National Football League

Did Chiefs just take DGB of defense? With Marcus Peters, time will tell

Published May. 1, 2015 12:48 a.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- So the Chiefs basically took a flier on the Dorial Green-Beckham of defense. As opposed to, say, DGB himself.

The word from latte land is that ex-Washington cornerback Marcus Peters -- and "ex" because Huskies coach Chris Petersen kicked him off the team -- might have once tried to choke one of his college coaches.

"That never happened," Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said late Thursday night.

"He's a heck of a player," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "But he's just got to keep his emotions intact."

"All I can talk about," Peters, the Andy Gang's first-round selection at No. 18 in the 2015 NFL Draft, "is that it was a misunderstanding (at) the University of Washington."

On one hand, the dude fits. Does he ever. The 6-foot, 190-pound Peters puts the "press" in press coverage, with the kind of punch off the line Floyd Mayweather would be proud of. In Star Wars terms, when his tractor beam gets a lock on you, he sticks. All of which is constructive as hell: Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton still hasn't quite figured out Peyton Manning, and his press-man scheme tends to leave corners to fend for themselves in space. Often.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect my island," said Peters, the first corner taken by the Chiefs in the first round since Dale Carter in 1992, "and protect my team, first and foremost."

So brace yourself for flags. Potentially.

Although there's the text Dorsey says he recently got from a peer:

He's the best defensive back to come out in the last four years.

Or words to that lofty effect. Again, physically, this is a bad dude, a man, playing a man's game.

Flip side: The back story. Sit a spell. This could take a while. The man has famous pals, including this guy:

And one of his mentors is this guy:

Like Lynch, the powerful (and mercurial) Pro Bowl back, Peters hails from Oakland. Like Lynch, Peters is as competitive and as grindy as they come. But like Beast Mode, our man Marcus also can go, shall we say, off script at times.

OK. A lot.

He reportedly failed a drug test for marijuana in 2011. He was suspended for the first quarter of the Fight Hunger Bowl in December 2013.

This past September, he was suspended for one game after throwing his helmet and gloves in a sideline tantrum during a 59-52 win over Eastern Washington. At the Stanford game on Sept. 27, he was suspended for the first two series after being late to meetings. He was kicked off the team in November after an argument with an assistant coach, which led to the aforementioned rumor about trying to put said coach into some kind of sleeper hold. He'd also argued with coaches during a 38-23 win over Colorado on Nov. 1.

"He's not a malicious kid whatsoever," Dorsey said. "I think he'll be fine. I really do."

ProFootballFocus.com' evaluators were slightly less enthused, noting in a scouting report earlier this spring that Peters last fall "allowed more than 50 percent of passes sent (his) way to be caught," and that the Bay Area native "missed just one tackle against the run all year, but missed seven on passing plays." Flip side: The site also tracked him as giving up just three passes all year longer than 20 yards, even if that year was cut short.

So, yeah. Ceiling: Check. And, given Amari Cooper going to the Raiders, plus the likely suspension of Sean Smith, you can check "need," off too:

A bargain and, at first blush, a risk, too. But Chiefs brass were adamant that the kid you read about is not the kid they met at Indianapolis, or met with here in Kansas City. Chris Ballard, the Chiefs' director of player personnel -- whose "hits" outnumber his "misses" -- spent a day or so out in Oakland with Peters and his inner circle earlier this week, just to make sure.

"We did very extensive research with regard to this person," Dorsey said.

Most of the rap sheet is on-field stuff, football stuff, maturity stuff. Peters either gives deference to authority grudgingly, struggles with transitions, resists constructive criticism, or some combo of all three. Either way, he seems to respect the living hell out of Reid, which is big, and assistant coach Al Harris, a former Pro Bowl corner in Green Bay, which is even bigger. If they're convinced they can tame this wild colt, hey, it's their wagon.

"I don't want to take the edge off of (Peters)," Reid said. "I just want him to be able to handle it the right way."

So after Day 1, Reid could have a deadly weapon on his hands. Or a time bomb, just waiting to go off at the wrong moment. Time will tell. Usually does.

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.

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