The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping they can score big. But there's also the great potential of swinging and missing with a top 11 choice in the 2012 NFL Draft. So goes the viewpoints on Dontari Poe, the defensive tackle the Chiefs selected in the first round in late April's draft. In a recent SB Nation round table, Poe was brought up as one of three candidates most likely to turn out as a bust.
Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride chose Poe, while others selected Quinton Coples of the New York Jets and Brandon Weeden of the Cleveland Browns. Thorman writes:
The player with the highest chance of busting is Dontari Poe, defensive tackle out of Memphis. The Chiefs, who don't exactly have a stellar history of drafting defensive linemen in the last decade, selected Poe with the 11th overall pick, and he very well could be asked to take on a major role right off the bat as the Chiefs only have developmental players at the nose tackle position. Poe played against lower competition in Conference USA, and he didn't dominate there, which is a concern heading into the NFL level.
Defensive linemen often struggle early because the strength and size of NFL offensive linemen compared to college lineman is drastic. It also seems at least some of the success of defensive linemen in the NFL is based on motivation which, according to some draftniks, is an issue with Poe. Romeo Crennel and the Chiefs have a tall task to transition him into the NFL.
For more on the Kansas City Chiefs, check out Arrowhead Pride and SB Nation's NFL page.