2008 AFC West Draft Grades

Denver Broncos

Needs - LT, DT, KR/PR, WR, CB

With the retirement of Matt Lepsis, the Broncos absolutely had to have a left tackle of the future out of this draft. Pair that with the loss of Javon Walker and a dismal run defense in which much of the blame was placed on the defensive line, it was easy to see what positions Denver was going to target early in the draft.

1.12 - Ryan Clady OT Boise State
2.11 - Eddie Royal WR Virginia Tech
4.09 - Kory Lichtensteiger OG Bowling Green
4.20 - Jack Williams CB Kent State
5.04 - Ryan Torain RB Arizona State
5.13 - Carlton Powell DT Virginia Tech
6.17 - Spencer Larson OLB Arizona
7.13 - Josh Barrett S Arizona State
7.20 - Peyton Hillis FB Arkansas

Draft grade: B

Comments: The Broncos hit on Clady; I think that kid is the real deal. He is athletic enough to get out and block in space for Denver’s zone blocking scheme. Royal is a bit of a head-scratcher. Everyone is quick to compare Royal to Steve Smith of the Panthers but the AFC West is chock full of physical corners and I think Royal might get fed his lunch at the LOS by guys like Quentin Jammer and DeAngelo Hall. He is a legitimate return threat however. I believe Barrett in the 7th is a huge steal and one always has to take notice when Denver drafts a running back in the late rounds. With the Denver backfield in a bit of flux with Travis Henry’s poor performances last year and Mike Shanahan’s unwillingness to give Selvin Young the job outright, Torain may make a splash.

Kansas City Chiefs

Needs: OG, OT, DT, DE, WR, QB, CB

Kansas City had holes on both sides of the ball and needed a huge draft; especially in the wake of trading away Jared Allen. I think that was the right move. Chiefs brass needs to admit that they are rebuilding. Trading Allen gave them the extra ammo needed to get some young impact players and bring their team back to respectability.

1.05 - Glenn Dorsey DT LSU
1.15 - Brandon Albert OG Virginia
2.04 - Brandon Flowers CB Virginia Tech
3.10 - Jamaal Charles RB Texas
3.13 - Brad Cottam TE Tennessee
3.19 - DaJuan Morgan S North Carolina State
4.06 - Will Franklin WR Missouri
5.05 - Brandon Carr CB Grand Valley State
6.04 - Barry Richardson OT Clemson
6.16 - Kevin Robinson WR Utah State
7.03 - Brian Johnston DE Gardner-Webb
7.32 - Mike Merritt TE Central Florida

Draft Grade: A-

Comments: Some may argue that if you can’t give KC an A+ with this draft, you can’t give anyone an A+. I disagree with some of the moves that KC made. Glenn Dorsey, Brandon Albert and Brandon Flowers are a monster rounds 1 and 2. A dream for Coach Herm and GM Carl Peterson. But in the third round, it gets dicey. Jamaal Charles opened the Chiefs third round. I get that they want support for Larry Johnson but if LJ were to ever go down to injury, you’d want another bowling ball type of back. I think that if you wanted an RB that could handle 20-25 carries to back up LJ, then Tashard Choice was the pick. If you wanted an RB that would split time with Kolby Smith if LJ fell to injury, you could have waited for that guy. Either the Charles pick was a miss in my opinion. My second biggest beef is the lack of OL picks. Brandon Albert and Barry Richardson are good value for where they were picked but you can make a case for replacing 4 of the 5 starters on the Chiefs line. Yet only two OL selections were made. I think that OL could have been addressed with the Cottam pick and TE could have been selected later. All in all though, KC had the big draft they needed. I view their defense being upgraded greatly as well as half of their line. It will be interesting to see what Herm’s plans are for Jamaal Charles.

Oakland Raiders

Needs: WR, KR/PR, OL, DL, LB

Oakland dipped into the free agent pool hard this year; signing talent like Javon Walker, Drew Carter and Gibril Wilson. They also traded for DeAngelo Hall; giving a second round pick to Atlanta in return. Oakland’s draft was thin but they had the 4th overall pick and a smattering of mid round picks to cover depth and a few needs.

