Chiefs’ pick still isn’t high enough

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The Chiefs very well could trade Allen, which would give them another first-round pick and free them up to take the best defensive guy available, someone like Gholston or defensive end Chris Long or defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. That might work out.

Here’s the most likely scenario right now. The Chiefs will probably do what the draft gurus like to call “reach.” Two months ago, Virginia guard Branden Albert was viewed by most people as a late first-round pick, maybe even an early second-round pick. Albert, you will note, has not played a single game over those two months. He has not, as far as I know, been bitten by a radioactive spider or trained extensively by Master Po.

And yet, wow, his stock has risen in Kansas City. If the Chiefs don’t trade Allen (and maybe even if they do) they are definitely leaning toward taking Albert with the fifth pick in the draft. They have fallen in love with his composure and skills; they seem to unanimously believe he can convert to left tackle and start game one.

Already, people who study the draft closely — this would be roughly two-thirds of the people who work for ESPN — scream “Mistake!” They think No. 5 is too early to take the second- or third-best offensive lineman in the draft, and way too early to take a guard you’re hoping to convert to tackle (no guard has been taken in the top five in more than 20 years — since Bill Fralic in 1985). The draftniks often say that the biggest mistake a team can make is to draft a player too high because he seems to fit what the team needs.

There may be a point to all that. On the other hand, all this draft talk can get silly. As one of the Chiefs’ decision-makers says, “all that matters is you get the right guy. That’s it. Everything else is hype.” That’s true. For instance, if in 2000 the Chiefs had taken Tom Brady in the first round instead of Sylvester Morris, the draft gurus would have gone INSANE, they would have demanded the Chiefs fold the franchise for making such an incredibly stupid pick. But it wouldn’t have been a bad move, would it?

If in 1995 the Chiefs had taken unheralded running back Terrell Davis in the first round instead of offensive-line bust Trezelle Jenkins, draft pioneer Mel Kiper might have personally picketed Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs also might have won a Super Bowl.

That’s not to say that Branden Albert is the right pick. I don’t know. And neither does anyone else. The point here is that the Chiefs have their highest draft pick since the first George Bush was in office, and somehow they’re still in a bad spot. They’re not going to get what they want. They just hope to get what they need.

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To reach Joe Posnanski, call 816-234-4361 or send e-mail to jposnanski@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.