We're less than one week away from the 2013 NFL Draft and for the first time since the inception of the common draft, the Chiefs own the top pick.
In January, the Kansas City Chiefs introduced John Dorsey as the team's sixth general manager in franchise history. His first comments during that press conference, "I humbly stand here today and I accept the challenges and responsibilities of my duties," Dorsey stated.
Fast forward to April and just days away from leading the Chiefs in his first NFL Draft as a GM, Dorsey is ready to seize the moment.
"Actually, this draft right here, it's a moment that (I've) dreamt about; it's very exciting," Dorsey told me. "I look forward to the challenge that lies ahead. I'm excited."
The challenge ahead is to ultimately make the Chiefs a consistent, proven winner and the NFL Draft is a part of the process.
"You get the first opportunity to acquire the first player in the draft, so that's how you should proceed with it," Dorsey said. "Now, people can go and measure your ability to pick a player with the first pick and of course it's going to be my stamp and my signature of this thing (draft), but I don't look at it like that; I'm trying to do the job and the job is to make sure I get the best player for this organization with that pick."
When asked how many players the Chiefs are considering for the top pick, Dorsey's response remained the same.
"We're still at four," Dorsey answered. "We're exploring the options at four. You still have to give yourself some options and kind of see how these four guys play and watch the games as they're played. You understand they're people, now let's watch them play their respective position."
Dorsey described what the communication will be like with the Chiefs draft picks.
"There's a process that we have in place," Dorsey shared. "We'll have Ryan Poles (Chiefs college scouting administrator) be in constant communication with New York (Draft headquarters). I will have somebody on our staff that makes the initial call to the player; I'm sure as the process goes along, I'll talk to the player, coach Reid will talk to the player and Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt will talk to the player as well."
And when Thursday's draft finally does begin, it will continue on Friday and Saturday, when the fourth, fifth, sixth and seven rounds will be completed, which begged the question, what does Dorsey do while waiting for his team's next selection?
"I'm assessing as the (draft) board unfolds, as it goes along within that particular round," Dorsey said. "You begin to assess trends, you begin to assess what positions are beginning to fall, what runs are beginning to take place; you're trying to see patterns that start to begin to develop and then you start to begin to make a decision."
But wait, there's more.
"From the moment the draft starts, until the last pick is taken in the seventh round, there's an assessment going on the whole time, with the abilities to, 'What are we going to do to acquire players?' and that means, if the time is right and I think I can get a player eight picks later, I may say, 'Let's try to trade down; I can't go any farther than eight' or if I'm looking at the player and I say, 'I want that player, go find me a trading partner up there on the top a little bit,' we'll do that too."
Sounds like Chiefs fans are in for a very exciting three-day event, next week.
