’s a position that generally fails in the first round and is one of the hardest to learn in the NFL. Those that have success in college – especially those with great speed – find it difficult to kick it up a notch when they’ve been so dominant in college.
One wide receiver that might break that mold is Ohio State’s Ted Ginn, Jr. He’s fast, and can easily outrun NFL cornerbacks. He tortured the likes of Leon Hall (Michigan), the top-rated corner in the draft, and Darrelle Revis (Pittsburgh), the second-ranked corner in the draft.
Ginn is a perfectionist when it comes to running routes. He has great hands and is extremely quick. The Chiefs have not had a receiver with this kind of talent in a long time. No offense to the guys on the roster now - especially Eddie Kennison and the two young receivers, Chris Hannon and Jeff Webb - but Ginn is something special.
The best part about Ginn is he won’t be asked to start if the Chiefs draft him. Don’t get me wrong, they need an upgrade at the position, but because Ginn can return punts and kicks he can get into the flow of the game, gauge the speed of the NFL and contribute in other ways while he learns the offense.
The Chiefs have Dante Hall on the roster but they’ve been shopping him to other teams in recent weeks. The difference between Ginn and Hall is that Ginn is far more polished as a receiver and is a better special teams weapon than Hall was when he came out of Texas A&M as a running back.
Again, the Chiefs needs in this draft are plentiful, and wide receiver is one of them. The fact that Herm Edwards wants to give Webb and Hannon lots of reps heading into the season means he wasn’t happy with last season’s production from the position.
KC’s offense is going to focus even more on the running attack, but you need players who can catch the ball over the middle and gain an extra yard on third down to keep the sticks moving.
Outside of Calvin Johnson, who likely will go in the top three picks, I wouldn’t take another receiver in the first round outside of Ginn – and I say that only because he’s a two-dimensional player.
If he’s available at #23, it’ll be hard for Edwards to pass up that 4.35 speed despite needs at other positions.
