Grading the AFC West's moves in the first round of the draft

 

The 2017 NFL Draft was not lacking in the excitement department as trades, and lots of offensive players highlighted the early part of the draft, setting the tone for a crazy first night. No other division had more excitement with unexpected picks and debatable draft value like the AFC West’s four teams did in the first round.

Here are our grades for the AFC West’s four first-round selections, based in part on the value of how we ranked the players on our Big Board.

7. Los Angeles Chargers – Mike Williams, WR, Clemson: C+

Williams is a very talented receiver with great size who knows how to use it. His biggest knock is his inability to create separation, meaning he’s often forced to have to use his size to make plays and come down with balls in the air.

Becoming a more refined route runner would help him as he has decent speed (ran in the 4.5s at his pro day) but is not a sudden mover or a quick accelerator. For a Chargers team that needs more depth in its depleted receiving core, he makes sense, though the Bolts had a chance to add an elite talent to their defensive backfield and passed.

That’s why this grade isn’t a B, as Williams wasn’t necessarily worthy of this high a pick and the Chargers had a chance to make a great selection if they had taken someone like Marshon Lattimore or Malik Hooker. This class is loaded with great defensive backs so they’ll have a chance to greatly improve their grade, but right now the value of their top 10 pick doesn’t look great.

10. Kansas City Chiefs – Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech: D+

Mahomes is the lowest ranked player on our board who was selected in the first round, sitting at No. 76. That’s not to say he doesn’t have talent, he has a huge arm and is very athletic. He’s also an intelligent kid by all accounts who’s father is a former professional baseball player so he has the pedigree of a pro athlete and he carries himself that way. He also beat out Baker Mayfield and Davis Webb to be the starting quarterback at Texas Tech, a noteworthy accomplishment.

Mahomes’ biggest hurdle will be adjusting to an NFL offense, not so much because of the wide open system he comes from, but because of how he succeeded within that system. As he does most of his damage outside of the pocket when plays break down, he’s basically a back yard football player right now, and that will only go so far in the league.

At the same time, he couldn’t have landed in a better place as he’s guaranteed to be groomed for at least a year and Andy Reid is a perfect coach for him. But it’s really impossible to predict how Mahomes will develop as he’s just a raw piece of clay right now.

On top of the questionable value of the pick, the Chiefs gave up their first rounder this year and next year plus a third rounder. That’s a really steep price to pay for a player that requires so much projection.

20. Denver Broncos – Garett Bolles, OT, Utah: C+

Bolles wasn’t a great value pick either as his top standing in the tackle class was far from a consensus, and this 2017 class is a notoriously weak group. He’s also 25 years old and comes into the NFL as still pretty inexperienced and raw.

Bolles does, however, have some big-time upside despite his age and he fills a huge need at a premium position such as left tackle. He’s also supremely athletic, a skill that almost always gets players drafted high. He presents an interesting option for the Broncos as his athleticism and ability to be at his best when blocking in space will allow for more bubble screens and zone scheme concepts where he can be used to pull and put in motion. That could help everyone as it would create easy yards for the aerial attack in the screen game and could help open up the run game.

Bolles also has the nasty edge in the blocking game that the Broncos are trying to build an identity around. It’s not a great pick, but there’s plenty of opportunities to turn this draft around with some well-selected playmakers on day two.

24. Oakland Raiders – Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State: B+

The Raiders potentially got a steal here as Conley was rumored to go much higher than this pick before he was accused of rape just a few days ago, though he hasn’t been charged and has vehemently denied the accusations. Of course, if charges are brought from those accusations this entire evaluation is off the table, but here’s how we see it now.

He’s oddly always been the second-best cornerback on his team, but in fairness, he was second to two top 11 selections in the past two drafts, so he probably gets a pass. Conley is impressive in coverage where he’s very fluid and can turn and run with guys deep. He’s sticky in underneath coverage as well and was very impressive with the Buckeyes in his ability to play both outside and in the slot, doing so at a high level.

In the national semifinal, he was actually matched up against Mike Williams a decent amount and was spectacular, forcing an interception and allowing Williams only a couple short receptions.

His biggest knock is a lack of physicality as he can get pushed around at the line of scrimmage and at the point of attack on contested catches. Conley’s an even worse tackler, an area in which he’s known to whiff and can look flat out bad.

Oakland needed a cornerback with his versatility, though, and he could easily be their best cover man in a few seasons. Given his off-field incident and lack of physicality, a player like Chidobe Awuzie might have been a better selection – as could have Kevin King who was another hot name entering the draft.

But this was probably the best value pick in the division, and it was at a premium position that also was a big need. Outside of the legal concern, there are very few things to fault with this selection.