CURRENT CHIEFS ROSTER
Q: What's your early impression of Jamaal Charles?
REID: "Well, I really haven't had a chance to visit with him. What I've seen on tape I like. I've heard nothing but good things about him. I look forward to meeting with him. I know his agent well, so I know the things his agent has told me. I look forward to meeting him and talking with him."
Q: What else can you do with Jamaal Charles?
REID: "You know what I did? I went back and pulled out his 2010 tape. That's when Charlie was there as a coordinator, and the only reason for that was because Charlie moved him around. They probably did a little bit more of the stuff that we did with our running backs. I thought he handled that very well. You could flex him out and throw it to him if you needed to. The running part we all know. You hand him the ball, good things are going to happen, but to be able to move him around and give him other options to get the football in his hands; I think he can do all that."
Q: Where will you line Dexter McCluster up?
REID: "You know what, I kind of like him. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he's got a heart of a lion. He's got that MO, tremendous quickness and can catch. He's pretty good at running the football, so there is a place for him. You line him up everywhere. You can move him around and kind of do some unique things with him."
Q: Where do you see Jon Baldwin in that mix?
REID: "Baldwin is kind of a tweener. He does have good, long speed, not great long speed. He's somebody that needs to continue to develop. That's a position that you need time to develop in. We'll see how he does."
Q: Are there guys on your team that can make the plays down the field?
REID: "You don't think of (Dwayne) Bowe as a speed receiver. You think of him as a big, strong, physical guy, which he is. You've got (Donnie) Avery and (Devon) Wylie, Scott (Pioli) had taken the year before. Both those two possess a lot of speed. That helps you with your deep threat. It helps really all the way around, taking the top off the defense and helping you with the short, intermediate game."
CHIEFS GENERAL MANAGER JOHN DORSEY
Q: What has John Dorsey meant to you and what do you like about having him?
REID: "John and I have a friendship besides the working part of it. We were together for seven years in Green Bay and even though we were in different departments, we became good friends. For me, what it means is, I have confidence in the personnel department. I don't have to worry about it. He has got it, with all that energy that he has, cut him loose and let it go."
Q: How about John as a talent evaluator?
REID: "He has always been tremendous. I think his drafts pry speak for their selves. The teams that they put together in Green Bay, obviously Ted (Thompson) is good too, but they were a good team together."
Q: There has been a lot of talent to come out of Green Bay's front office.
REID: "There is a picture of Ron Wolf's guys and Mike Holmgren's guys, and most of the guys had an opportunity to go on and be GMs. Coach Holmgren had a bunch of guys who went on to become head coaches."
Q: What did you like about hiring John Dorsey, and what do you like about working with him? Does he maintain some of those traits and characteristics from the Ron Wolf system?
REID: "He refers to Ron all the time. He respects the heck out of Ron, that was kind of his mentor. There are some similarities. The structure of it is very similar to the way Ron did it and I can tell the way he looks at things, they're very similar. He's got his own personality that he puts into it, tremendous energy, work ethic, all those things. He's relentless with that."
Q: Did you know him beyond just passing each other in the hallway? Were you close?
REID: "Yeah, he and I were close. We were racquetball partners. We were close over those seven years (in Green Bay)."
THE NFL DRAFT
Q: Free agency is cooling a little bit, when do you turn your attention to the first pick in the draft?
REID: "Well we've been kind of doing that, we started our tour. First of all it started with John Dorsey; he's met with the scouts. It was about two-and-a-half weeks he had the guys in house and they just sat down and grinded them out. Then John, myself and whatever coach we needed to fly around have started flying around and working these guys out. We've been to Oregon and worked a couple guys out there – their outside linebacker and their offensive lineman. We went to BYU to work out the defensive end/outside linebacker. So we'll continue that grand tour as we go. It's important, you can't force a pick there, so you can't say I've got to have this position and this position only, or you're going to miss a good football player. And that's what you want to get from that pick right there. We're going to work everybody out and see what's available."
Q: What do you think of the offensive tackles?
REID: "Well I haven't gotten quite that far. We worked out Long up at Oregon and he's a tackle and guard, he can do either, or. I haven't gotten through the rest of this thing. We are going to work all those guys out."
Q: How many guys are you looking at for the first pick in the draft?
REID: "It's probably eight to 10. John [Dorsey] has put together this tour that we're doing and we're going around the country looking at the guys that we think and feel are guys that are worthy of that pick. So we've hit two schools, Oregon and BYU, and we've got a bunch more on the schedule."
Q: You have a chance to take Geno Smith with the first overall pick, but you signed Alex Smith. Is that just a philosophical decision?
REID: "That doesn't mean Geno is out of the water. I'm going to keep my eyes open on everything. I think Geno's a good quarterback. We'll just see how it all goes here as we keep this workout thing going."
Q: Jeffrey Lurie was at the Geno Smith workout with the Eagles. Did you do that a lot when you were coaching there and what do you make of that?
REID: "I know he was involved when we had the second pick in the draft when we ended up taking Donovan [McNabb]. I can't remember after that, we weren't quite as high. I know that's a pretty important position to have, so for him to be involved, I understand that. I know he cares about that position."
NFL RULE CHANGE TOPICS
Q: What do you think about rule changes?
REID: "Anytime there is change, there is controversy. That's how it works. I think when you look at the big picture, it's for the betterment of the game. That's hard because these players are warriors. They're in the moment. They want to do everything possible to score or not be scored on. If it all passes, the rules are going to make them alter what they've been doing for a number of years. Again, I think the commissioner has put such an emphasis on injury and changing things and making positive changes. I trust him in that he's done a lot more studying than I have and spent a lot more time in it."
Q: What do you think about the running backs and the rule change?
REID: "I think they're going to be ok. I think the player will take an edge more than the center line. If he does take the center line, he'll do it with his shoulder as opposed to his head or use a forearm."
Q: How do you feel about the potential rule change involving the lowering of a helmet by an offensive player? Do you think the officials are comfortable with the rule? What does it mean?
REID: "I am on the Madden Committee, so I sat in on the meetings there. I listened to the competition committee's presentation. We have talked about it on the Madden Committee, they asked us about it and what we thought. There were officials in there too. The officials felt comfortable that they could handle making the calls on that. There is a short area there that you can still do what you do in the tackle box which extends three or four yards down the field. The ball carrier is still in a position where he can keep his pad level down and do that. It is really more in the open field where the concern comes in. They are trying to protect the players, that is what they are trying to do, to allow the player to utilize his arm more than his head. It used to be where the running backs would use their shoulder a little more to protect themselves, now they are using their head a little more. I think it is important that the officials are comfortable with it and that they take into consideration part of the game and the position that each player is in. They feel comfortable that they can do that."
Q: Do you think it will be a problem for the players?
REID: "I don't think that is going to be a problem. I think it is more getting your hat out of the picture and using your shoulder and forearm more than you do your head. It is a hard thing. Anytime there is change that is possibly going to take place, sometimes that is hard to accept. I think when you look at the overall picture for the game, I think it is going to be fine. Most of all, I think the player will be a little bit more protected. We will see how it all works out."
