KC Chiefs, Big 12 have strong showings in deep, defensive-minded NFL draft

Tennessee safety Eric Berry was the Kansas City Chiefs'
top draft choice, No. 5 overall, in the NFL draft this weekend
in New York City. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan in New York City is empty and quiet today, a serene scene that belies the fervor and fantasy fulfillment of the just-ended three-day pro-football draft circus once known simply as the National Football League annual meeting.

This is the first year that the nationally-televised, prime-time event was conducted over three days, beginning on Thursday night. When it was all over late Saturday afternoon, save for the shouting and celebrating that no doubt would extend at least through the weekend, 255 pro prospects were picked from the college ranks by the 32 NFL teams over seven fairly fast-paced, chess match-like selection rounds.

For many of these college standouts, particularly those selected in the opening round, the celebratory atmosphere will be short-lived as they immediately head off to their new team locations for local announcements and, in quite a few cases, rookie mini camps.

Many football experts called this year’s NFL draft one of the deepest in recent memory in terms of skills and talent. That became vividly evident the number of quality selections that were still being made as late as the fifth and sixth rounds on Saturday.

Heading into this year’s pro-football draft extravaganza, which not-coincidentally puts the NFL flush in the sports spotlight despite being deep into what there is of its offseason, there was historical concern among the local faithful that the Kansas City Chiefs would once again disappoint and underachieve in its draft decisions. Being one of those naysayers myself, I am happy to report that the long-standing, disastrous Kansas City draft-history mold just may have been broken.

Former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford went No. 1
in this year's NFL draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bradford is the first No. 1 NFL selection in the 14-year
history of the Big 12 Conference. (AP file photo)

We won’t know for sure, of course, until we see the Chiefs’ 2010 draft selections in real-game action next season, but on paper, the work of general manager Scott Pioli and his band of player personnel brethren over the weekend appears to address some important team needs that could make the Chiefs a better football team come this fall.

Most of the rating services that grade the NFL teams on meeting their needs through the draft give the Chiefs a grade of B or B- for the 2010 draft class, an evaluation that I concur with. If that doesn’t seem very impressive, consider that the vast majority of the draft grades given to the Chiefs by experts around the country over the past decade, and even years before, have been in the range of C- through F.

Team speed and individual character on and off the field were primary considerations by Pioli & Company in making this year’s selections. This explains the selection of Eric
Berry, a safety from Tennessee, as the Chiefs’ top draft choice, the fifth selection overall, and diminutive running back Dexter McCluster from Mississippi and defensive back Javier Arenas with the team’s second and third draft selections.

“Overall team speed, that was one thing we needed to improve,” Pioli told local reporters after the first two days of the draft. “You want to get good players who are fast. We are a faster football team today.”

Regarding the character issue, Pioli said, “The type of player we’re looking for just so happens to be the type of person who could or would be a captain of a football team,” adding, “We went after players who have the right kind of makeup.” Just to be clear, the Chiefs’ general manager is not talking about Larry Johnson-types.

Kansas City did not take any players from the Big 12 Conference among its seven draft selections (four from the SEC and two from the Big Ten, however), but 19 other NFL teams did dip into the Big 12 talent pool. In all, 30 players from 11 conference teams were taken in the draft. This is the most players drafted from the Big 12 since the 2005 class, in which 32 players were taken.

This year’s draft started off as if it was going to be an all-Big 12 affair. Five of the first six players selected, including the first four, were from the Big 12. This marked the first time since 1945 that four players from the same conference were the first four taken in the draft. In 1945, four players from the Southeastern Conference were selected to lead off the draft.

In addition, of the top four players taken on this year’s draft board, three were from Oklahoma. Former Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford was taken No. 1, as expected, by the St. Louis Rams. He was followed by Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the No. 2 pick, by the Detroit Lions; Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; and Trent Williams, offensive tackle from Oklahoma, who went to the Washington Redskins with the fourth pick overall.

The Chiefs temporarily broke up the Big 12 dominance to open the 2010 draft, taking Tennessee’s Berry with the fifth pick, only to be followed by the Seattle Seahawks, who took Russell Okung, offensive tackle from Oklahoma State, with the sixth selection.

Nine of the 30 Big 12 selections were taken in the first round of the draft, the most in the 14-year history of the Big 12. Bradford’s No, 1 selection was also a first for the
Big 12 and the third time in Oklahoma’s storied football history.

Oklahoma led Big 12 teams with seven players drafted, including four in the first round. Texas was next, with six; Oklahoma State, four; Kansas and Nebraska, three each; Baylor, two; and Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, one each. Colorado was the only Big 12 school not to have a player drafted.

The 30 players taken from the Big 12 ranked fourth among the so-called power conferences. With 49 players drafted this year, the SEC ranked first, followed by the Big Ten with 33 and the Atlantic Coast Conference with 31.

Broken down by position, 166 of the 255 players selected were from the defensive side of the ball. Eighty-four offensive players were drafted and 5 from special teams. These numbers were mirrored among the Big 12 sections: 16 defenders and 14 offensive players.

Big 12 player selections by NFL team

American Football Conference
New England Patriots
Zac Robinson, QB, Oklahoma State – 7th round (250)

Baltimore Ravens
Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas – 2nd round (43)

Cincinnati Bengals
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma – 1st round (21)
Jordan Shipley, WR, Texas – 3rd round (84)
Rodderick Muckelroy, LB, Texas – 4th round (131)
Dezmon Briscoe, WR, Kansas – 6th round (191)
Reggie Stephens, C, Iowa State – 7th round (228)

Cleveland Browns
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas – 3rd round (85)
Larry Asante, DE, Nebraska – 5th round (160)

Indianapolis Colts
Brody Eldridge, TE, Oklahoma – 5th round (162)

Denver Broncos
J. D. Walton, C, Baylor – 3rd round (80)
Perrish Cox, DB, Oklahoma State – 5th round (137)

Oakland Raiders
Lamarr Houston, DT, Texas – 2nd round (44)

San Diego Chargers
Darrell Stuckey, DB, Kansas – 4th round (110)

National Football Conference
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State – 1st round (24)
Jamar Wall, CB, Texas Tech – 6th round (196)

New York Giants
Phillip Dillard, LB, Nebraska – 4th round (115)

Philadelphia Eagles
Keenan Clayton, LB, Oklahoma – 4th round (121)

Washington Redskins
Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma – 1st round (4)

Chicago Bears
Joshua Moore, DB, Kansas State – 5th round (141)

Detroit Lions
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska – 1st round (2)

Atlanta Falcons
Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri – 1st (19)
Dominique Franks, DB, Oklahoma – 5th (135)
Kerry Meier, QB, Kansas – 5th (165)