AFC West gets stronger

Sunday, Apr 29, 2007
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

Now that Head Coach Norv Turner has emerged from two days of being locked in the draft room with General Manager A.J. Smith in his staff, his attention shifts to the other side of the draft.

How did the other AFC West teams do in the draft?

"I’ll start evaluating the AFC West teams and other teams we play this year,” Turner said. “I’ll go through everyone’s draft and we’ll make an evaluation in our minds how they helped themselves.”

 The AFC West has been one of the strongest divisions in football, with three of the teams in the playoffs the last three years. The Chargers won AFC West titles in 2004 and 2006, the Denver Broncos won in 2005 as well as a wild-card playoff berth in 2004 and the Kansas City Chiefs earned a wild-card berth in 2006.

Most draft analysts predict the Broncos did the best job in the AFC West of closing the gap with the Chargers as the defending AFC West champs with a 14-2 record.

Denver drafted to improve its defensive line and pass rush. The Broncos took Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss in the first round.

But the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders also graded high. The Chiefs used their first-round pick on LSU wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and the Raiders used the first pick of the draft on LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

“The marquee guys jump out at me,” Turner said. “Dwayne Bowe is a good receiver. We coached him in the Senior Bowl (when Turner was with the San Francisco 49ers) and (the Chargers) drafted Craig Davis, so we saw Bowe a lot. Obviously, the Raiders got an outstanding quarterback with JaMarcus Russell.”

Here is a capsule look at the drafts from the AFC West rivals:

DENVER BRONCOS

In addition to taking Moss with the 17th pick, the Broncos drafted Texas defensive end Tim Crowder (6-4, 271) in the second with the 56th pick.

Denver coveted Moss enough to make a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars that swapped first-round picks and sent a third-rounder and sixth-rounder to Jacksonville. Denver moved up to No. 17 and the Jaguars took safety Florida safety Reggie Nelson with the Broncos’ spot at No. 21.

The Broncos later took Notre Dame offensive tackle Ryan Harris (6-5, 299) in the third round, Florida defensive tackle Marcus Thomas (6-3, 296) in the fourth round.

The Broncos worked another trade with the Minnesota Vikings to get Thomas. They gave up three draft picks -- sixth and seventh-round picks this year and a third-rounder in 2008.

Moss and Thomas had some red flags raised by some teams over character issues, with Moss suspended for one game for breaking team rules and Thomas dismissed from the team.

“No. 1, if we didn’t think they were quality people, they would not be on our football team,” Denver head coach Mike Shanahan said. “We did a lot of research on both players. We’ve got a lot scouts and know a lot of coaches in that area.”

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Kansas City hopes to gain some relief from double teams for Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez by adding Bowe (6-2, 217) as a wideout. He was the 23rd pick overall.

The Chiefs also drafted to improve their trench play as they took Tennessee defensive tackle Turk McBride (6-4, 276) in the second round and North Carolina State defensive tackle DeMarcus “Tank” Tyler (6-2, 323) in the third round.

The Chiefs didn’t have a fourth-rounder, but they used to fifth-round picks to choose Louisville running back Kolby Smith (5-11, 215) and UCLA kicker Justin Medlock (6-0, 201). Medlock was a first-team All-American and the first kicker drafted.

The Chiefs used a sixth-round pick on Texas Christian offensive tackle Herbert Taylor (6-4, 296) and seventh-round choice on Whitworth tight end Michael Allan (6-6, 255).

There is still speculation surrounding the Chiefs on whether they will keep quarterback Trent Green or complete a rumored trade to the Miami Dolphins.

“Trent Green is our quarterback, and we’re not going to release him,” Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson said. “He has been a very productive quarterback for us.”

OAKLAND RAIDERS

The Raiders are hoping they found a franchise quarterback with Russell, a 6-foot-6, 263-pounder. There was speculation the Raiders were choosing between Russell and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, but new Oakland head coach Lane Kiffin said the club favored Russell.

“After getting all our information in, this was the guy we needed,” Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin said. “This is the guy the Raiders needed to redirect our future.”

The Raiders took Arizona State tight end Zach Miller in the second round, but the rest of the draft -- Oakland had 11 picks overall -- was balanced between offense and defense.

With three third-round picks, Oakland chose Georgia defensive end Quentin Moses (6-5, 249), Florida State offensive tackle Mario Henderson (6-6, 302) and UTEP wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins (5-11, 184).

The Raiders opened the second day with the two picks in the fourth round and took Louisville running back Michael Bush and Cincinnati cornerback John Bowie in the fourth round.  Bush could turn out to be one of the steals of the draft if he makes it back from a severely broken leg that ended his Heisman Trophy chances and knocked him out of the first round.  In the fifth round, the Raiders used their two picks on Ohio State defensive end Jay Richardson (6-5, 276) and Washington State safety Eric Frampton (5-11, 205).  In the sixth round, the Raiders chose Arkansas State fullback Oren O’Neal (5-11, 242).

The Raiders’ draft weekend moves may have included some addition by subtraction when the club sent wide receiver Randy Moss to the New England Patriots in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick that turned out to be Bowie, the 110th choice overall.