Post by lazarus on Aug 12, 2005 12:36:02 GMT -5
Defense will see better now with Knight vision
JASON WHITLOCK
RIVER FALLS, Wis. ¡ª Here are a few training-camp thoughts to mull over as the Chiefs open their exhibition season against the Vikings tonight.
¡ö If what I¡¯m hearing is true, Sammy Knight will have the biggest impact of the Chiefs¡¯ defensive free agents. That doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯ll be a better player than cornerback Patrick Surtain or linebacker Kendrell Bell. It simply means Knight will make more KC defenders better than Surtain or Bell.
Knight is slower than everyone else in the secondary and might be a step slower than KC¡¯s starting linebackers. But, according to everyone I¡¯ve talked to, Knight will be the Chiefs¡¯ smartest defender. He¡¯ll rarely be caught out of position, and he¡¯ll rarely allow fellow safety Greg Wesley to be caught out of position.
¡°It¡¯s like when I had James Hasty back there,¡± defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham told me. ¡°He sees things, and you just have to trust him and let him do things his way.¡±
Knight¡¯s intellect will help the linebackers, the corners and Wesley. However, what I like about Knight is that he¡¯s a sure tackler. Wesley and Jerome Woods missed too many tackles last year.
¡°He¡¯s a technician,¡± said former Chief Jason Belser. ¡°You play that long, and you work at your craft.¡±
¡ö My new defensive concern: What¡¯s going to happen to Jared Allen and Eric Hicks?
Sometimes you get what you draft. Remember when Hicks shocked the world and put together a 14-sack season? Man, we thought the Chiefs developed an undrafted free agent into a legitimate pass rusher. Well, now five years later, Hicks is a solid, unspectacular defensive end.
It¡¯s easier to rush the passer when teams don¡¯t game-plan to stop you. What happens now after Allen¡¯s breakthrough rookie season? Is he really a double-digit sacker?
Minnesota left tackle Bryant McKinnie is a good first test for Allen. If the Chiefs don¡¯t get any pass rush from the edge, Cunningham will be forced to blitz Bell and rookie Derrick Johnson more often, which might not be the worst thing.
¡ö Thursday I upset some folks when I didn¡¯t mention Will Shields as a candidate for the best ever at his position. Shields is definitely a Hall of Famer, but when it comes to the best guards of all time, I don¡¯t put Shields in the same class with John Hannah and Larry Allen.
¡ö Brian Waters, the best guard in football last year, is terribly underpaid. The Chiefs are playing hardball and won¡¯t renegotiate Waters¡¯ deal, which doesn¡¯t expire until the end of the 2006 season. Waters told me the Chiefs want proof that last year wasn¡¯t a fluke, and they want Waters to get through this year injury-free.
Waters, the anti-Terrell Owens, is handling the situation professionally. He doesn¡¯t even employ an agent. He¡¯s not happy. But he¡¯s not going to do anything to disrupt this team and what they¡¯re trying to accomplish.
The risk the Chiefs are taking is that if they wait until next season to renegotiate, Waters might just play the situation out and test the free-agent Waters. He¡¯ll be 29, at his physical peak and in perfect position to pull a John Tait.
With this probably being Will Shields¡¯ last season, I suspect the Chiefs will take care of Waters. But we are talking about King Carl Peterson ¡ stay tuned.
¡ö Why Trent Green is the most respected player on the roster:
This offseason the players would get together in little groups, eat and say exactly what they thought of one another. Eddie Kennison told a story about how last season during a game he loafed on a play when he was the third or fourth read on a pass play. Green went through his progression of reads, and with his primary receivers covered, he threw the ball where Kennison was supposed to be.
The pass was intercepted. Kennison thanked Green for taking the blame for the interception and promised he¡¯d never let his QB down again by taking a play off.
I could probably tell a Trent Green story every day. These guys love Trent Green, and everyone has a story to justify the affection and respect.
JASON WHITLOCK
RIVER FALLS, Wis. ¡ª Here are a few training-camp thoughts to mull over as the Chiefs open their exhibition season against the Vikings tonight.
¡ö If what I¡¯m hearing is true, Sammy Knight will have the biggest impact of the Chiefs¡¯ defensive free agents. That doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯ll be a better player than cornerback Patrick Surtain or linebacker Kendrell Bell. It simply means Knight will make more KC defenders better than Surtain or Bell.
Knight is slower than everyone else in the secondary and might be a step slower than KC¡¯s starting linebackers. But, according to everyone I¡¯ve talked to, Knight will be the Chiefs¡¯ smartest defender. He¡¯ll rarely be caught out of position, and he¡¯ll rarely allow fellow safety Greg Wesley to be caught out of position.
¡°It¡¯s like when I had James Hasty back there,¡± defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham told me. ¡°He sees things, and you just have to trust him and let him do things his way.¡±
Knight¡¯s intellect will help the linebackers, the corners and Wesley. However, what I like about Knight is that he¡¯s a sure tackler. Wesley and Jerome Woods missed too many tackles last year.
¡°He¡¯s a technician,¡± said former Chief Jason Belser. ¡°You play that long, and you work at your craft.¡±
¡ö My new defensive concern: What¡¯s going to happen to Jared Allen and Eric Hicks?
Sometimes you get what you draft. Remember when Hicks shocked the world and put together a 14-sack season? Man, we thought the Chiefs developed an undrafted free agent into a legitimate pass rusher. Well, now five years later, Hicks is a solid, unspectacular defensive end.
It¡¯s easier to rush the passer when teams don¡¯t game-plan to stop you. What happens now after Allen¡¯s breakthrough rookie season? Is he really a double-digit sacker?
Minnesota left tackle Bryant McKinnie is a good first test for Allen. If the Chiefs don¡¯t get any pass rush from the edge, Cunningham will be forced to blitz Bell and rookie Derrick Johnson more often, which might not be the worst thing.
¡ö Thursday I upset some folks when I didn¡¯t mention Will Shields as a candidate for the best ever at his position. Shields is definitely a Hall of Famer, but when it comes to the best guards of all time, I don¡¯t put Shields in the same class with John Hannah and Larry Allen.
¡ö Brian Waters, the best guard in football last year, is terribly underpaid. The Chiefs are playing hardball and won¡¯t renegotiate Waters¡¯ deal, which doesn¡¯t expire until the end of the 2006 season. Waters told me the Chiefs want proof that last year wasn¡¯t a fluke, and they want Waters to get through this year injury-free.
Waters, the anti-Terrell Owens, is handling the situation professionally. He doesn¡¯t even employ an agent. He¡¯s not happy. But he¡¯s not going to do anything to disrupt this team and what they¡¯re trying to accomplish.
The risk the Chiefs are taking is that if they wait until next season to renegotiate, Waters might just play the situation out and test the free-agent Waters. He¡¯ll be 29, at his physical peak and in perfect position to pull a John Tait.
With this probably being Will Shields¡¯ last season, I suspect the Chiefs will take care of Waters. But we are talking about King Carl Peterson ¡ stay tuned.
¡ö Why Trent Green is the most respected player on the roster:
This offseason the players would get together in little groups, eat and say exactly what they thought of one another. Eddie Kennison told a story about how last season during a game he loafed on a play when he was the third or fourth read on a pass play. Green went through his progression of reads, and with his primary receivers covered, he threw the ball where Kennison was supposed to be.
The pass was intercepted. Kennison thanked Green for taking the blame for the interception and promised he¡¯d never let his QB down again by taking a play off.
I could probably tell a Trent Green story every day. These guys love Trent Green, and everyone has a story to justify the affection and respect.