National Football League

Don't blame GM John Dorsey for the low moments of the Chiefs' 1-2 start

Published Sep. 22, 2014 6:29 p.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- If you don't like the menu, your beef is with the cook, to paraphrase Bill Parcells, not the guy who bought the groceries.

Of the seven offensive players with the Kansas City Chiefs who graded out with a positive rating by ProFootballFocus.com on Sunday at Miami, five were new boys, brought in over the past 20 months by general manager John Dorsey. Of the 11 on defense who received positive marks, seven had been added to the roster by the current regime since February 2013.

More to the point, two of those aforementioned contributors were Dorsey draft picks: tight end Travis Kelce (36 receiving yards, one touchdown, 47 snaps, +1.0 grade) and outside linebacker Dee Ford (one pass break-up, two quarterback hurries, 12 snaps, +1.7 grade). Yes, second-year running back Knile Davis was spotty on pass protection -- and got punished by PFF for his role in quarterback Alex Smith being taken down in the end zone for a third-quarter safety (a minus-7.2 grade overall, minus-2.7 in pass blocking). But the former Arkansas standout still posted career highs of 32 carries and 132 yards on the ground, even while sharing passing-down snaps with Joe McKnight, who picked up 64 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in a 34-15 Chiefs victory, the team's first this fall.

On the whole, this wasn't the crew that played stunned and hurried during Week 1 at home against the Titans. It was the bunch that showed up in Denver, against a good Broncos team, with a point to prove in Week 2, an energy that then clearly carried over into South Florida.

We mention this because Dorsey's two drafts in the general manager's chair have come under a fair amount of scrutiny, both home and abroad. He inherited a No. 1 pick in one of the worst quarterback draft years in a generation, and tackle Eric Fisher's battles with injuries (shoulder, sports hernia, groin, concussion) and inconsistency (minus-30.7 PFF grade through his first two seasons) have tested the patience of Chiefs fans expecting a more, shall we say, Jonathan-Odgen-esque return for the franchise's investment.

"It doesn't matter who you are or what position you play, you've got to give players a little bit of time to grow," coach Andy Reid told reporters Monday when asked about Fisher. "You get picked number one, and it comes with a little scrutiny. You're going to have a few eyes on you.

"But he's done a nice job this year. We like the progress he's making. Does he have room for improvement? Absolutely, we all do."

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Indeed, the highlight reel is showing at least as many Fisher wins as losses along the line of scrimmage, particularly in the run game, and especially over the last two weeks -- however far back the train had slipped, the engine is, by any metric, chugging forward again. Kelce and defensive back Sanders Commings turned up as promising unknowns, their rookie seasons in '13 ruined by injury; the former is clearly known now, and clearly holy hell on wheels. Commings, shelved again, remains an enigma, as does 2013 seventh-round defensive end Mike Catapano, a feisty rotation player last fall but absent with a mysterious illness during this one.

Time will be the ultimate judge of the Class of 2014, although Ford, the pass-rushing ace out of Auburn, has doubled his snap count (from three to six to 12) each week, while third-round cornerback Phillip Gaines, abused repeatedly during the preseason, has been put on the slow track, working almost exclusively on special teams in the early going. In his August debut, return demon De'Anthony Thomas ran back the first punt he saw 80 yards for a score, but until his hamstring is right, the lightning stays in the bottle. Sixth-round mauler Zach Fulton, plugged in as the starting right guard at the age of 22, has steadily improved with each opponent (minus-1.8 PFF grade vs. Tennessee; minus-1.7 and minus-1.1 since).

According to Jimmy Kempski at Philly.com, the Chiefs opened the regular season with the third-youngest roster in the NFL, a sink-or-swim proposition that has looked every bit the roller-coaster ride it portended to be early on.

But keep this in mind: Some three weeks into the party, PFF only offers seven Chiefs offensive players positive overall grades for the season, and Dorsey has acquired five of them -- tight ends Kelce (+3.5) and Demetrius Harris (+2.0); slotback/scatback McKnight (+2.1); fullback Anthony Sherman (+1.3); and quarterback Smith (+0.7). Defensively, it's five out of of 10: defensive end Mike DeVito (+1.4); linebacker Dee Ford (+1.2); defensive linemen Vance Walker (+0.9) and Jaye Howard (+0.9); and cornerback Sean Smith (+1.1).

And this, too: Only 10 players of the 32 drafted during the Pioli Era (2009-12) remain on the current roster. Even more remarkable, five of those 32 have yet to play a regular-season NFL snap after their second year in the league. So far, on that last front, Dorsey is -- by comparison -- only 1 for 14. The clock on the honeymoon may be chasing midnight, but it sure as hell ain't over with yet.

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

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