Dissecting the Offense

Having looked at the defense in the last post, it's time to dissect the offense in hopes of better understanding the upcoming moves the Chiefs will make in free agency and the draft. 

The Chiefs have already made a major impact on the offensive front. With the signings of tight end Kevin Boss, right tackle Eric Winston, and backup quarterback Brady Quinn, the Chiefs have already sured up some question marks across the offensive side of the ball. But with 2011's 31st ranked offense residing in Kansas City, there is still plenty of room for improvement. 

IMMEDIATE NEEDS

None (... quarterback? ...)

UPGRADES

As the text says above, the Chiefs were the second-worst offense in all of the NFL last season. Based off that information, one could conclude that the need for upgrades exist all across the offense. However, that's not necessarily true. It cannot be understated how important Jamaal Charles was to that offense. As far as upgrades (besides, once again, quarterback), there aren't all that many. Full back is a position the Chiefs could upgrade, having had the versatile Le'Ron McClain back there last season, now left with 2011 7th round pick Shane Bannon. Bannon is a prototypical lead blocker type, without the pass catching ability McClain offered last season. Another upgrade position could appear on the offensive line. Ryan Lilja got a bad rap last season, and although he was statistically sound, it's possible we could move Rodney Hudson to guard, and then Jon Asamoah could replace Lilja on the left side. Center would then become a priority, but there is a certain center out of Wisconsin that the Chiefs could draft in April and have an upgrade at that position. 

Depth

Remember last season when Jamaal Charles went down and our offense went into cardiac arrest? Well, if that happens this year, we do have Peyton Hillis but he is also coming off a season that featured numerous injuries by the big running back. And while Dexter McCluster has potential, he never did effectively fill in for the Pro Bowler. That's why I'd like a little more depth for the running back position. The other portion of our offense that needs a lot of depth is the offensive line. The O-Line only features six players on the roster that weren't practice squad players last season. Obviously, offensive line depth is imperative. 

Hopefully the combination of this post and the last one about the defense sheds some light on the moves the Chiefs make in the next month. But, like always, I bet we'll be surprised.