http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/1789 Recent articles about Donnie Edwards en-us In 1995 Gunther Cunningham was hired as defensive coordinator for the Chiefs. In his four seasons as DC the Chiefs gave up 16.4 points per game. They were +30 in turnover margin. Was that more great players like D.T. and Neil Smith, Dale Carter and James Hasty or more Gunther? I would like to believe it was a happy medium but since his return in 2004 the D has not made huge strides. The have got progressively better every year but they were so horrible when he took over that right now they are just a middle of the pack defense. Every year there has been a reason why the defense has stunk, Offensive minded head coach, not having "your guys", new system. Granted when he took over the talent level on defense was horrendous. Now the defense has been completely over hauled. 2004 Defensive line: John Browning, Ryan Sims, Lionel Dalton, Junior Siavii, Eric Hicks, Vonnie Holiday 2008 Defensive line: Tamba Hali, Turk McBride, Tank Tyler, Glenn Dorsey, Alphonso Boone, Brian Johnston 2004 Linebackers: Mike Maslowski, Monty Biesel, Shawn Barber, Keyaron Fox, Kawika Mitchell 2008 Linebackers: Derrick Johnson , Napoleon Harris, Donnie Edwards, Demarrio Williams, Nate Harris 2004: Cornerbacks: Eric Warfield, Dexter Mcleon, William Bartee, Julian Battle 2008: Cornerbacks: Patrick Surtain, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Tyron Brackenridge 2004 Safety: Greg Wesley, Jerome Woods 2008: Safety: Jarrod Page, Bernard Pollard The one position that has not been completely upgraded is safety but it is not that much of a drop off. He clearly has players with abilities now. If the Chiefs D struggles early it will be blamed on the youth movement. And that is understandable but this unit has to show major improvement in 08 Gunther was not a Herm Edwards selection and you can only imagine that Herm could bring in one of his own "Tampa Two" coaches. I will be rooting for Gunther but the clock is ticking and the Chiefs will be expecting results this season. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:44:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292066 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292066 When you think of Carl Peterson if you are a Chiefs fan the first thing you think of is training camp hold outs. Unsigned first round picks, draft blunders and busts. But to his credit Carl has had his moments whether they were moments of genius or pure dumb luck is debatable. Notable players off the list are anybody drafted in the first our second round because they are expected to produce. Or any player selected by the Chiefs who went on to become a star and develop on another team like Joe Horn. 5: Dave Szott: 7th round 1990 Snatched out of Penn Sate in the seventh round I am sure King Carl knew this guy was going to be a anchor on his offensive line for the next 11 seasons. Teamed with Will Sheilds and Tim Grunhard to form the best interior line in football for many years. 4: Donnie Edwards: 4th round 1996 Has played 51% of his career in Kansas city if he had played his whole career here he would probably be a lot higher on the list. Did not get to play much as a rookie but once he got a starting spot the following year. He never looked back and went on to amass over 1300 tackles in his career. .3. Dante Hall: 5th round 2000 Played seven productive seasons in Kansas City. For a three year stretch was the best kick returner in the league. Helped produce several victories simply off his return abilities. All kickers knew not to kick to the X- factor. Even made it on the Letterman show not bad for a 5"8 180 pound running back from Texas A&M. 2. Jared Allen: 4th round 2004 Almost could not make the list because of the Joe Horn rule but in his four seasons he played with Chiefs he did amass 43 sacks. If he would have stuck around he would have had a mathematical shot at DT's all time sack record. File this one under dumb luck for Carl since Jared was drafted as a long snapper.. 1. Will Shield: 3rd round 1993 Future hall of famer. Former NFL man of the year. The one memory. I will always have of Will is the Monday night game a couple of years ago against the Ravens when Ray Lewsis was miked up and Shields flat out dominated him. Late in the third quarter the sound bite being played going into commercial break was Lewis screaming "I can't do anything they're blocking me they're blocking me" That is what will Shields did to defenders for years Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:19:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288428 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288428 When you think of Carl Peterson if you are a Chiefs fan the first thing you think of is training camp hold outs. Unsigned first round picks, draft blunders and busts. But to his credit Carl has had his moments whether they were moments of genius or pure dumb luck is debatable. Notable players off the list are anybody drafted in the first our second round because they are expected to produce. Or any player selected by the Chiefs who went on to become a star and develop on another team like Joe Horn. 5: Dave Szott: 7th round 1990 Snatched out of Penn Sate in the seventh round I am sure King Carl knew this guy was going to be a anchor on his offensive line for the next 11 seasons. Teamed with Will Sheilds and Tim Grunhard to form the best interior line in football for many years. 4: Donnie Edwards: 4th round 1996 Has played 51% of his career in Kansas city if he had played his whole career here he would probably be a lot higher on the list. Did not get to play much as a rookie but once he got a starting spot the following year. He never looked back and went on to amass over 1300 tackles in his career. .3. Dante Hall: 5th round 2000 Played seven productive seasons in Kansas City. For a three year stretch was the best kick returner in the league. Helped produce several victories simply off his return abilities. All kickers knew not to kick to the X- factor. Even made it on the Letterman show not bad for a 5"8 180 pound running back from Texas A&M. 2. Jared Allen: 4th round 2004 Almost could not make the list because of the Joe Horn rule but in his four seasons he played with Chiefs he did amass 43 sacks. If he would have stuck around he would have had a mathematical shot at DT's all time sack record. File this one under dumb luck for Carl since Jared was drafted as a long snapper.. 