Put your pencils down, pass your papers to the front and get ready for some draft grades. We now focus our be-monocled eye on the AFC West.
To reiterate my grading philosophy, in case you think I’m grading too easy, every team comes into the NFL Draft with the same goal; to select starters with their first and second round picks. Any starters that come after that are a bonus. If a team nails its first and second rounders, I give them a B. A solid pass.
Denver Broncos
The haul: Bradley Chubb, DE, N.C. State (Round 1, Pick 5), Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU (Round 2, Pick 40), Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon (Round 3, Pick 71), Isaac Yiadom, CB, Boston College (Round 3, Pick 99), Josey Jewell, ILB, Iowa (Round 4, Pick 106), Daesean Hamilton, WR, Penn State (Round 4, Pick 113), Troy Fumagalli, TE, Wisconsin (Round 5, Pick 156), Sam Jones, Center, Arizona State (Round 6, Pick 183), Keishawn Bierra, ILB, Washington (Round 6, Pick 217), David Williams, RB, Arkansas (Round 7, Pick 226)
Grade: A-
The Broncos probably had every intention of taking a quarterback at No. 5 until Bradley Chubb fell right into their lap. Denver couldn’t run the card up to the podium fast enough once the Cleveland Browns passed on the best pass rusher in the draft. Courtland Sutton was a first round value taken in the second round, which would be enough to land Denver a B+.
What ticked it up into “A-” territory? Stealing Troy Fumagalli in the fifth round. This kid has starter potential at a position where the Broncos already had solid starters and depth with Jeff Heuerman and Jake Butt. Fumagalli is better than both.
Kansas City Chiefs
The haul: Breeland Speaks, DT, Ole Miss (Round 2, Pick 46), Derrick Nnadi, DT, Florida State (Round 3, Pick 75), Dorian O’Daniel, OLB, Clemson (Round 3, Pick 100), Armani Watts, Safety, Texas A&M (Round 4, Pick 124), Tremon Smith, CB, Central Arkansas (Round 6, Pick 196), Kahlil McKenzie, DT, Tennessee (Round 6, Pick 198)
Grade: B+
The Chiefs didn’t have a first round pick at all, so how did they get a B+? They landed that grade by acing the rest fo the draft. Speaks is a starter taken in the second, which as I’ve said, is the goal. They also stole their starting outside linebacker in the third round with O’Daniel from Clemson. Watts and Nnadi are tremendous value picks, but grabbing Kahlil McKenzie, who never stayed healthy at Tennessee, in the seventh was a tremendous pick without a lot of risk. McKenzie was a star prospect coming out of high school. A great, value selection in the seventh.
Oakland Raiders
The haul: Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA (Round 1, Pick 15), P.J. Hall, DT, Sam Houston State (Round 2, Pick 57), Brandon Parker, OT, North Carolina A&T (Round 3, Pick 65), Arden Key, DE, LSU (Round 3, Pick 87), Nick Nelson, CB, Wisconsin (Round 4, Pick 110), Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan (Round 5, Pick 140), Johnny Townsend, Punter, Florida (Round 5, Pick 173), Azeem Victor, ILB, Washington (Round 6, Pick 216), Marcell Ateman, WR, Oklahoma State (Round 7, Pick 228)
Grade: B+
As the Raiders’ draft was falling early, it looked to me like Jon Gruden was kind of blowing it. Miller was a no-brainer in the first round, but Hall won’t start in the second. He and Parker both didn’t seem to bring a lot of value from Day Two. Then, Gruden grabs Arden Key in the third, a potential starter and then totally redeems himself by taking my top defensive tackle in this entire draft, Maurice Hurst, in the fifth. Hurst slid out of the first round because of a heart condition, but he’s had it all the way through his college career and was the best DT in the NCAA.
Los Angeles Chargers
The haul: Derwin James, Safety, Florida State (Round 1, Pick 17), Uchenna Nwosu, OLB, USC (Round 2, Pick 48), Justin Jones, DT, N.C. State (Round 3, Pick 84), Kyzir White, Safety, West Virginia, Scott Quessenberry, Center, UCLA (Round 5, Pick 155), Dylan Cantrell, WR, Texas Tech (Round 6, Pick 191), Justin Jackson, RB, Northwestern (Round 7, Pick 251)
Grade: B
The Chargers put together a solid draft, landing their two required starters with James and Nwosu. All the way through the draft, they didn’t reach and selected solid guys with potential. Over the next two seasons, they could have five or more starters come out of this draft class.
