clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2012 NFL Draft Results, AFC West: Dontari Poe Goes to Kansas City Chiefs

With the 11th pick of the 2012 NFL draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select Dontari Poe, defensive tackle out of Memphis. With the way Romeo Crennel runs his defense, the Chiefs were in need of a big time defensive tackle and Dontari Poe has the potential to be a dominant player in the NFL. He has been compared to Haloti Ngata for his rare combination of size and agility. At 6'5 and 350 pounds, Poe is a beast of a man, but in college, he showed enough athleticism to actually drop into pass coverage and play from side line to side line.

However, despite all of his freakish athletic abilities, there is a reasonable amount of risk with this pick. While he has the potential to be dominant, there is concern about whether or not Poe can reach his full potential. While in college, he was playing against inferior talent, but did not put up dominant numbers. His size and athletic ability will enable him to start right away in the NFL, but he is likely a project that will take a while to become as dominant as he can be. That, of course, is assuming he is actually able to harness his physical strengths and reach his full potential.

Follow along with the entire NFL draft at SB Nation's main story stream and at Mocking The Draft. For more on the AFC West, you can check out Bolts From The Blue for the San Diego Chargers, Arrowhead Pride for the Kansas City Chiefs and Mile High Report for the Denver Broncos.