You know, im not going to lie. The AFC West had one of the weakest drafts as a divison. All the tems either reached terribly on a pick or took a guy they didnt even need. I’m sure they had their reasons, but i have mine as well. I will now break down these teams drafts.

San deigo- Draft grade- C+      pre draft needs- OT, S, DE, LB

The chargers had a decent draft, actually, their C+ was the best draft in their division. They got a great pass rushing DE in larry English, but he might have been a bit of a reacj at 16th overall. Then in the 3rd round, they helped out their interior O-line with Loius Vasquez, who was part of that dominating O-line in Texas Tech in 2008. They took an unknown, Canadian college DT in the 4th by the name of Vaughn Martin. Who has ever heard of a Canadian college player going pro? then they continued to help their O-line with Tyronne Green. They took a power back that they needed desperately in Gatrell Johnson in the 4th round as well. The next 3 picks were for depth, but their 7th round pick of WR Demetrius Byrd could be a huge steal. As you can see, they filled in their needs very well.

Denver-   Draft grades- C            Pre-draft needs- DE, LB, DT, LB

For a team that needed defense, defense, and more defense, they barely drafted any defensive playmakers! And they had 2 great picks in the 1st round. Given, their 1st selection of RB Knowshon Moreno was a good pick, and will be their frachise RB,  but they had bigger needs than a RB and could have reached here just a tiny bit. Their 18th overall selection of Robert Ayers will contrbiute immeadiately on the D-line.  Their 2nd round pick of CB Alphonso Smith will be playing nickelback almost instantly, and fellow 2nd round pick of S Darcel Mcbath will be a good player. The 2nd round pick of TE Richard Quinn was a WHO??????? pick, and in the 4th took S Davis Bruton. They added good depth at OT with Seth Olsen. They also got a good steal in the 5th round with WR Kenny Mckinley. The next 2 picks, nobody knew what they really were about, or how good they are.

Oakland     Draft grade- C-              Pre-draft needs- WR, OT, DT, S

The Raiders had an up and down draft. They took WR Darrius Heyward-Bey in the 1st round over Michael Crabtree, but there really was no miss here, i think both are going to be standout WR’s in the NFL. Their 2nd round pick of S Michael Mitchell was a huge shock, as there was so much better Safety talent on the board at that point. Their 3rd round selection of DE Matt Shaughnessy should help the pass rush. The 4th round selection of WR Loius Murphy was of good value, and he can contribute to a weak WR core in Oakland right away. The next 3 picks were for depth purposes.

Kansas City   Draft grade- C-          Pre-draft needs- DT, DE, OT, LB

The Cheifs probably had the weakest draft of the division, after the 1st pick. With that 1st pick, they took great all-around DE Tyson Jackson out of LSU with the 3rd overall pick to help Glenn Dorsey and co. Then they took DT Alex Magee for insurance of Dorsey. He does have potential, but is kind of boxed up in Kansas City. They got good value in their 4th round pick of CB Donald Washinton, who could be the nickelback in KC in 2009. 5th round pick OT Colin Brown adds good depth to the O-line. They got on of the big steals in the 6th round in WR Queinten Lawrence. The next 3 picks were for depth, and they might have made the stupidest Mr.Irrelevent pick, ever.

Thats it for now, check back soon for my AFC East grades. And if you have been wondering, my NFC draft grades are on Indepthscoutinginc.sportsblognet.com. And dont forget to check out my O’s articles at Oriolecentral.wordpress.com