The world for the Kansas City Chiefs over the last 10 seasons would look different if the 2005 NFL draft went as pointafter.com now suggests it would if the 32 teams had it to do over again.
The Chiefs would never have been able to draft linebacker Derrick Johnson from Texas with the 15th overall pick that year. Johnson instead would have gone to the Arizona Cardinals with the eighth pick and the Chiefs would have wound up with Miami defensive back Antrel Rolle, who went to the Cardinals with that eighth pick in 2005.
Rolle has had a nice career, playing mostly as a free safety. He played the first five seasons of his career for Arizona and the last five for the New York Giants. He moved on this year to the Chicago Bears.
Rolle, like Johnson, is a three-time Pro Bowler. Rolle might have been as valuable to the Chiefs over the years as Johnson has been had that 2005 draft worked out a different way.
It’s also possible the Chiefs might have a different starting quarterback today if pointafter’s 2005 draft went the way it suggested. In reality Alex Smith was the No. 1 overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers.
But in the do-over, the 49ers instead went with Aaron Rodgers. Smith fell to the 11th pick and the Dallas Cowboys.
Maybe Smith would have gone on to great things had he been drafted by the Cowboys. Maybe Smith played so well the Cowboys would have never needed to develop a young quarterback by the name of Tony Romo.
And maybe Romo, after being released by the Cowboys, would have been grabbed by the Chiefs. In that case, their world over the last several seasons would have indeed been much different.