While most of the attention from the 2012 draft focuses on first-rounders such as Chiefs nose tackle Dontari Poe, the 11th overall pick, there’s more to a draft than one round.

Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi of NFL.com has unveiled his 2012 NFL Draft “All Value Team” in which he selected guard Jeff Allen, the Chiefs’ second-round pick from Illinois, as one of 12 players taken from the second round on who hold the most potential for immediate and long-term value to the teams that selected them.

Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel said nose tackle Dontari Poe, the club’s first-round draft pick, showed improvement from Friday to Sunday during the weekend rookie minicamp.

“He still has work to do,” Crennel said.

Here were Crennel’s quick impressions of the other draft picks:

_Guard Jeff Allen (second-round pick): “Allen missed time because of his graduation, but in the first day he looked like he could bend a little bit, took some leadership, asked good questions in the classroom, so we’re excited about that.”

Former Missouri tight end Martin Rucker was one of nine invited tryout players to the Chiefs rookie camp who was let go after two days.

The only tryout player who remained on Sunday was quarterback David LeGree of Hampton, largely because he was the only quarterback at the mini-camp.

However, it is possible that Rucker, a veteran of four teams since 2008, could be brought back for the off-season program.

The Chiefs had their first practice of their three-day rookie camp today. Some quick observations:

1) First-round draft pick Dontari Poe comes by his 346 pounds honestly. That number isn't inflated. The man is huge. The Chiefs weren't practicing in pads, so it was hard to make any such generalities about his ability. The Chiefs worked extensively on special teams and during those periods, Poe worked one on one with defensive line coach Anthony Pleasant going over some techniques.

Former Missouri tight end Martin Rucker is among 10 players participating in the Chiefs' rookie camp on a trial basis. Rucker, who is from St. Joseph, has played with the Browns, Cowboys and Jaguars. He was drafted by Cleveland in 2008 when the Browns were coached by Romeo Crennel.

One other tryout player, linebacker Leon Williams, was drafted by the Browns in 2006, also when they were coached by Crennel.

I told you the other day the Chiefs would announce some draft pick signings when their rookies arrived in Kansas City to sign their contracts. I also told you both of their seventh round picks, San Diego State defensive lineman Jerome Long and Michigan wide receiver Junior Hemingway, would be among them.

Well, the Chiefs start their three-day rookie camp today and they announced four signings, Long and Hemingway among them. The others are fourth-round receiver Devon Wylie of Fresno State and sixth-round running back Cyrus Gray of Texas A&M.

Changes were inevitable to the Chiefs scouting department when Phil Emery left last winter to become general manager of the Chicago Bears.

The Chiefs made at least some of those changes today when they promoted Jim Nagy from regional scout to national scout, hired Kyle O’Brien as a regional scout and elevated scouting assistant Ryne Nutt to area scout.

Nagy and O'Brien have ties to general manager Scott Pioli. They worked as scouts for the Patriots when Pioli worked for New England.

Draft picks are signing around the NFL well ahead of the former pace thanks to changes made to the collective bargaining agreement with regard to rookie contracts.

So far, nothing from the Chiefs but look for that to change soon. Rookies will begin arriving in Kansas City for the three-day camp that begins Friday and their arrival in town will give them a chance to put ink to paper and then the Chiefs a chance to announce those deals.

The Chiefs begin a three-day rookie camp on Friday at their Truman Sports Complex practice facility. On hand will be their eight draft picks, 15 undrafted free agents and some rookies who are participating on a trial basis.

Coach Romeo Crennel said a couple of rookies, Jeff Allen and Tim Biere, will each miss day to go through graduation ceremonies at his college. Allen, a second-round offensive lineman, from Illinois, will not practice on Saturday while Biere, an undrafted tight end from Kansas, will miss Sunday's workout.

The Chiefs signed 15 undrafted free agents, including wide receiver Brandon Kinnie of Nebraska, who played at Grandview High School.

They hit defensive back hard, signing five. They signed two wide receivers, two offensive linemen and one each at tight end, running back, fullback, linebacker, defensive end and kicker.

Here's the list by position:

Defensive back (5): Jean Fanor, Bethune-Cookman; Chandler Fenner, Holy Cross; Tysyn Hartman, Kansas State; Terrance Parks, Florida State; Neiko Thorpe, Auburn. Hartman, a safety, and Thorpe, who played cornerback and safety, have the best chance to help.