Tis' the season for the mock drafts to come out in the millions as every 22-year old that is fresh of their bowl game is now instantly the saviour to your favorite NFL franchise. For most fans the most exciting pick that they can 'mock' to their teams is that future 'elite' quarterback that everyone seems to want and only a few actually get.
You can throw out all the stats you want about having to take a quarterback in the first round in order for them to be a guy that can take you to the Super Bowl but the only statistic that matters for the Kansas City Chiefs in regards to their own quarterback situation right now is three, that's how many quarterbacks they currently have under contract heading into next year. Matt Cassel, Ricky Stanzi and Brady Quinn.
I think it's pretty obvious right now that Matt Cassel is going to be the starter for the Kansas City Chiefs heading into the 2012 season. So obviously he's not going anywhere. Then you've got second-year player Ricky Stanzi, who was the Chiefs fifth-round pick out of the University of Iowa last year and someone that Scott Pioli came out and said that he believes 'could be a starter one day'. That doesn't sound like a guy they're preparing to cut. Then you've got the newly signed Brady Quinn. I'm just not convinced that they could possibly have signed Quinn to have him come into training camp knowing that either he or this newly drafted quarterback would not be making the team.
The reason for this thought is simple. Anyone the Chiefs draft, except maybe a very late round guy, will have to go to the practice squad because you aren't going to be carrying four quarterbacks during the season. Ricky Stanzi wouldn't last fifteen minutes if he was put on the practice squad and what's the point in taking a Kirk Cousins or Brandon Weeden if you're only giving them a few months to determine whether or not they were either a wasted draft pick, or that they signed Brady Quinn for no reason. Either way it's not a good look for the Chiefs and it doesn't really get them anywhere. They've already got a developmental guy in Stanzi and whether you believe he's the answer or not right now, it doesn't really matter because he has been given the opportunity to show whether he is either way.
The Chiefs will continue to do their due diligence on all of the quarterbacks coming out this year because you want to take notes and get to know these guys. Get to know what makes each of them tick. Then you can come back at the end of next year, or even the year after and see how those particular guys did. You can then look back at the notes you had on that guy and other guys from other years that have been successful and see if there's a pattern to their success. That would help you find a guy in the future that has some of those same characteristics as someone you've screened in past years when you are ready to draft a quarterback.
For all we know this is why Scott Pioli took Ricky Stanzi last year. He saw something in him that he's noticed in other successful quarterbacks from years' past and they're bringing him along slowly. There's no right or wrong way to bring along a young, developing quarterback. There's only the way that you do it and the way that you think is the best to make that player the best that they can be.
So when you're getting your mock drafts ready or you hear about the Chiefs being reportedly interested in a guy like Ryan Tannehill or Kirk Cousins just remember one thing, where's he going to go?
For more on the Chiefs, head to Arrowhead Pride and for more updates on the upcoming NFL draft, check out Mocking the Draft.