KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs' fortune with quarterbacks and the draft is such that the one time the last several years when they were in position to take a true franchise passer -- in 2013, when the Chiefs had the first overall pick – none was available. This was just one year after the Indianapolis Colts, with the draft’s top pick, selected a can’t-miss quarterback, Andrew Luck.

That’s another chapter in the sorry history of the Chiefs’ attempt to draft a quarterback in the first round. The last time the Chiefs tried, in 1983, they passed on a chance to draft either of two eventual Hall of Famers, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. They instead drafted Todd Blackledge, who threw 32 interceptions and 26 touchdown passes in his five seasons in Kansas City.

As if burned by that experience, the Chiefs haven’t gone the quarterback route in the first round since. Only the New Orleans Saints, among the 32 NFL teams, have gone longer without picking a quarterback in the first round.

Since drafting Todd Blackledge in the QB-rich 1983 draft, the Chiefs have run away from quarterbacks in the first round. Susan Ragan/AP Photo

The Chiefs might finally try again this year. They’ve met with many of the top quarterback prospects and reportedly brought at least two, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, to Kansas City for a closer examination.

The timing is good for the Chiefs at long last to develop their own long-term quarterback. Starter Alex Smith has two years left on his contract, so the pressure would be minimal to play a young quarterback before his time.

The Chiefs have a well-stocked roster, so they can afford to take a first-round try on a quarterback. They also have 10 picks, including two in the third round, so they can cover some ground at other positions later in the draft or move up a few spots in the first, if that’s what they choose to do.

The Chiefs must be willing to draft a quarterback and have him serve as an apprentice for at least a year. Coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey have selected two quarterbacks in their four drafts together in Kansas City, though neither was in the first round.

They would have been happy to draft a quarterback with that first overall pick in 2013. But after surveying the crop of quarterbacks available that year, they instead traded with the 49ers for Smith.

The top two quarterbacks selected in 2013, EJ Manuel and Geno Smith, are trying to win backup jobs for their second NFL teams.

The Chiefs don’t sound afraid to fail on a first-round quarterback.

“I’m big on trusting the process,” Reid said recently about drafting a quarterback. “You sort it out, then you go get it, and then you go to work. Are you going to be right every time? No ... that’s the human element. But you surely can’t be passive or you’re not going to get anywhere.”

For many years after drafting Blackledge, the Chiefs were afraid to fail with a first-round quarterback. Their two longest-serving coaches since then, Marty Schottenheimer and Dick Vermeil, weren’t interested in developing a young quarterback.

They were more comfortable with either signing or trading for a veteran.

“We tried on a couple of occasions to go with a second-round quarterback,” said Carl Peterson, the Chiefs’ general manager from 1989 through 2008. “Neither one of them worked out. After the second one, I said, ‘You know what? If I’m going to give up a first-round choice for a quarterback, I’m going to get one that I know about, that has a track record.’

“Most of the time we were drafting mid- to late first round. So you’re not going to get a franchise quarterback. Even so, I felt if you had a high first-round draft choice, you would be better served to go either in another direction or trade down and get some extra choices, and then you could spend it on a veteran quarterback -- an accomplished, experienced, playoff-type quarterback -- so at least you know what you’re working with.”

With Peterson as the general manager, the Chiefs twice traded a No. 1 pick for a starting quarterback -- for Joe Montana in 1993 and for Trent Green in 2001. They also traded a second-round pick for Matt Cassel in 2009 and two second-rounders for Smith in 2013.

The Chiefs have drafted 12 quarterbacks after the first round since 1983, but in each case they got what they paid for. Only two of those quarterbacks so much as started a game for them. Doug Hudson started one game for the Chiefs in 1987, but only as a replacement during a player strike.

Brodie Croyle, a third-round pick in 2006, started 10 games for the Chiefs over five seasons. His record was 0-10.

As in 2013, the Chiefs have rarely been in position to draft a top quarterback. They’ve drafted in the top 10 nine times since 1983, but either in years when no top QB prospect was available or when the best quarterbacks went earlier, before the Chiefs had their chance.

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Still, they’ve missed on some top prospects. They could have drafted Aaron Rodgers in 2005 and Derek Carr in 2014.

The Chiefs have been serious about drafting a quarterback in the first round a few times since 1983:

• In 2001, the Chiefs looked into drafting Drew Brees.

“We went to Purdue to work him out,” Peterson said. “He threw every ball perfectly. You’d put him up on the board and he would wow you with his quick analysis.”

The Chiefs instead traded their top pick shortly before the draft to the Rams for Green. Brees was taken by the Chargers with the first pick of the second round.

• In 2002, the Chiefs might have drafted Oregon’s Joey Harrington. He went with the third overall pick to the Lions, three spots ahead of where the Chiefs drafted.

“We certainly would have given it the full 15 minutes,” Peterson said when asked what the Chiefs would have done if Harrington was still on the board when they picked. “We liked him very much.”

• In 2008, the Chiefs were coached by Herm Edwards, who was willing to tolerate the ups and downs of playing a young quarterback. They would have drafted Matt Ryan of Boston College if the Falcons hadn't taken him third overall, two spots ahead of the Chiefs.

“Matt Ryan would have been the guy,” Edwards said. “You knew he was going to be a great player in our league. We just couldn’t get him. Atlanta had the pick and they weren’t going to move out of that pick.”

The Chiefs had a good draft in 2008 without Ryan, getting a handful of players who became key contributors to their AFC West-winning team in 2010. But they didn’t get their franchise quarterback.

“That’s the problem,” Edwards said. “We ended up getting some good players, but none of them played the quarterback position.”

• Last year, the Chiefs would have drafted Memphis’ Paxton Lynch if he had fallen to them late in the first round. The Broncos instead traded up to move two spots ahead of the Chiefs and selected Lynch.