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

The first-round is just the beginning, which is why we’ll publish our final grades when the dust settles on the 2019 NFL Draft, but with the excitement of Thursday night, we’re going to break down all the picks in round one.

The beauty of the first round is you find out how teams plan to build their future, so with the help of our trusted big board, we’re going to see how the Broncos stacked up against the rest of the AFC West.

Oakland Raiders: C

4th) Clelin Ferrell, EDGE, Clemson

24th) Josh Jacobs, RB, Alabama

27th) Johnathan Abram, SS, Mississippi State

According to our rankings, the Raiders reached a bit on every pick they made without getting great value. Oakland clearly wanted high-character players from top programs and might’ve passed on more talented prospects

Having traded away Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, the Raiders had to get the most out these picks and I’m not quite sure they did that.

Ferrell is a terrific player with great power, a tremendous motor, and high-end finishing ability, who was ninth on our board. The question is about whether or not he’s athletic enough to become a dominant force and make everyone forget Mack. It’ll be interesting to watch him twice a year and see if he can live up to his lofty draft expectations without another pass rusher to take attention off of him. 

While Jacobs and Abram weren’t ideal picks, sitting 38th and 46th on our board. You can find running backs later on in every draft and Jacobs is still untested, while Abram is incredibly redundant with Karl Joseph and not as versatile as some of the other safeties still on the board.

This is a fine haul but the pressure was on the Raiders to do better than this. 

Denver Broncos: C

20th) Noah Fant, TE, Iowa

The Broncos trading down from the 10th pick is factored into this, receiving a top-52 pick from the Pittsburgh Steelers and an additional 2020 third-rounder, a fair trade. So the trade is valued at about C, and Fant who was 29th on our final board, was a solid pick but not a great value.

Fant’s upside is off the charts but there are also concerns he could just be a bit of a gadget player.

The positional value here for the Broncos isn’t great, either, as they took a tight end at 20th overall in a deep and talented position group, where they could’ve waited a round or two and still got a good prospect who projected to be a future starter. Obviously, this wasn’t about adding another serviceable prospect on day two or three of the draft, John Elway’s done that before, this was about adding a receiver-like weapon in the slot, out the backfield, and even in-line who can stretch the seam and be a dynamic weapon.

That sounds good but it’s also a bit of a risky play, as the pressure’s on for new offensive play-caller Rich Scangarello to utilize the former Hawkeye the right way. Fant will also have to accelerate his development and become more consistent with his routes and hands.

If Fant were to become a dynamic receiver or an all-around tight end, this pick will be validated. The big question right now, as Fant’s raw skills have yet to be honed, is if he and the two picks Denver added were worth missing out on a potential building block for the defense or offensive line.

Lots of pressure is now on day two, where the Broncos need to add multiple starters to justify passing on the likes of Devin Bush and Jonah Williams.

Los Angeles Chargers: A

28th) Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame

The Chargers keep building up their defense and could be scary if they stay healthy with the addition of Tillery.

The Notre Dame lineman is long, athletic and has flashed elite pass rushing ability from the interior. Put him in the middle of a defense where all the attention is focused on Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram and he could become a special talent who eats up one-on-one blocks. That’s a worrisome projection for a Broncos team that is still figuring out its starting lineup at guard and center. 

Tillery was also a great value pick and one of the few first-round graded players remaining on our board when the Chargers selected. Making this pick a great combination of value and need.

Kansas City Chiefs: B

Traded pick 29 for Frank Clark

Beyond just trading their first-round pick, the Chiefs also trade a second rounder in 2020, essentially swapping what they got for Dee Ford and the 29th pick for Frank Clark.

That’s an expensive trade but Clark was the best immediate contributor the Chiefs could get with a low first rounder and a much better fit in their new defense than Ford.

With Emmanuel Ogbah and Clark added to Chris Jones and some of the young guys they’ve drafted the last two season, Steve Spagnuolo will be able to implement plenty of NASCAR fronts and get after quarterbacks. Combined with their lights out offensive attack, that could be a scary proposition.

The other part in this is that the Chiefs had to pay Clark and did so while still having an out in his-mega deal before they really have to pay Pat Mahomes by 2022. Still, that type of cap commitment means they’re going all in on Clark and decided he was their best course of action to improve their team, which is a pretty fair assumption. It’s ultimately a win-now trade allowing the Chiefs to maximize their championship window, though it comes with some risk and opportunity cost.