Grading the 08 Draft- AFC West

  

San Diego           

• Antoine Cason is a great pick; he is a playmaker, and for SD to have him as their third corner is incredible.  Cason has been known for making some amazing pick sixes. He will add to an already talented SD secondary, and might give the Chargers the best CB trio in the league, at least until Pacman Jones is reinstated or if Lito Sheppard isn’t traded. 
• I watched a lot of LSU games this past year, and every time I came away impressed with Jacob Hester.  He is the kind of determined, throwback football player that everyone wants on their team.  Hester won’t break a big 50+ yard run, but he almost never loses yards, and his heroics on third and forth down are the stuff of legend.  I like Hester to take over for Lorenzo Neal. While there will be a bit of a drop off in blocking skills, there will also be an increase in the amount of versatility at the FB/HB spot on the SD offense. 
• This is a loaded San Diego team; they don’t have a lot of roster holes to fill or spots to give up, and this is pretty much their division to lose.  I am looking to see if the SD defense can be truly dominant with all this talent, and if the offense can make some progress now that Gates will be healthy and Chambers has a full off-season to learn the system. 

  

Oakland                     

• Darren (D-Mac, Run DMC) McFadden looks like a clone of Adrian Peterson, with less aggression and power, but with a touch more speed.  This is a sexy pick, and it has lots of potential to help Jamarcus Russell and Oakland’s sad offense make some strides.  We all know Oakland has a crap offensive line, but this could be a classic example of a great RB making a bad O-line look good.  D-Mac is a stud, and they will find ways to get him the ball, receiving or running. However, his potential is tied to whether Jamarcus steps up and becomes an NFL level QB. 
• Oakland has lots of running backs, but you need more than one in this NFL.  If the Raiders can get Run DMC and another RB on the field at the same time, then you’ll be seeing some fresh looks for Oakland, and maybe they won’t get trounced so consistently.
• Aside from McFadden nothing else stands out in this draft class, which leads us to wonder how’s a RB going to help your terrible run defense. 

  

Kansas City               

• It’s hard to not like the Chiefs draft, with two high picks and the rest of the Jared Allen bounty. Ultimately they made the right choices, and that’s important.  Trading away a player like Allen is rarely good, but his stock was high, and KC has so many holes they had to do something.
• Glenn Dorsey was a no-brainer; he might be the best defensive player in this draft.  He can be a pocket collapsing QB terror from the DT spot, and those are hard to find.  Anyone who watched college football last year knows the kind of impact Dorsey has on games, and he will continue that in the NFL.  It’s not as if he’s never seen a double team before, but without some push off the edge, it could be a long year for KC’s defense. 
• Brandon Albert was a great pick, we all heard about his meteoric rise up draft boards, and that speaks to the premium placed on the LT position.  Albert might struggle some early, but I expect him to continue to blow open holes for the run game. His game film just screamed athleticism, so I think he will catch on pretty quick and be an excellent player.
• If Brandon Flowers could have run a 4.3 forty, he would have been a top 10 pick.  His positioning and his aggression are top notch. He is also physical and a big hitter. I love this kid’s style of play, and he will light somebody up this year, guaranteed.
• Jamaal Charles was a good pick as well; he has speed to burn and will provide a change of pace. He also has the potential to run some 2 back sets, in what should be a run heavy offense this year.
• Dejaun Morgan was a steal, and he will be given the chance to start on a young KC defense. I don’t know why he dropped so low in this draft. 
• Overall this was a great draft, but KC is clearly in rebuilding mode now, and won’t be competing for anything other than the Tim Tebow sweepstakes.

  

Denver                                   

• Ryan Clady could have gone higher than he did, and he is a guy with a lot of upside. He needs to improve his technique if he wants to dominate or really even be serviceable at the NFL level.  He should fit well in the zone blocking schemes in Denver, but can he handle elite pass rushers? 
• I mean its Denver, so watch them find another running back in the 5th round, and we’ll all have to give them their credit.
• There were no real exciting picks or steals for the Broncos in the later rounds, overall an unimpressive draft weekend for Denver.
• Shanahan’s drafts over the last few years really haven’t been very good, he has been taking some big risks and it hasn’t panned out. I think Denver is still a long way from competing for this division, and this draft is basically just treading water. 

CHECK BACK FOR OUR OTHER GRADES….next up AFC NORTH

 

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