"Justin Houston's phone rang Friday, and after the initial joy of learning that he had been drafted in the third round by the Chiefs, there was a dose of reality, too.

Todd Haley was on the other line, and he had a message for Houston, a talented defender at Georgia.

"I trust you will come in," Houston remembered his new coach telling him, "and do the right thing."

Houston had spent years doing the right thing. He wasn't a high-school troublemaker, but then he went to college and was suspended two games in 2009 for a team rules violation - nearly two years before he failed a drug test in February at the NFL's scouting combine. Houston led the Southeastern Conference last season with 10 sacks and was considered a potential first-round talent, but his more recent bout with poor judgment bruised his draft stock.

Houston isn't the only Chiefs draft pick this year with questions about his past, and that represents a change from the team's philosophy during the past two drafts, when general manager Scott Pioli seemed to target high-character, low-risk players in an effort to strengthen the moral foundation of a locker room that previously lacked control and discipline.

"What you want," Pioli said after the second round of the 2010 draft, "is the greater core of your team to be the right kind of guys."

Over the last three days, the Chiefs drafted nine players, seven of whom were team captains in college. But for the first time in Pioli's tenure, he seemed to inch away from his conservative approach.

Pioli said he hasn't changed; risks still make him nervous. But his latest decisions could signal something more interesting: that the Chiefs' locker room, after two years of care, has more leaders than menaces, and is better equipped to protect itself if a player should stray.

"You'll get a group of guys together," former Chiefs offensive lineman Tim Grunhard said. "That's what leaders do."

Houston seems to represent the highest gamble, but first-round receiver Jonathan Baldwin and sixth-round nose tackle Jerrell Powe also lack the uncomplicated backgrounds of the vast majority of players taken by the team in the previous two drafts. They also possess some of the highest upsides, and that persuaded the Chiefs to take the risks."