KC Selects Jon Baldwin with its 1st round pick.

The KC Chiefs reached a little bit for a position of need on Thursday night when they selected Jon Baldwin WR from the University of Pitt. KC originally had the 21st pick in the first round and many including myself were beyond excited when 2 of the premier offensive tackles in this years class BC's Anthony Castanzo and Wisconsins Gabe Carimi were right there for the taking. Instead of solidifying the offensive line the Chiefs traded back to pick #27 and due to some confusion by the Bears and Ravens ended up having the 26th pick overall. The reasoning behind calling this a slight reach is that every coach and annalist had give Baldwin and mid to late 2nd round draft grade ( meaning he could have been taken a round later.) I personally am never in favor of a reach as I think the teams that win the most in the league ( Packers, Steelers, Patriots, Ravens) always stick to the motto of drafting the best talent available. You can never have too many good football players and that was most evident this past season when the Packers deep roster won the SuperBowl despite having 13 players on the injured reserve. Lets get back to Jon Baldwin. Baldwin has freakish ability and is talented enough to warrant a first round pick. 6'4" 230lbs are fine measurables but when you back that up with a 4.49 -40 yard dash and 42 inch vertical you are talking about some serious athletic ability. He is a strider so it takes him a little bit of distance to get to his top end speed and that is event by his slow 20 yard shuttle time at the combine. You are probably now starting to question why he didn't have a first round grade. Answer, character. Baldin was arrested in 2009 and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment, although the charges were later dropped the stigma remained. Jon's hard work in the weight room was evident in his time at Pitt but at times he would dog it on the playing field. If the play was not directed at him or was a run play then sometimes he wouldn't give top effort to sell the play and that is a major concern, he also had a tendency to alligator arm some receptions and didn't always show a willingness to sacrifice his body to make the play and his route running definitely needs work. Jon had inconsistent numbers throughout his career but I believe that can be attributed to inconsistent QB play and a run first based offensive scheme. In closing I would rate this selection as an overall (B) Grade. Baldwin fills a huge need at receiver, has great instincts, size and is as good an athletic specimen as you will find at the Wide Reciever position. Hopefully he will reach his potential and put his maturity issues behind him. Scott Pioli sure better hope so because he has already blown one first round pick on Tyson Jackson in 2009. ( PROVE ME WRONG THIS YEAR TJACK )