Just how will the Chiefs solve their quarterback predicament?
Well, it won’t be with the No. 1 overall pick in this April’s draft, at least not according to draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.
Kiper said on a teleconference call Wednesday that he doesn’t believe the Chiefs will spend their top pick on quarterback Geno Smith from West Virginia, or on any other quarterback for that matter.
"There’s no quarterback you even remotely consider at No. 1," Kiper said. "The best option right now is for (the Chiefs) to trade out of that pick."
Kiper said the hierarchy of quarterback prospects for this year’s draft has been scrambled because of injuries, poor play and weak supporting casts.
"It’s not like last year when you had clear-cut choices with RG3 (Robert Griffin) and Andrew Luck," Kiper said. "But this year is so different.
"The year started out and I had (USC quarterback) Matt Barkley No. 1 on my board. Actually, Barkley would have probably gone No. 4 overall last year if he had come out early, and that might have rewritten history. But USC dropped some games early with him under center and then he got hurt. He threw more interceptions than you’d like and he just had overall inconsistent play, and he dropped down the board.
"Geno Smith, you thought you could have him up there but he had a disappointing second half. Mike Glennon (North Carolina State) was hurt for a while. Tyler Wilson (Arkansas) had struggles. The wheels really came off for all the quarterbacks."
Kiper, therefore, warns that teams shouldn’t try to force the issue of drafting a quarterback too high.
"That’s the predicament," he said. "Teams have to be careful not to overdraft one. I don’t have any (QB) going in the top 25."
That doesn’t mean the Chiefs won’t eventually get a quarterback with their picks in the second or third round.
"I think Glennon could be a guy who goes mid-to-late first round or early (second round)," Kiper said. "He’s got a good arm and he probably had the weakest supporting cast of any of the top quarterbacks. His receivers dropped the most passes."
Barkley probably isn’t the right fit for Kansas City because of the weather, Kiper said.
"He’s a pure passer and very accurate," Kiper said. "Not a great arm, though. He could still go late first round or early second. I don’t think he’ll be a cold-weather guy, so not somewhere like Buffalo.
"He’s probably more of a dome guy, so maybe a place like Arizona."
As Chiefs fans know, the team is so desperate for a quarterback it is almost guaranteed that Chiefs general manager John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid will eventually draft a quarterback.
And that doesn’t mean, Kiper said, the Chiefs won’t get their franchise quarterback.
"(Just because) there is no perceived franchise QB, it doesn't mean there won't be one," Kiper said. "No one perceived Colin Kaepernick as a franchise QB. Tom Brady wasn't. Tony Romo wasn't. Drew Brees. Russell Wilson, Matt Schaub – they weren’t. Joe Flacco, some didn't think he was a franchise QB coming out. Some thought (Baltimore) reached severely.
"There's a chance that one or two of these QBs (in the draft) could emerge. I think Mike Glennon has a chance. He's similar in a lot of ways to Matt Ryan."
And as for the Chiefs’ No. 1 pick? If the Chiefs don’t trade it, Kiper sees value in Texas A&M left tackle Luke Joeckel as well as Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones.
"But I still think it makes the most sense to trade out of No.1," Kiper said.
