Chiefs face facts, will look to draft for franchise QB
The Kansas City Chiefs went into this season determined to find out what they had in quarterback Brodie Croyle.
Well, now they know. Croyle is out the rest of the season, injured for the fourth time in eight starts, and the Chiefs are on to a new plan. They intend to find their next quarterback in the 2009 draft.
"We've got to move on," coach Herman Edwards said Tuesday afternoon. "We can't juggle the ball again. It's holding the whole football team up if we do, and he knows that. I spoke to him, and he knows what the situation is now."
What the situation is now is dire. With veteran backup Damon Huard nursing an injured hand, the Chiefs in all likelihood will start third-stringer Tyler Thigpen and sign a free agent this week to serve as a backup.
The team on Tuesday worked out Bruce Gradkowski and Quinn Gray.
There have been reports the club is interested in former Minnesota star Daunte Culpepper, and he is a possibility. But even if the Chiefs were to move in that direction it wouldn't solve the crisis at quarterback where they suddenly are without their future.
Immediate plans call for the team to choose a quarterback high in next year's draft, only there's one problem with that idea: It's not a good year for quarterbacks, with juniors the best at the position.
Nevertheless, the Chiefs have no choice but to attack the position. And they must find a veteran to serve as a mentor to the next young passer. As for Croyle, Edwards insists he's still in the Chiefs' future ... only not as the team's starter.
"I think he comes back, and he's the third," said Edwards. "Or maybe he becomes the No. 2 quarterback, I don't now. But he can't be the No. 1 because he can't stay healthy. And he knows that. He knows we're going to have to draft a quarterback."
