GRETZ: Best & Worst of Chiefs Drafts

Apr 13, 2007, 1:18:14 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

Earlier this week we looked at the whole league and the best and worst draft picks. Now, let’s zero in on the Chiefs.

For our exercise I’ve divided the analysis into three eras: Carl Peterson Era, the Jim Schaaf Era and the Hank Stram Era. These were the men most responsible for the evaluation and drafting of players from the time the league’s merged their drafts in 1967 through the 2005 Draft. For this analysis, we have included the drafts of 1967-68-69.

An important statistic in our process is games played and Pro Bowl nominations. We limited our worst Chiefs draft choices to players taken in the first three rounds; no matter the year, era or makeup of the squad, those early spots should produce not only games, but productive performances. Here’s how it breaks down:

PETERSON ERA (1989-2005): Peterson has been the final decision-maker on draft day since he joined the team in 1989. Head coaches Marty Schottenheimer, Gunther Cunningham and Dick Vermeil had plenty of input along the way. The Personnel Department under Peterson has been handled by Whitey Dovell (1989-91), Lynn Stiles (1992-96 and 2001-05) and Terry Bradway (1997-2000.) Since we did not include the 2006 Draft, we did not include Herm Edwards and Bill Kuharich.

Schaaf Era (1975-1988): Schaaf was the man who oversaw the personnel operation in the days after Hank Stram was fired and before he was fired and replaced by Peterson. He worked with Paul Wiggin, Marv Levy, John Mackovic and Frank Gansz as head coaches and they all had great input into who the team selected in the Draft. The personnel department was handled by Les Miller (1975-87) and Whitey Dovell (1988.)

 

Stram Era (1967-74): Once the leagues combined on the draft, Stram was the man in charge, with final say so on who the team drafted. His personnel man in this period was Tommy O’Boyle.

 

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.