Chiefs draft WR Wylie with fourth-round pick

"  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Devon Wylie has gotten Wes Welker comparisons ''every day of mylife.''They're not about to stop in Kansas City.The Chiefs chose the shifty, undersized wide receiver out ofFresno State with their fourth-round pick Saturday, adding apotential target over the middle for quarterback Matt Cassel.''People consider me to be an undersized slot receiver, andthat's fine if that's the way they want to look at it. I take it asa compliment,'' Wylie said. ''Wes Welker has shown to be an amazingreceiver - one of the most productive season-in and season-out. Sothat's fine with me.''It was the first move by Kansas City to add a skill-positionplayer in the draft.The Chiefs added another with sixth-round pick Cyrus Gray ofTexas A&M, and drafted Michigan wide receiver Junior Hemingwayin the seventh round. Alabama defensive back De'Quan Menzie was thepick in the fifth round and San Diego State defensive tackle JeromeLong in the seventh.The Chiefs plugged a gaping hole at defensive tackle withDontari Poe in the first round, and went for offensive line depthwith their second- and third-round picks.''Every once in a while you get that reminder that you betterhave quality depth and you can't have too many good players,''Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said. ''Even if you think youhave good front-line players, you can never have too many goodplayers.''Wylie, who can also return punts and kicks, turned heads at thescouting combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds andbenched 225 pounds 17 times.Fifteen teams showed up at Fresno State's pro day to watchWylie, though many scouts had him going in later rounds due todurability concerns. Hamstring and ankle injuries caused him tomiss four games his sophomore and junior seasons, and a stressfracture in his foot sustained during training camp wiped out whatwould have been his senior season.He wound up redshirting two years ago and put together a strongseason for a poor Fresno State team in 2011, catching 56 passes for716 yards and a touchdown.''Some of those things I consider snake-bitten injuries, ahamstring strain or something you really can't do anything about,''Wylie said. ''The good thing about it is none of it is lack ofdurability. It's just unfortunate things.''Kansas City used a patchwork group that included Keary Colbertand Jerheme Urban in the slot last season, and the 5-foot-9 Wylieappears to be a much better fit for the position.Just like Welker in New England.Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli was behind the move thatbrought the former Texas Tech star to the Patriots. He was the GMin New England in 2007, when he sent second- and seventh-roundpicks to the Miami Dolphins to acquire Welker for quarterback TomBrady.Welker has emerged as one of the league's top wide receivers.He's piled up 650 catches for 7,226 yards in his career, gettingvoted to the Pro Bowl four times.There is also this connection: Recently hired Chiefs offensivecoordinator Brian Daboll was the wide receiver coach in New Englandjust before Welker arrived. His system has some of the sameelements of those Patriots offenses, which would ultimately useWelker so effectively.The next Welker could be the best-case scenario for Chiefs fans,many of whom have instantly compared Wylie to Dexter McCluster, whowas picked in the second round of the 2010 draft.''You know what? I take pride in being called the Wes Welker,but there are other guys that I'd like to be considered like,''Wylie said, rattling off Steve Smith and Devin Hester. ''Those aretwo guys that I really like to consider to have the sameabilities.''Menzie was the seventh player drafted from national championAlabama, and the fifth player from its defense. His fellowcornerback, Dre Kirkpatrick, went 17th overall to Cincinnati.At 5-10 and with decent speed, Menzie has the physical tools totransition to safety, where Kansas City's lack of depth was exposedlast season following an injury to Eric Berry. Menzie is alsotalented enough to stay at cornerback behind incumbents BrandonFlowers and Stanford Routt.He's the second Alabama defensive back picked by the Chiefs inrecent years. Javier Arenas was chosen shortly after McCluster inthe second round of the 2010 draft, and it was Menzie who took overhis spot as the ''star'' cornerback in the Crimson Tide lineup.''You really can't replace Javier Arenas because he was a greatplayer, great returner,'' Menzie said. ''He was physical and anever-give-up type guy.''Menzie believes he's the same kind of guy.Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel believe they drafted a few of themthis weekend."