In a move that should have happened years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs fired their director of college scouting & most of his staff.  Chuck Cook, who had been in the Chiefs' scouting department for 25 years, was released the day after the college draft concluded. It will be interesting to see if any of Pioli's former scouts with the Patriots come over to the Chiefs. NFL scout's contracts usually run out the day after the draft, so there might be a Patriot scout or two looking for a new zip code.

Former Chiefs' head coach, Frank Ganz, died Monday. Ganz was a special teams coach with Kansas City in the mid-80's & became their head coach in 1987. He was fired during the '88 season, but continued as a special teams coach with several teams including the Rams' Super Bowl Champion. He was the special teams coach at Southern Methodist University for head coach June Jones.  Ganz had undergone knee replacement surgery last Thursday. The cause of death has not been determined, Ganz was 70 years of age.

I don't like to give draft grades, just like I don't like mock drafts, both seem like a waste of time. I can't see how you can grade a draft for at least 2 seasons, give them a chance to develop & play a little. Some of the higher picks never get it, while for some of the later picks, the light goes on & they become stars. Would this draft from 2000 impress you? First round selection Adrian Klemm, 2nd J.R. Redmond, 3rd Greg Randall, 4th Dave Stachetski & 5th round pick, Jeff Marriott? If I added the 6th round pick, would it have changed your opinion back in 2000? That 6th round pick was Tom Brady. It certainly would have changed your opinion of the Patriots draft say, in 2003, right? That being said, I'll give you the five teams that really impressed me over the weekend & five teams that didn't exactly rock me.

Green Bay: The Pack is switching to a 3-4 defensive scheme & needed a nose tackle & a couple of linebackers. The got the best nose tackle prospect, B.J. Raji & a good OLB in Clay Mathews. They added instant O-line depth with T.J. Lang & Jamon Meredith & both should become starters eventually.

Houston: Linebackers were needed in Houston & they got them, Brian Cushing & Connor Barwin. Both should make a major contribution to this defense. On the other side of the ball they tabbed C-G Antoine Caldwell & 2 TE's, Anthony Hill & James Casey, all quality prospects who can contribute as rookies.

Philadelphia: QB Donovan McNabb wanted more weapons on offense & coach Andy Reid doesn't hesitate to play rookies so when Missouri WR Jeremy Maclin fell to #19, the Eagles traded up to get him.  LeSean McCoy, a RB with Brian Westbrook-type skills, should fit in nicely. Add in TE Cornelius Ingram, CB 'Macho' Harris & OL Fenuki Tupou plus Patriot cornerback Ellis Hobbs for 2 fifth round picks, the Eagles appear on paper to have had a fine draft. And let's not forget Pro Bowl LOT, Jason Peters, acquired last week for one of the Eagles' 1st round picks.

Buffalo: Lack of a pass rush was a problem for the Bills but the acquisition of Aaron Maybin should help. I thought Maybin had a Derrick Thomas-like first step. Real quick-twitch player. Center Eric Wood should start right away & G Andy Levitre might not be far behind, both are very smart, physical players. Corner Jarius Byrd was an excellent pick as was TE Shawn Nelson.  I wonder about their tackle situation since trading Peters.

New England: Pats already had 3 second round picks before they traded out of round one. With their six 2nd & 3rd round picks the Patriots selected S Patrick Chung, NT Ron Brace, CB Darius Butler, OT Sebastian Vollmer, WR Brandon Tate & LB Tyronne McKenzie, each a quality prospect. This draft was really good in picks 20-70. Not much difference in talent, so having 6 picks there, I think the Pats did extremely well. They also drafted the best long snapper, Jake Ingram & I even liked 7th round pick, DE Darryl Richard, who could start eventually with some time to develop. The rich get richer.

The ones I'm not so hot on include:

Dallas: The Cowboys had already traded their 1st, 3rd & 4th round picks for WR Roy Williams, then they traded out of their 2nd round pick. This left them with 12 second day choices & honestly I think they drafted a whole bunch of special team players. I don't see a single one of these choices making any impact. That's right now, some of them may be all-pros within 2 seasons. Cincinnati cornerback, Mike Mickens might just be that exception. Irregardless, I think the Cowboys are falling further behind the Giants & Eagles.

