2002 Draft Review
By Ben "Luckeechief" Schroeder
There were plenty of "behind the scenes" stories from the 2002 NFL Draft! Whether it was Dallas owner Jerry Jones waiting until the last minute, a la an option quarterback, to trade his #6 spot to Kansas City. Or a skinny Chiefs equipment manager (Chris Shropshire) running interference on Minnesota, the Chiefs had their fingers crossed for most of the weekend.
Rd. 1 (#6) Ryan Sims - Moving up two spots worth it? Well, history tells me that losing a third rounder to move up in the first round is a good thing. We traded our third round pick away in the '97 draft to get Tony Gonzalez and that turned out well (to say the least). History also says drafting two defensive linemen in the first day is smooth, too. The last time the Chiefs drafted DL's 1-2 was in 1978 when they got Art Still (Kentucky) and Sylvester Hicks (Tennessee). From everything I've read, Sims seems like the real deal!
Rd. 2 (#43) Eddie Freeman - This is the guy that has me excited. I'd say he does a better job against the run than Sims. And a run stuffer is what we were drafting for. The only negatives I saw are coachable. Freeman fits into Greg Robinson's style of defense, which will make things easier for both sides. I guess we could have helped out at the cornerback position, special teams or both with our second rounder, but Freeman will contribute this year.
Rd. 4 (#107) Omar Easy I'm not sure where Easy fits into the picture. This running back fits the mold of a Gunther Cunningham back and even worked with the run-by-committee approach at Penn State. I haven't seen his blocking skills, but he'll back up Tony Richardson at fullback and possibly be a goal-line threat.
Rd. 5 (#143) Scott Fujita Fujita is not something I eat at a Mexican restaurant. He takes over Donnie Edward's role as a cover linebacker.
Rd. 7 (#221) Maurice Rodriguez I wonder if he'll pick up the nickname M-Rod? Rodriguez will have to make his plays on special teams to earn a roster spot this fall. We'll need M-Rod on kickoff coverage especially if Mike Mazlowski is going to get a starting linebacker spot.