Q&A - 2008 DRAFT WRAP-UP

Apr 27, 2008, 6:40:25 PM

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2008 DRAFT
CARL PETERSON: “I think it’s been a very, very fruitful weekend. I want to commend Bill Kuharich and his scouts for all the work they’ve put into this. In the time that Bill has been doing this here I cannot remember the thoroughness that he put into this draft this year; we’ve seemed to put more into this in-depth.

“The other part that I found more impressive is he and I and Herm this week talking about the what-ifs. No one can predict the draft and to have a successful draft you have to have luck also and I think we did that we were able to take advantage of needs without having to stretch. We stayed with the board and I’m always comfortable when we do that.”

HERM EDWARDS: “We stuck mainly to our board and have players who can compete at a lot of different positions. We need to fill a lot of holes and I thought we did that especially here today. We filled a return situation, offensive line, wide receiver, corner, defensive line and we got two tight ends out of the deal, too. It’ll be very competitive.

“Will Franklin is a big wide-out who most of us have seen before. We just felt he had a lot of speed. Lot of potential. [Missouri] had a lot of receivers and they threw the ball all over the ball yard. But he’s a guy that has a good upside and was very successful in college.

“Brandon Carr is a corner is out of Grand Valley. We got on him a little late and brought him in here and actually he was in the same system that we run. He’s a good sized corner with good skills who tackles well. He’s Division II [player] but when you look at the guy play he was a late-bloomer coming out of high school so he didn’t get recruited by Michigan or a Michigan State. He can run, has good ball skills, good cover skills.

“The tackle out of Clemson, Barry Richardson, is a big powerful guy. We feel that he is a right tackle and Kevin Robinson is a punt and kickoff returner. Very productive who did a good job in some all-star games. The kid from Gardner-Webb [Brian Johnston] we brought in here also earlier. He grew up in San Diego and is a guy that can run. He’s an end, up-tempo guy.

“The last guy, Michael Merritt, is a guy who played at Central Florida who we brought in here also. He’s a tight end who’s a phenomenal blocker. When you watch this guy block he is unbelievable.

“Those were positions we needed to address and we addressed them and now the competition begins.”

Q: Can you sum up the whole weekend and do you think you’ve got the makings of what you said you needed?

EDWARDS: “You never get every player you want and at every position but I thought our first two picks started off a good roll for us along with our second round pick. Then from there you go and start picking and stay with your board. We didn’t do much reaching at all as we laid out our board. We had a lot of needs we had to fill now the unique part for us is we need to sign 21 college free agents. Lot of youth around here and that’s good for us and the direction we’re heading in. It’s great energy right now and we have to use that to our advantage.”

Q: How many offensive linemen of your 13 picks might you have picked?

EDWARDS: “You don’t want to start reaching at offensive linemen. There is a clear cut level of guys who can come in right now and compete for starting positions. There are others you look at and say maybe this guy is a year or two away.

“In our league the big guys go fast, whether it be on offense or defense. Big players who are good players go fast. You can look at the draft and all the good offensive linemen go very quickly. All the defensive linemen go very quickly. It’s a hard position to fill and if you get those guys and hit they’re going to play for you for a long time. There were some guys down there lower in the draft that we feel have potential and who can come in and compete.”

Q: Do you wish you had gotten more offensive linemen?

EDWARDS: “I think we have some guys here. We can’t lose sight of the guys here that we brought it last year and this year that are under the radar screen. It’s a great start for us.”

Q: Say Branden Albert starts for you guys; how do the other positions flesh out?

EDWARDS: “There are some guys here at the center and guard positions that will compete for those positions.”

Q: You said you were lucky, how so Carl?

EDWARDS: “I think we were all somewhat surprised in Dorsey falling to us in the fifth pick. There was one scenario that had him coming to us. Now we need to get him here and get him going. We had to make a little move to get to Albert but he was the guy we wanted and there were eight offensive tackles taken in the first round which is extraordinary.

“We’re pleased with how it went and corner was a need and the first three guys we revisited here in our 30 [player visit to Kansas City.] We ended up looking at six of the 12 players we drafted we brought back in for further evaluation.”

Q: Do you feel good about the weekend?

PETERSON: “Sure, I think everyone should. I feel very, very good. I think every Chiefs fan should feel good. This is the new beginning for this year. There are good players and good people here. We tried to do our homework on every guy.”

Q: There have been years when the analysts say nothing about your draft but this year they’re falling all over themselves complimenting you. Do you feel any different this year?

PETERSON: “I try not to put too much into what these guys say. It’s not their living other than to talk. But when you have 12 picks they’re going to say this is a terrific draft and we had more than anybody else. The key is the right guys at the right positions and then they must come in and help us win. This process started three drafts ago with Herm and his philosophy and this organization’s philosophy that we’re going to get younger and rebuild this thing and we’re going to rebuild it through the draft. I’d like to think we made another real good push towards that.”