Tampa Bay: The Bucs traded up to get K-State QB, Josh Freeman when they probably could've waited until their pick at #21. Then he put his rather large foot in his mouth talking to the media. When asked whether the Bucs signing of free agent QB, Byron Leftwich would help or hurt his development, Freeman replied "Coach Morris said signing Byron was just a smokescreen".  Very nice way to pay your respect to your future teammate. They picked Texas DT, Roy Miller in the 3rd round & USC DE Kyle Moore in the 5th. I have my doubts about both. Illinois OT, Xavier Fulton, fresh off double shoulder surgery was also selected.  I did like their choice of Sammie Stroughter in the 7th, could make a fine slot receiver & punt returner.

Washington: Skins need a pass rusher & they got a fine prospect in Texas' Brian Orapko. After that tho, things went downhill beginning with their next pick, a 3rd rounder, Kevin Barnes, a skinny cornerback with few skills that transition to the next level. Oft-injured LB Cody Glenn was their next pick in the 5th round & he's one of the few Nebraska defenders I've ever seen who just plain doesn't play tough.

Denver:  New head coach Josh McDaniels & GM Brian Xanders promised Denver fans to rebuild the Broncos defense.  They had 10 total picks including 2 first rounders & 2 third rounders. When all was said & done, the Broncos had taken only 4 defensive players, none for the D-line & they had traded away one of their 2010 first round picks. McDaniels is an offensive coach & when he said they would absolutely not trade up for Mark Sanchez, I wondered how long it would take him to pick an offensive player. It took exactly one pick, they selected Georgia RB, Knowshon Moreno, a potentially great back no doubt, but they had already signed 3 free agent running backs plus don't forget about the 7 RB's they had on I.R. from last season. If you're going to draft a RB in round one, why sign 3 free agents? If you are desperate for defensive linemen, you think you ought to draft one? Robert Ayers, their other first round pick, played DE at Tennessee, but he's too small to play the line in a 3-4. He's never played standing up & there were several good hybrid DE/OLB's left on the board, so this pick is puzzling as well. They traded one of their 2010 #1 picks for CB Alfonso Smith taken in the 2nd round. They drafted S Darcel McBath about 2 rounds early & TE Richard Quinn, who caught all of 12 passes in his career at North Carolina, was also picked in round 2. I had him ranked as the 11th best TE prospect, he was the second tight end taken in the entire draft. 

Oakland: As bad as Denver was, the Raiders remain in a league by themselves. If they were drafting a relay team, they did well. Unfortunately, the Raiders are required to field a football team & the speedy guys they drafted aren't very good football players. First round pick, WR Darius Heyward-Bey, picked 7th, was at least 20 picks too high. Oh, he's very, very fast, but to be effective, he must be able to get open & catch the ball, something he's had great difficulty doing so far. Second rounder, S Mike Mitchell was picked too high as well, but by golly, he's real fast too.  I guess this confirms 2005 1st rounder, Michael Huff, also drafted in the 7th spot, must be a bust. He was real fast as well.  They reached at least one round for DE Matt Shaughnessy, but 4th round WR Louis Murphy was picked right where he should have been. Oh yeah, he's real fast too. Hey, sprinter Maurice Greene is no longer on 'Dancing With the Stars', why not draft him?

Many of the playoff teams from last year had solid, tho unspectacular, drafts. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Indy & the Giants all did well. Others I liked would include the Jaguars & even Cincinnati could have had a spectacular draft if their top 4 guys live up to their scouting reports from about mid-season.

The media is absolutely goofy over the Jets getting QB Mark Sanchez by trading away most of their picks. The Jets are opening a new stadium & need some real buzz to sell PSLs & energize their fan base. If they expect Sanchez to start this season, they might be making a colossal mistake. I hope I'm wrong, he's a very likable young man, but I think this was more of a business decision than a football decision. Oh, he can be a helluva quarterback eventually, but I think if things don't go well fairly early, the fans & the New York media may make his life a living hell.

With tens of millions in salary cap money left, I expect the Chiefs to be active in the second phase of free agency. I've got a handful of college free agents I'd like them to sign immediately as well. Missouri Western G Roger Allen, UTEP C Robbie Felix, S. Florida WR Taurus Johnson, Houston OLB Phillip Hunt, Florida Atlantic ILB Frantz Joseph & Penn State OT Gerald Cadogan.

I did a another interview with KRMS sports director, Rance Berger, Monday evening. We discussed the drafts of the Chiefs & Rams, plus where the Mizzou Tigers landed. Some of the radio sports guys are a pain, not Rance, he's a pro & it's always a pleasure talking football with him.