KANSAS CITY, Mo. Babe Ruth Jersey . - John Dorsey likes to say that it takes several years before a verdict can be returned on a draft pick. There is a learning curve for rookies, often a steep one. The pro game is faster, players are stronger and the plays more complex.If thats the case, the first two draft classes of the Chiefs general manager — panned so often by fans and pundits — may actually be right on track.First-round pick Dee Ford played nearly half of the snaps in Sundays win over Oakland, a vast improvement over early in the season, when the linebacker barely got on the field.Third-round pick Phillip Gaines is now starting at cornerback. Fourth-round pick DeAnthony Thomas returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown against the Raiders. Sixth-round pick Zach Fulton has been starting at guard. Kicker Cairo Santos and wide receiver Albert Wilson, a pair of undrafted rookies, have become key components of the Chiefs playoff run.Thats a tribute to John, coach Andy Reid said. Were sitting here later in the year and all of a sudden you are seeing these guys, the Albert Wilsons of the team, produce. Fulton has continued to mature. Dee Ford, you saw him out there, the last two weeks hes had a lot of snaps.Important snaps, too. The Chiefs (8-6) have been teetering on the edge of post-season elimination, and remain on shaky ground heading to Pittsburgh — another playoff contender — for Sundays game.Dorsey brought his draft philosophy with him from Green Bay, where he learned on the knee of longtime GMs Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson. The basic principal is to draft the best player on the board regardless of position or need, which is easy to say but difficult to do.It worked most clearly when the Packers chose Aaron Rodgers in the first round despite having Brett Favre at quarterback. Fast forward a few years and, while other teams scramble to address their quarterback situation, the transition from Favre to Rodgers was almost seamless.In Kansas City, the idea may be working out in similar fashion.The Chiefs were seemingly set at outside linebacker with Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, but chose Ford this year anyway, despite pressing needs elsewhere. Now, if Ford is able to push for more playing time, it might make Hali and his albatross of a contract expendable. And that would give the franchise the flexibility to address other holes, such as signing Houston to a long-term deal.All of that lies in the future, though. Right now, the Chiefs are focused solely on the present, and that means trying to squeak into the playoffs. And the production of the last two draft classes will promise to be just as important in that endeavour.Left tackle Eric Fisher, the Chiefs first-round pick a year ago, will need to be able to pry open holes for running backs Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis while protecting quarterback Alex Smith.Davis, a third-round pick, has had to carry more of the burden in recent weeks with Charles banged up. He ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass in last weeks win over the Raiders.Then theres tight end Travis Kelce, another third-round pick. On a team that does not have a wide receiver that has caught a touchdown pass this season, Kelce has filled the void. He has a team-leading 56 catches for 747 yards and five touchdowns — and a penchant for early celebrations.Youve just got to go out there and make sure you are playing within the fundamentals, he said, and the techniques of the game and not getting too high or too low.Thomas, who has played more on offence lately, said after springing his punt return for a touchdown last week that the game is slowing down. Everything is coming into focus. And that could go for all the first- and second-year players who are being asked to perform.Ive been learning. Ive been learning the whole season. Its to the point where Im starting to get a feel of it, he said. I want to go out there, make plays and get our team going.NOTES: WR Dwayne Bowe and DT Jaye Howard missed practice Thursday with an illness. Hali was out with a bothersome knee that limited him in practice the previous day. Cheap Tom Brady Jersey . Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. Kyrie Irving Jersey . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/patrick-mahomes-jersey/ .Y. - For once, Clayton Kershaw was glad to see a long shutout streak end.RALEIGH, N.C. -- The previous time the Carolina Hurricanes had a month like this, a rare playoff appearance soon followed. The Hurricanes capped their first 10-win month since 2009 by beating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Friday night. Jeff Skinner scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, Alexander Semin added an empty-netter with 1:04 left and Nathan Gerbe scored on an early power play. Opening a four-game homestand that precedes the Olympic break, Carolina earned its fifth win in six games while staying in the mix in the crowded Metropolitan Division. "We want to have a good feeling going into the break and we want to sort of build off this win," Skinner said. David Backes scored on the power play for St. Louis. The Blues, who average 3.36 goals per game, missed a chance to pull even with Chicago atop the Central Division by losing just their fourth game against an Eastern Conference team. "Hard to find a lot of good players in our game today," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They deserve a lot of credit. They skated. They checked. They played hard. And we looked like we had the body language like we wanted an easier game. Didnt get it." Anton Khudobin stopped 26 shots for the Hurricanes. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves in his fourth straight start, but had his four-game winning streak snapped. Khudobin stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third period, including a nifty leg save on Alex Pietrangelo with about 1 1/2 minutes left. And, he got some help from the goal post after two Blues -- Jaden Schwartz and Jay Bouwmeester -- each rang it in the final 2 minutes. "You need the post to be a goalies best friend," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. Semin then tacked on his highlight-reel empty-net goal that capped the Hurricanes best month in a while. They went 10-4 in January, and their previous 10-win month in March 2009 led into their only playoff apppearance since 2006, when they won their only Stanley Cup. Barry Bonds Jersey. Skinner put Carolina up 2-1 off a draw 1:51 into the second. After Jordan Staal won a faceoff, the puck found Skinners stick and he beat Halak with a wrist shot from the slot that clipped the goalies glove for his seventh goal of the month. "Didnt really mean to bank it off his glove and in," Skinner said. "You just try and get it to the net sometimes." That turned out to be enough support for Khudobin, who earned the decision in every game this month for Carolina. He helped the Hurricanes leapfrog idle Columbus and Philadelphia in the division standings, with 59 points. When the night started, only 11 points separated second place from the cellar in the Metropolitan. The Hurricanes never trailed on Friday, taking advantage of some sloppy play early by the Blues -- who were whistled for three penalties in the opening 11:25. Carolina went up 1-0 when Gerbe one-timed a slick cross-ice pass from Andrej Sekera 3:46 in. "The puck had moved, and there was an opening there and he found a soft area," Sekera said. "He was wide open, so I just tried to get it to him, and he did a pretty good job." The Blues, who have the leagues second-best power-play unit, tied it at 9:23 when Backes beat Khudobin high for his 150th career goal with St. Louis but just his second since Dec. 14. "Its nice to be back on the scoreboard but were more interested in winning," Backes said. "Tonight was a game where they brought a hard-skating, tough-checking game, and we didnt have a ton of answers for it." NOTES: St. Louis finished the month 9-5-0. ... The Blues entered with 37 points on the road, the second-best total in the league, but have not won in Raleigh since 2009. ... Carolina G Cam Ward, out all of January with an unspecified lower-body injury, made a conditioning start Friday night with Charlotte of the AHL. ' ' '