The 2023 NFL Draft has come and gone, and each team in the AFC West has done their part to try to build up their respective squad’s young talent. Which of them fared the best? Here is an in-depth breakdown of every AFC West team’s NFL Draft classes with grades.
2023 NFL Draft Grades: AFC West
Denver Broncos: B-
Players Added: Marvin Mims, Drew Sanders, Riley Moss, JL Skinner, Alex Forsyth
The Broncos only had five draft picks this year, and had to wait until the very end of the second round to make a draft pick at all, which makes them an interesting draft class to evaluate. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. They drafted Marvin Mims when wide receiver wasn’t really a need–and Mims was projected closer to Round 3-4, not Round 2. They also traded up to get defensive back Riley Moss in the third round, which also feels like a bit of an overreach. Plus, it doesn’t really feel like the time to be trading up given how scarce draft picks already were for them.
On the flip-side, they also got linebacker Drew Sanders, a quite solid pick, as well as safety JL Skinner, who could end up being one of the bigger steals of the Draft–projected to go as high as Round 2-3 but slid to Round 6 due to injury concerns. But so long as he stays healthy, he could turn into a strong contributor for them. He was profiled as a “more athletic Kam Chancellor,” which is quite a glowing comparison. The Broncos rounded out the Draft with center Alex Forsyth, who will presumably be a depth piece.
The Broncos got a few promising players overall in the Draft, but the biggest concern is that they may have reached for a couple of them when better players–and possibly more important positions–were there to be addressed. And when you have so few draft picks, you had better use them well.
Kansas City Chiefs: A-
Players Added: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Rashee Rice, Wanya Morris, Chamarri Conner, B.J. Thompson, Keondre Coburn, Nic Jones
When you’re the reigning Super Bowl champions and most of your roster is the same, it becomes more difficult to screw up the Draft–at that point, you’re just upgrading certain positions a little and/or adding young players to take over at a future time. The Chiefs beefed up their defensive line/pass rush a bit by adding Felix Anudike-Uzomah in the first round and Keondre Coburn in the sixth (a steal, considering he was projected to go as high as the fourth round). They also added a potential piece to their offensive line in Wanya Morris in the third round.
They also added another potential weapon for Patrick Mahomes via Rashee Rice in the second round. One can’t argue with the principle, though Rice may have been a bit of a reach in the second round given that he was not ranked that high by most in the WR draft class. Safety Chamarri Conner was a bit more of a notable reach, taken in the fourth round but projected to go closer to the sixth round. The Chiefs 2023 draft class was rounded with projects like B.J. Thompson and Nic Jones.
There aren’t really any players in this Chiefs draft class that pop out at you, but it’s hard to say they did that much wrong either–aside from maybe reaching on a couple of players. But when you’re the Super Bowl champions and your roster has remained generally intact, you can afford to take a risk or two in the Draft.
Las Vegas Raiders: B+
Players Added: Tyree Wilson, Michael Mayer, Byron Young, Tre Tucker, Jakorian Bennett, Aidan O’Connell, Christopher Smith, Amari Burney, Nesta Jade Silvera
The Raiders were on point with their first two selections. They took Tyree Wilson with the seventh overall pick. They didn’t need another defensive end/pass-rusher desperately, but Chandler Jones is 33 and possibly on the downswing, so it’s understandable to take someone younger to eventually replace him, and it’s hard to pass up a talent like Wilson when he’s there. The Raiders also got a slight steal as tight end Michael Mayer slipped to the top of the second round. With Darren Waller gone, Mayer should quickly become one of Jimmy Garoppolo’s favorite targets.
Jakorian Bennett may have been a slight reach in the fourth round, but they do need help at cornerback, so it’s not particularly egregious. They got a slight steal later on in the fifth round with Christopher Smith, whose intangibles could lead him to outperform expectations.
The bigger head-scratchers came in the third round, when they took Alabama defensive tackle Byron Young a bit ahead of his expected draft position–and wide receiver Tre Tucker well ahead of his, who was expected to go closer to Round 5-6, and there were better receivers available. The Tucker selection is especially perplexing given how crowded the Raiders receiving corps was even before the Draft; why make a reach on somebody like that when they may barely see the field in Year 1? Quarterback Aidan O’Connell stands out as a little head-scratching as well as a fourth-round selection, given that he’s expected to be more of a career backup.
The Raiders draft class gets buoyed up by nailing it with their first two selections; in fact, they arguably had the best start to the Draft of any AFC West team. But while there were a couple of promising/intriguing picks and some solid depth selections later on as well, some truly head-scratching mid-Draft selections keep them from being graded higher.
Los Angeles Chargers: B
Players Added: Quentin Johnston, Tuli Tuipulotu, Daiyan Henley, Derius Davis, Jordan McFadden, Scott Matlock, Max Duggan
The Chargers added a couple of extra wide receivers, including their first-round pick Quentin Johnston. Johnston may not be the first-round receiver with breakaway speed that some expected for the team, but his yards-after-catch ability and general strength still gives him some dynamism among the Chargers receiving corps. Fourth-round selection Derius Davis may provide the speed, though the expectation from him is more as a kick/punt returner. Davis may have been a bit of a reach in Round 4, but he’s one of the more exciting players the Chargers took.
Elsewhere, they bulked up the defense further by taking edge rusher/defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu and inside linebacker Daiyan Henley, the latter of whom will likely be Kenneth Murray’s replacement in the near future. They also added defensive tackle Scott Matlock in the sixth round. The Chargers draft class was rounded out by offensive lineman Jordan McFadden (a depth piece) and quarterback Max Duggan.
It is a bit surprising that they did not take a running back, given that Austin Ekeler is likely gone next year due to a contract dispute–or that they did not take advantage of a highly touted tight end draft class, given that Gerald Everett is unlikely to be the long-term answer at the position. The main criticism for the Chargers draft class is less about who they took and more about what positions they did not address. It’s also odd that for a playoff contender, the heavy majority of their selections are probably not immediate-impact players.