1. Will Shield: 3rd round 1993 Future hall of famer. Former NFL man of the year. The one memory. I will always have of Will is the Monday night game a couple of years ago against the Ravens when Ray Lewsis was miked up and Shields flat out dominated him. Late in the third quarter the sound bite being played going into commercial break was Lewis screaming "I can't do anything they're blocking me they're blocking me" That is what will Shields did to defenders for years Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:19:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288428 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/288428 This article examines the production of linebackers in a 3-4 scheme as opposed to 4-3 schemes in fantasy football and IDP (Individual Defensive Player) leagues. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:21:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282364 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282364 With the NFL Draft a month in the past and most offseason moves over and done with, it is time to start looking ahead to the 2008 season. And with that, we focus in on fantasy football, but that doesn't necessarily mean talking about top running backs and receivers. Taking into account the rising popularity of IDP fantasy leagues, FIO co-founder & editor Matt Hinzpeter discusses some of the top impact moves on the defensive side of the ball that will affect fantasy football in 2008. Wed, 28 May 2008 08:20:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271665 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271665 Includes Kansas Cityscouting report, key matchups, prediction and more... Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:26:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/44052 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/44052 Friday's FIO weekly fantasy football columns deals with those leagues that implement Individual Defensive Players (IDP) - co-founder & editor Matt Hinzpeter discusses some of the key defensive players to keep an eye on in Week 13. Check this article each and every week on Fridays. NOTE: Included in this week's installment of the FIO IDP Report is a look back at the loss of Redskin's safety Sean Taylor. Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:10:53 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39660 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39660 Friday's FIO weekly fantasy football columns deals with those leagues that implement Individual Defensive Players (IDP) - co-founder & editor Matt Hinzpeter discusses some of the key defensive players to keep an eye on in Week 5. Check this article each and every week on Fridays. Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:26:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/29809 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/29809 Bears vs. Chiefs matchup in Week 2 of the 2007 NFL Season. Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:25:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/27192 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/27192 As everyone noticed last night during the NFL Opener, teams will be allowing up to 5 elected captains of each franchise an opportunity to wear a "C" on their jersey just like the NHL does. When I first noticed it on Peyton Manning during pregame warm-ups I thought it might be something that the Colts had Okayed with the league themselves, just like with the MLB's Red Sox and Jason Varitek. Then I noticed Saints hurler Drew Brees wearing one as well. The patches will be color-coordinated to match each jersey, and the gold star underneath the "C" marks the number of years that the player has been a captain under the league's new captaincy initiative. *Courtesy of ESPN's Uni Watch writer Paul Lukas. This encouraged me to wonder just who else had been named captains of their respective teams this year? The only story that I saw come across the wire was that the Chiefs newly acquired Linebacker Donnie Edwards was named their captain. Not bad for a free agent acquisition that surprisingly hasn't made too many appearances on the HBO series "Hard Knocks". I then turned my attention to my favorite NFL teams for the last 22 years, the Eagles and the Chargers. Neither team has announced it yet, I don't believe? So I'll make my case for the both of them. Philadelphia's lone captain should be Brian Dawkins. I know, I know, Donovan McNabb is the franchise face and made an amazing return to healthy status this off-season to once again lead the Birds to a Super bowl. But, in my eyes, Dawkins is the player who seems to command the team's attention most when he speaks and especially the way he plays with a reckless disregard for his own body. San Diego's lone captain should be L.T. of course. Now I'm as big a Philip Rivers fan that you'll ever meet, and I was pinning hard to chase Brees out of town in 2005-06. But, to me Tomlinson is the player who inspires his other teammates to make the extra effort on the both the practice field and between the lines on game days. If anyone else out there in the Yard Barker world knows who their favorite team's captains are this year could you please comment? I'd really like to know before I watch my NFL Package on Sunday morning. Even if you don't know, but have an opinion on whom you think should be their captain that works for me too. 2 Quick Questions: 1) I'm not sure if it already exists on Madden 08' because I haven't bought it yet, but do you think Madden 09' will have the "C" on the team's jerseys? 2) Do you think in the next few years we will see the NFL add the NHL's version of the "A" for assistant captain? Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:51:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/26294 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/26294 The GNUru is here with another edition of his 2007 Fantasy Football Rankings. This time he tackles the linebacker position for those in Individual Defensive Player (IDP) leagues. Are LBs as important as RBs in IDP leagues? Read the GNUru to get the skinny! Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:08:00 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/23437 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/23437 A pretty solid list, but as the writer puts it, this group is "thinner than Nicole Ritchie." Scarcity leads to average guys getting big contracts. Who will be the NFL's Gil Meche? Sat, 03 Mar 2007 21:36:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10729 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10729