Contributing writer Matt Schauf examines three selections of the Kansas City Chiefs from the 2008 Draft and what kind of impact they may have this season. All three of these players were selected in thie third round-a running back, a fullback, and a safety. The Chiefs are definitely in rebuilding mode, and Coach Herm Edwards said before the Draft that he was hoping to get seven starters with his selections.
Will any of these third rounders make the grade?

The chic thing to do in the wake of April’s draft was to praise the Chiefs as the biggest winner. The fact is, though, when you head into draft weekend with the number of selections they did — 12 total, including six in the first three rounds — and a 4-12 record the previous year, you’re going to have to work pretty hard to not look like you improved quite a bit by the end of Sunday. I’m talking classic Jets, everyone but you knows you screwed up the pick, bad. The Chiefs didn’t do that.
 

Most importantly, for the immediate reaction, Kansas City came out of a first round in which it had two selections with one of the best looking defensive tackles to enter the league in a while and an intriguing left tackle prospect. Ultimately, most will judge the team’s success in the 2008 draft on the career arcs of Glenn Dorsey and Branden Albert.

However, despite the importance and potential of those two guys, the round that could either help to propel the Chiefs back into contention soon or keep the No. 1s from reaching full potential is the third. The Chiefs got two third-round picks from the Vikings as part of the Jared Allen trade, and then switched spots on one of them with the Lions in the deal that moved them up for Albert. In the end, they spent the 10^th, 13^th and 19^th choices of the round on Jamaal Charles, Brad Cottam and DaJuan Morgan, respectively.

Each guy enters the league with at least a player or two ahead of him on the depth chart, and yet each could be counted on to make a significant impact this season. Just what can be realistically expected, though, from the Chiefs’ first three picks of the second day? To me, the answer appears quite different for each.

Charles was the first of the trio to come off the board and might display the most promise. He got, by far, the most action of his college career as a junior in 2007 and managed to rank 10^th in the country — and first in the Big 12 — with 124.54 rushing yards per game. His 18 touchdowns also positioned him sixth in his conference in scoring.

The former Longhorn never had a trouble with speed, but he added 15 pounds of bulk to his frame as a junior. Before 2007, he had carried 20 times in a game only once. Last year alone he did so six times, and every time he took at least 20 handoffs, he ran for at least 123 yards. The extra muscle seemed to pay off — including a tremendous late-season stretch during which he surpassed 170 yards in four of five contests — while not robbing him of any of his excellent speed.

The knock on Charles is that he doesn’t appear fit for a feature role in the pros, but that only makes him perfect for Kansas City right now. Charles should get some carries as a complement to Larry Johnson this season and offer an otherwise lackluster offense an intriguing big-play threat.

The second player selected by the Chiefs in Round 3 was Cottam, an enormous tight end who seems to bring all the tools a team could want. Cottam is praised for his size, speed, soft hands and downfield blocking ability. With Kansas City having released blocking tight end Jason Dunn and allowed Kris Wilson to leave as a free agent, Cottam might be the only one capable of keeping him from playing plenty of snaps in two tight-end sets.

The problem with Cottam, though, is that he had a lot of trouble staying on the field and the stat sheet through five years in college. Surgery became nearly an annual rite of spring, as he had thumb ligaments repaired in 2004, a shoulder operated on in 2005 and a sports hernia fixed in 2007. Through it all, Cottam did manage to play in 38 games at Tennessee, but he only caught 21 passes in that time. His best season came in 2006 when he hauled in 14 passes for 182 yards.

Ever since he was brought into the fold, he’s been mentioned as the potential successor to Tony Gonzalez, but how can you raise expectations so high for a guy who went under the knife three times as often as he went into the end zone in college?

Finally, we come to Morgan, who reportedly would inform us that we’ve saved the best for last. The safety is not said to be lacking in self-confidence — or talent, for that matter — but what he could use more of is experience.

Morgan arrived at North Carolina State as a receiver , missed nearly his whole first year because of a hip injury that dated to a high school car accident, and then shuffled around before finally settling in at safety in 2007. He apparently trusted his skills enough to go pro After that single season of starting, and that could limit his rookie-year impact to special teams.

Morgan was a special-teams stud for the Wolfpack, and his tackling skills translated to his safety gig. As a junior, he led the team in solo tackles (73) with 33 more than his closest teammate. Morgan also picked off five passes over his final two seasons and broke up 11 others.

Safety, as it turns out, is not the weakest of positions for the Chiefs. Bernard Pollard is viewed as a keeper at one spot, though Jarrad Page could find himself replaced. It seems probable that Morgan will at least fight for that job by next season, unless he has trouble taking to NFL coaching. This year, expect any impact to come on the kick and punt coverage units.

Matt Schauf is a contributing writer for Draft Stock and an associate editor and senior fantasy football writer for SportsBuff.com. E-mail him at