KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Any hope of gaining behind-the-scenes insight on potential targeted by-name draft prospects will ultimately have to wait until next week’s NFL Draft.
Feb 21, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas City Chiefs GM John Dorsey during the 2014 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Chiefs general manager John Dorsey held his pre-draft news conference Friday, and he wasn’t offering information when it came to the 23rd pick overall.
“The best available player,” Dorsey told reporters with a grin when asked who the team planned on taking with the 23rd pick overall.
Still, how Dorsey approaches the draft isn’t a surprise. And anybody truly looking for specifics must possess a Jason Bourne-like Level 5 security pass or be a member of the Chiefs organization.
What Dorsey did discuss with reporters surrounded two major themes, namely taking care of the team and having patience.
“You do what’s in the best interest of the Kansas City Chiefs,” Dorsey said. “A man told me once never pass up a good player. But if I can acquire some additional picks in a draft that could or could not be deep then I’ll do that. I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of the Kansas City Chiefs future.”
When it came to not rushing blindly into the fray, Dorsey said it’s best to not push the issue when looking at the draft board, allowing the flow to come to the Chiefs.
“I don’t think you can rush the judgment,” he said. “There is a degree of patience. Sometimes let it come to you, if it comes to you good things may happen.”
Dorsey said there are roughly 150 to 175 players currently on the Chiefs’ draft board.
But the general manager, who spoke of a “wish list,” indicated the Chiefs could be looking specifically at four players with the 23rd pick, depending on what happened on Day One of the draft.
“I think there is a certain pocket there,” Dorsey said. “It’s really interesting to me that you can narrow it down to a group of about four that you think. It’s so hard to predict when you’re sitting in the back there in to 20s or the 30s of who is going to fall to you because so many different scenarios can occur in this process.”
What the Chiefs do or don’t do also depends on their current selection status.
The team enters this year’s draft without a second-round pick, holding just two selections within the top 100 slots (1.23, 3.87).
Asked about the lack of a second-round pick, Dorsey pointed out part of that is due to acquiring quarterback Alex Smith, who comes off a Pro Bowl season, in an offseason trade with the San Francisco 49ers last year.
Dorsey also re-emphasized a point he’s made throughout the offseason. The Chiefs will keep options open, by “doing due diligence” with all 31 teams when it comes to seeking potential trade partners to acquire additional draft picks.
“Who’s to say in fact we won’t have a second-round pick?” Dorsey said. “It’s one of those scenarios all of sudden you’re on the clock and you get phone calls because this player or this player is there. And then you have to weigh the value of the players vs. the compensation that’s being offered, then you make those decisions.”
In the meantime, six days remain until the 2014 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs are apparently ready to tackle it, going through scenarios in the event a player the team covets falls to them or should the phone ring with a potential trade partner.
“We’re in the final preparation of plans in putting this thing together,” Dorsey said. “Right now you begin to play the hypothetical games.
“You begin to not only look horizontally, but you look vertically and then you begin to narrow your choices down. Then you have to build in those hypotheticals too, what happens if you decide to trade up, what happens if you decide to trade back as well, so you have to factor that in.”
Notes: Dorsey said he did not watch Alex Smith’s commencement speech at the University of Utah, but heard about it … “I’m sure he did a fine job,” Dorsey said of Smith … The extra two weeks waiting for the draft doesn’t affect how the Chiefs approach the draft, but Dorsey said it’s important to “not overthink it” … The added benefit of the longer wait for the draft is an opportunity for the Chiefs to catch their breath … “I think it gives you a little bit more time to relax and recharge, just sit back,” Dorsey said.
