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Kansas City Chiefs

Composite skill θ for every GM in Kansas City Chiefs history, alongside the team's regular-season W-L and playoff result by year.

Years covered
1980–2025
first → last draft
GMs
5
tenures, newest first
Best θ
+0.71
John Dorsey
Worst θ
-0.05
Jim Schaaf

θ trajectory by GM

Each line is one GM's support estimate at successive season-end snapshots, color-coded by tenure. Lines carry forward past a GM's tenure: drafted players' careers keep playing out, so the model keeps revising its read of an old GM long after they're gone (a 7th-round flier turning into a Pro Bowler in year 6 still credits the GM who drafted him). Background bands mark each GM's actual tenure span. These paths show evidence accumulating over time; they are not the maturity-adjusted headline ranking and deliberately do not display a public interval.

-1.0-0.5+0.0+0.5+1.0+1.5'80'85'90'95'00'05'10'15'20'25θ (SD units)
Brett Veach2018–2025θ +0.40
John Dorsey2013–2017θ +0.71
Scott Pioli2009–2012θ +0.13
Carl Peterson1989–2008θ +0.59
Jim Schaaf1980–1988θ -0.05

General managers (5) · newest first

2018–2025
θ +0.40
ELITE
Promoted July 2017; first draft 2018
YearW-L-TPlayoffsθ snapshot
201812-4Lost Conf-0.03
201912-4WON SUPER BOWL+0.20
202014-2Lost Super Bowl+0.18
202112-5Lost Conf+0.28
202214-3WON SUPER BOWL+0.32
202311-6WON SUPER BOWL+0.62
202415-2Lost Super Bowl+0.74
20256-11Missed+0.76
2013–2017
θ +0.71 **
ELITE
Ran 2017 draft April 2017; fired June
YearW-L-TPlayoffsθ snapshot
201311-5Lost WC-0.07
20149-7Missed+0.16
201511-5Lost Divisional+0.20
201612-4Lost Divisional+0.82
201710-6Lost WC+0.83
2009–2012
θ +0.13
GOOD
NA
YearW-L-TPlayoffsθ snapshot
20094-12Missed+0.01
201010-6Lost WC+0.07
20117-9Missed+0.03
20122-14Missed+0.09
1980–1988
θ -0.05
AVERAGE
GM through 1988; pre-Peterson era
YearW-L-TPlayoffsθ snapshot
19808-8
19819-7+0.05
19823-6+0.05
19836-10-0.14
19848-8-0.24
19856-10-0.31
198610-6-0.32
19874-11-0.22
19884-11-1-0.22

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