By DAVID MARTIN
Fantasy football guides are making it evident how badly the Chiefs screwed up the selection of a special-teams player in the 2007 draft. Nick Folk – bypassed by the Chiefs in favor of Justin Medlock – is the top-rated kicker in draft guides published by Sports Illustrated and USA Today.
The Chiefs took Medlock with the 160th pick in the ’07 draft. After a poor pre-season, the former UCLA Bruin failed to make the team.
The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, selected Folk, who kicked at the University of Arizona, with the 178th pick. In 2007, Folk made 26 of 31 field-goal attempts and went to the Pro Bowl.
Folk’s fine rookie season and the potency of the Cowboys’ offense make him a fantasy prize.
He is the No. 2 kicker in draft guides produced by CBS Sports and ESPN.
Medlock, meanwhile, is just hoping to land a job. He is in camp with the St. Louis Rams. In a exhibition game on Sunday, Medlock sent a kickoff out of bounds – a quick way for a mismatched shoe guy to aggravate the coaches.
With results in hand, it’s easy to criticize front offices for selecting Player A in the draft when Player B proves to be a star. That said, Medlock’s school ties make the pick stand out. UCLA, after all, is the place Chiefs GM Carl Peterson obtained all his
degrees. It’s sad to think that fondness for alma mater may explain why one team sends out a Pro Bowler at critical junctures and another team just hired a kicker immortalized in a Saturday Night Live sketch.
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