NFC West Draft Grades

Draft review, NFC West style.

Seattle Seahawks

1st-James Carpenter OT

3rd-John Moffitt G

4th-K.J. Wright OLB

4th-Kris Durham WR 

5th-Richard Sherman CB

5th-Mark Legree S

6th-Byron Maxwell CB

7th-Lazarius Levingston DE

7th-Malcolm Smith OLB

Best Pick: Moffitt

Worst Pick: Carpenter

Seattle addressed the offensive line with their first two picks, though a quarterback should have been taken in the first. I like the pick of Durham in the fourth. I don't like that they didn't draft a quarterback at all and I had free agent grades on a couple of their late round picks. They will be drafting early next year so better luck then. 

Grade D

St Louis Rams

1st-Robert Quinn DE

2nd-Lance Kendricks TE

3rd-Austin Pettis WR

4th-Greg Salas WR

5th-Jermale Hines S

7th-Mikail Baker CB

7th-Jabara Williams OLB

7th-Jonathan Nelson FS 

Best Pick: Quinn

Worst Pick: Hines

Not too many people thought Robert Quinn would be available when the Rams chose in the first round. I don't think they expected him to be there either. Quinn immediately improves the pass rush. The next three picks were used to give Sam Bradford some help in the passing game. Good call there. I like what the Rams did in this draft. 

Grade A

San Francisco 49ers 

1st-Aldon Smith OLB

2nd-Colin Kaepernick QB
3rd-Chris Culliver CB
4th-Kendall Hunter RB
5th-Daniel Kilgore G
6th-Ronald Johnson WR
6th-Colin Jones S
7th-Bruce Miller OLB
7th-Mike Person C
7th-Curtis Holcomb CB

Best Pick: Smith
Worst Pick: Holcomb

A lot of people thought Smith was a reach at seven. I absolutely disagree. Smith provides instant pass rush to the 49ers defense. Kaepernick fits what Harbaugh wants in his quarterback and will not be sitting behind Alex Smith for too long. Culliver, Hunter, Kilgore and Johnson will all contribute as rookies. Good draft for Harbaugh and the 49ers.

Grade B


Arizona Cardinals

1st-Patrick Peterson CB
2nd-Ryan Williams RB
3rd-Rob Housler TE
4th-Sam Acho OLB
5th-Anthony Sherman FB
6th-Quan Sturdivant MLB
6th-David Carter DT
7th-DeMarco Sampson WR

Best Pick: Peterson
Worst Pick: Housler

Patrick Peterson can usually make your draft by himself, he is one of the best corner prospects to come out in a long time. I also like the addition of Williams to the Cardinals offense. The Cardinals would have been better today if they had used their third and fifth rounders to address the offensive line. I don't see value in a tight end and fullback in the middle of the draft when there are bigger needs to be filled.

Grade C

AFC West Draft Grades

If you really pay attention to the NFL, you know that it takes at least three years to truly evaluate a team's draft. That wont stop me from making a snap judgement. I'm going to start with the AFC West. 

Kansas City Chiefs

1st-Jonathan Baldwin WR 

2nd-Rodney Hudson G/C 

3rd-Justin Houston OLB 

3rd-Allen Bailey DE

4th-Jalil Brown CB 

5th-Ricky Stanzi QB

5th-Gabe Miller OLB

6th-Jerrell Powe DT

7th-Shane Bannon FB

Best Pick: Hudson

Worst Pick: Bannon

Pioli and company showed, once again, that they know what they are doing when it comes to this draft stuff. I may be slightly optimistic, but I think the Chiefs just had another productive draft and will see a lot of early contributions from their rookies. The first six picks in this draft are not only talented players, but they all address a position of need for the Chiefs. The other guys are all projects to some extent, though I think Powe represents exactly what Crennel is looking for in a nose tackle. He just needs some coaching. Overall, I really like this draft and the Chiefs definitely improved their roster.

Grade A

San Diego Chargers

1st-Corey Liuget DE

2nd-Marcus Gilchrist CB

2nd-Jonas Mouton OLB

3rd-Vincent Brown WR

3rd-Shareece Wright CB

6th-Jordan Todman HB

6th-Steve Schilling G

7th-Andrew Gachkar OLB

Best Pick: Liuget

Worst Pick: Mouton

The Chargers started off strong with good selections in Liuget and Gilchrist. I'm going to go on record here, I think the 2nd round pick on Mouton will be a wasted pick. The Chargers usually do much better than that, I'm not sure what they see there. I like the 3rd round though, both players are talented and will do well in the NFL. Not drafting again until the 6th round didn't help the overall cause but they worked with what they had. 

Grade C

Oakland Raiders

2nd-Stefen Wisniewski G/C

3rd-Demarcus Van Dyke CB

3rd-Joseph Barksdale OT

4th-Chimdi Chekwa CB

4th-Taiwan Jones RB

5th-Denarius Moore WR

6th-Richard Gordon TE

7th-David Ausberry WR

Best Pick: Jones

Worst Pick: Chekwa

The Raiders picked up a decent lineman in Wisniewski, though I think they reached for him. Jones was a good value where he was selected and will contribute. Oakland made sure to get faster but I don't think the roster was upgraded as efficiently as it could have been. 

Grade D

Denver Broncos

1st-Von Miller OLB

2nd-Rahim Moore S

2nd-Orlando Franklin OT

3rd-Nate Irving MLB

4th-Quinton Carter S

4th-Julius Thomas TE

6th-Mike Mohamed LB

7th-Virgil Green TE

7th-Jeremy Beal DE

Best Pick: Miller

Worst Pick: Thomas

The Broncos took the best pass rusher in the draft in Von Miller and didn't stop there. Moore and Carter were ranked as the top two safeties in the draft. Irving is a thumper in the middle and Mohamed provides a versatile backup who can play inside and outside. Beal and Green are both low risk, high reward players. The Denver Johns got off to a good start in the rebuilding process with this draft. 

Grade A