I think Curry’s a natural Sam, but could play Mike quite capably. His natural intelligence and size would allow him to do well at Mike, but having him just blow up runners between the tackles when he can blitz and cover like he can . . . seems like a waste. My ideal scenario is to sign MLB Mike Peterson from Jacksonville, and draft Curry. Let Peterson center Sims and Curry, and THEN you have a real LB corps.

Nothing’s been officially settled yet, but from the rumblings and suggestions, it looks like we will stay with a base 4-3 front, but flash some 3-4 looks to take advantage of our slew of big slow DEs/skinny quick DTs/fast linebackers. With the signing of Grady Jackson, we even have a guy who can play the two-gap tackle without getting blown off the ball . . .

Speaking of which, no, Redding is listed at 305 (though, to me, he looked 315 last year, and played fat and slow). In a 3-4, Redding would be better off playing DE at his listed weight. Hell, in a Redding would be better off playing at his listed weight, 3-4 or no . . .

Peace
Ty @ The Lions in Winter

There are two basic schools of thought on Thigpen in Chiefs land.

On the one hand you’ve got the crowd who sees a lot of potential in him and thinks he’s got the makings of a franchise QB. His performance last year was the best we’ve seen from a young QB in a KC uniform in at least 20 years and that can’t be understated (all six QBs Carl Peterson drafted were busts…complete and utter failures). He’s young so there’s certainly the potential to improve, he’s very athletic and he’s shown flashes of brilliance (despite starting the season as the #3 QB on the roster).

On the other hand, you’ve got the group who sees him as a creation of the offense he worked in and there are serious questions about whether he’s even an NFL caliber player in any other type of offense. Running a more traditional offense during the Atlanta game, Thigpen looked nothing like an NFL QB. Frankly, he looked like a guy who was plucked off the street, given a uniform and thrown out on the field. It was possibly the ugliest performance I’ve ever seen. Only when they installed the spread offense (an offense that nobody’s sure will work in the NFL long-term) did he look capable…possibly because it’s similar to the offense he ran at Coastal Carolina. And even in an offense tailored to his strengths, his passing stats were pretty pedestrian and there are still a lot of questions about his accuracy and decision-making.

So, basically, nobody really knows about Thigpen. I think that most KC fans liked him and would have been okay (if not necessarily thrilled) with him being the starter this year, but then I also think that a lot of those fans wouldn’t have a problem with him getting traded for a decent draft pick either because they recognize that there are flaws and he may be a “sell-high” player. I’m on the fence as well…if the Chiefs could get a second or third rounder (say for him and Larry Johnson) I’d be ecstatic and say he should get shipped. If it’s a second day draft pick I think we’re better off keeping him as a backup (since, as you noted, there are questions about Cassel).