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AFC West - Draft Report Card Broncos: C- Round 1 (12) Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia The Broncos have plenty of RBs aboard their train, yet they draft Moreno here? While I think Moreno is very talented, I don't think he fills the greatest need for this team that's now going to run a 3-4 Defense. Round 1 (18) Robert Ayers, OLB, Tennessee I like Ayers, but this is a "one-year" wonder that shined at DE in 4-3, not a 3-4. Is he being targeted to play at DE or OLB? Round 2 (37) Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest The Broncos traded away a 1st Round pick in next year's draft for Smith. While I think he's a great CB, they risked a lot to get him. They have no assurances that their Defense will be any better than it was last season. Round 2 (48) Darcel McBath, FS, Texas Tech McBath had a solid campaign, but he's not a 2nd Round talent in my book. Round 2 (64) Richard Quinn, TE, North Carolina Again, here's another solid talent that was a reach in Round 2. He can block, but he's not a good enough pass catcher to be selected here. Round 4 (114) David Bruton, FS, Notre Dame Finally, a solid selection where the guy taken is a good value selection. Round 4 (132) Seth Olsen, OG Iowa Just when you thought the trend was broken, they reached again. Round 5 (141) Kenny McKinley, WR, South Carolina McKinley has great speed and have proven that he can catch the ball. He's a good selection here. Round 6 (174) Tom Brandstater, QB, Fresno State Branstater had an up and down year, but he has the tools do become a decent QB. Round 7 (225) Blake Schlueter, OC, TCU Schluter is a solid Center that is a good depth pick here. We'll see if he's good enough to land a spot on the roster. I took some shots at the Denver draft, largely because I couldn't understand the timing around their picks. For instance, the Broncos obviously wanted a blocking TE. With that being the case, why not pick up Pettigrew at the 18th spot. If they wanted an OLB, why not notch Cushing at the 12th spot and grab a RB later? When guys like Javon Ringer, James Davis, and Rashad Jennings were all drafted in Round 5 or lower. While none of them are Moreno, how big of a need did they have at RB? Chargers: B Round 1 (16) Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois As it stands today, this could probably be classified as a reach. However, English may have been their guy from jump. After winning the MAC Player of the Year Award two years straight, the boy's shown he's got talent. Round 2 (78) Louis Vasquez, OG, Texas Tech A very big, powerful man that most had slated to go In Round 5+... Round 4 (113) Vaughn Martin, DT, Western Ontario (Canada) Here's another talented prospect that some thought would go undrafted. Round 4 (133) Tyronne Green, OG, Auburn While undersize at 6'2" on a good day, Green faired very well at the Senior Bowl and showed that he belonged. Round 4 (134) Gartrell Johnson, RB Colorado State Johnson was probably the most underrated RB. In the draft. He has a sturdy build and is a powerful runner. He should compliment Slaton rather well. Round 5 (148) Brandon Hughes, CB Oregon State Hughes is a gifted CB that hails from a Conference that loves to throw the ball. He's been tested often and has looked pretty good. Round 6 (189) Kevin Ellison, SS Southern Cal Ellison lacking 40-time landed him here, but that's no indication of how good he is or could be. Round 7 (224) Demetrius Byrd, WR LSU After being in a serious car accident, many chose to stay away from Byrd. This is a blazing fast kid that could be a real asset. I hope the kid recovers and torches some teams out there. For the most part, the Chargers draft was one that consisted of a lot of reaches. That's how it looks now, but it may not when evaluated 2-3 years from now. Every guy they selected is a player with nice production. Time will tell whether they hit the jackpot or sank the ship. While that's the case with every team, it's more pronounced with this squad. Chiefs: C Round 1 (3) Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU Here's a prime example of a team that made their selection based off of a need vs. going with the best player available. At any event, Jackson is a stud that will probably end up being just fine. Round 3 (67) Alex Magee, Alex DT, Purdue Magee played DT in college, but best projects as a DE here. He tested out pretty well, so this pick isn't too off-base. Round 4 (102) Donald Washington, CB, Ohio State After flashing a 45" vertical leap, you knew some team was going to pounce on Washington before too long. Well, it was the Chiefs. I think they took him too early. Teams threw away from Malcom Jenkins all season, and Washington took the brunt of it. There are a lot of holes in his game tape. Round 5 (139) Colin Brown, OT, Missouri This pick, however, works. When you watch tape on Mizzou from this past season, who notice that this big boy kept Chase Daniel well protected. Round 6 (175) Quinten Lawrence, WR, McNeese State It's hard to bash any 6th Round selection too hard, but I don't think Lawrence can make the squad. Round 6 (212) Javarris Williams, RB, Tennessee State Williams was a productive college RB that has what it take to make it at the next level. He's got good power and is reliable. Round 6 (237) Jake O'Connell, Jake TE, Miami (OHIO) The Chiefs traded their 7th Rounder in 2010 for him, so there must be a little something there, right? Round7 (256) Ryan Succop, K, South Carolina This irrelevant pick may end up not being so irrelevant after all. Even though the Chiefs used their first 3 picks on Defense, things will be a work in progress for a while I imagine. This draft wasn't terrible for them, but they did just lose one of the best TEs in the history of the game and didn't do much to address said loss. Raiders: D Round 1 (7) Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland Reach, reach, reach. Why? DHB has very little production as a whole and Michael Crabtree was available. Round 2 (47) Mike Mitchell, SS, Ohio Mitchell has some upside, but is he a 2nd Round talent? No. If he ends up being so, I'll be eating my words with 99% of the other draft followers in the world. Round 3 (71) Matt Shaughnessy, DE, Wisconsin This kid is an athlete that passes the eye test, but he's a poor man's version of Michael Johnson. He does virtually nothing against the run, which was a huge sore point for the Raiders last year. Round 4 (124) Louis Murphy, WR, Florida Finally, the Raiders made a pick I agree with. Murphy is a gifted WR that has Round 2 talent. The Raiders need help at the position, so they get one 'atta boy here. Round 4 (126) Slade Norris, DE, Oregon State Norris is a converted LB that had a very productive season for the Beavers. He notched 18.5 TFLs, 10 of which were Sacks. At 6'3 245lbs., he's undersized for a DE. However, he could grow into the role. This was a reach for him though. Round 6 (199) Stryker Sulak, DE, Missouri Sulak and Norris are both very similar to one another. While Sulak is a little bigger, he tends to get washed out of the play at times, He's a good pick here though. Round 6 (202) Brandon Myers, TE, Iowa Myers had a decent Senior campaign and has some talent to work with. He's not a bad pick here. Like everyone else, I had to call out the Raiders. Their run defense was lacking last year, yet they drafted no one to help them address it. On top of that, the selections they made at critical points of the draft were reaches. |