The Seemingly Annual 'Let's Trade For Glenn Dorsey' Discussion

Glenn Dorsey was a bad draft pick for the Kansas City Chiefs.

I state that because 1) It's the truth, and 2) Because it really isn't Glenn's fault.

Dorsey was drafted with the fifth overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft. At the time, Carl Peterson ran the Chiefs, and Herm Edwards was the head coach. Edwards, a protege of Tony Dungy, employed a Tampa-2 style of defense. Dorsey, at 6'1 and 295 pounds, was perfect as an undertackle defensive lineman in such a scheme. During his rookie year, Dorsey started all sixteen game and totaled 46 tackles and one sack.

With Peterson and Edwards getting fired after the '08 season, Todd Haley was brought in and the Chiefs switched to a 3-4 defense. In the 2009 NFL Draft, KC wasted another top ten pick on a defensive tackle (this time, Tyson Jackson, Doreys' former teammate at LSU). After it was evident Jackson couldn't play NT in a 3-4, KC's coaches moved both Jackson and Dorsey to defensive end in the 3-4 scheme, even though the clear need in all 3-4 defenses is a nose tackle.

Since the switch to DE in a 3-4, Dorsey has played decently, but not well. Everyone thinks he's playing out of position, and that (for a top ten pick) he's simply not providing the kind of production one needs from a player making $51 million dollars over five years.

Thus, once again, we have someone writing an article saying the Chiefs need to trade Dorsey to a team like the Indianapolis Colts.

I won't lie and say I'm against this trade. Dorsey is rotting in KC. He has the talent to be the best DT in football working out of a Tampa-2. The Chiefs have $108,000,000 combined dollars invested in both Jackson and Dorsey, and neither of them play NT. That is way too much cap money invested in players playing non-essential positions on their defense (DE in a 3-4 is like linebacker in a Tampa-2). 

Thus, it only makes sense for the Chiefs to try and trade Dorsey, and the Colts are a logical trading partner. However, there's a problem.

It's clear that the Chiefs view the Colts as a possible playoff rival. It also doesn't help things that the Colts flat out own the Chiefs pretty much for the last twenty or so years. If Dorsey is traded to Indy and has a monster season, that is going to make Scott Pioli and the Chiefs brain trust look like putzes. They'll look even more incompetent if Dorsey and the Colts defeat the Chiefs in the playoffs, or if Dorsey helps Indy make the post-season while KC is cleaning out their lockers in early January.

The NFL is as much about ego and 'looking good' as it is about winning.

Knowing this, I highly doubt we'll see the Chiefs trading Dorsey to the Colts. Indy likely won't offer more than a second round pick for Dorsey, which is slightly higher market value for the former-LSU phenom (anyone expecting a first rounder for him is delusional). But, if Dorsey goes out there and looks like Warren Sapp 2.0 for Indy, people will question Pioli on the move because Indy plays in the same conference as KC, and the two teams have a history together. The only way Pioli avoids the potential heat is if he can weasel a first-rounder out of Chris Polian, and unless Chris is abjectly stupid, that isn't happening.

It makes more sense if Dorsey is traded to someplace like Tampa Bay, or maybe Chicago. Those teams play in the NFC, and if Dorsey develops into a stud, Pioli does not have to answer questions about him.

The only way I see Dorsey going to Indy is if the Chiefs stumble out of the gate and, by October, it's evident that they have no shot at the post-season. They'll then 'fire sale' players like Dorsey the way the Buccaneers did in 2006 with Anthony 'Booger' McFarland.

If and when that happens, don't hold your breath for Dorsey in blue and white. More realistically, the team's DTs next year will be Fili Moala, Drake Nevis, Antonio Johnson, and perhaps Tommie Harris. We'll see.