1.04 - Darren McFadden RB Arkansas
4.01 - Tyvon Branch CB Connecticut
4.26 - Arman Shields WR Richmond
6.03 - Trevor Scott DE Buffalo
7.19 - Chaz Schilens WR San Diego State

Draft Grade: C+

Comments: Crazy Al Davis strikes again. I realize that dynamic playmakers score touchdowns and touchdowns help win football games. I get that. But Oakland had the following players at running back; Justin Griffith, Oren O’Neal, Dominic Rhodes, LaMont Jordan, Michael Bush, Justin Fargas and Adimchinobe Echemandu. Mike Bush hasn’t been evaluated at the NFL level and had first round grades before his freak leg injury last year. You just resigned Fargas for three years. Glenn Dorsey is still on the board and you know that New Orleans is foaming at the mouth for him and is willing to sell the farm to get him to the tune of two 1s (this year and next) and a 2. I think a trade down was the right call there. The Raiders are jammed right up against the cap and a cheaper rookie pick would probably have served their purposes moreso. My feelings of Oakland’s right course of action aside, I think that Tyvon Branch will serve the Raiders return game well as the replacement for Chris Carr. Arman Shields has a shot to crack the roster this year.

San Diego Chargers

Needs: OT, DT, CB, RB, S

With the departure of Shane Olivea, the Chargers have a big hole on the offensive line. Mike Turner also left via free agency and LaDainian Tomlinson needs a backup. Injuries to Jamal Williams last year also exposed a shallow defensive line. The Chargers had few holes as a team and had the luxury of taking BPA for many of their picks. Like Oakland, San Diego’s draft is thin due to pre-draft trades.

1.27 - Antoine Cason CB Arizona
3.06 - Jacob Hester FB/RB LSU
5.31 - Marcus Thomas RB Texas El-Paso
6.26 - DeJuan Tribble CB Boston College
7.27 - Corey Clark OT Texas A&M

Draft grade: B-

Comments: Antoine Cason is good value in the late first round; I don’t think any of the remain tackles were of decent value there. I think that a trade down would have served the Chargers better but they may not have had any takers. Going back to back RBs in the third and fifth is a bit of a head scratcher, Andrew Pinnock seemed to be the heir apparent at FB and Darren Sproles remains as a scat back option. Taking Tashard Choice (can you tell I’m a T Choice fan?) as a guy who can handle a full load should LT fall in the early third and going line (offensive or defensive) with the fifth round pick would have made more sense to me. Waiting until the seventh round to take a shot at a tackle would suggest to me that the Chargers are confident in their ability to replace Shane Olivea from within. Time will tell whether that thinking is correct or not.

tag: NFL, Football, NFL Draft, Grades, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders, footballjabber.com

Nate Kaeding kicked on a Broken Leg

Here is another tidbit that will make people whine about L.T. coming out of the AFC Championship game with an injury. Chargers Kicker Nate Kaeding was kicking with a fractured lower left leg, which happens to be his plant leg, for five games. So Nate was putting all his weight on broken friggen leg.

I’m not questioning L.T., I just bring that up because people will. Could you imagine the legend of toughness these guys would have carved out for themselves had they went on to win the Super Bowl? Hell, they wouldn’t have even had to win, just make it. Jack Youngblood played with a broken leg in Super Bowl XIV for the losing Rams and cemented his legacy as one tough SOB.

Since they lost the AFC Championship people question if Philip Rivers playing with a torn ACL. You can’t question Kaeding in the same way since they couldn’t find the endzone and he kicked four field goals in that game. Here’s to Nate for setting himself aside from the stereotypical wimp kickers.
tag: NFL, Chargers, Nate Kaeding, Kicker, Broken, Leg

Conference Title Games and Beyond

The Stage is set. Patriots and Giants. Get ready for several references to David and Goliath over the next two weeks. All kinds of “team of destiny” quotes. Peyton Manning interviews where he is asked why his brother got there earlier than he did. Tiki Barber fibbing and saying how happy he is for the Giants (lies…you know that guy hoped they would crash without him). Oh yeah, the Patriots might make some history. Is Eli going to beat up the bully who has been pushing his brother around for years?

The thing the Super Bowl does have going for it is that the Giants, with nothing to play for, were the last team to seriously threaten the Patriots in week 17. Eli was hot with Four TD’s and 251 yards. Sure…he had an INT but that is what Eli does. He has been hot since then. I do realize that this praise could just be talking myself into believing that the Super Bowl will be a good game. I have nothing else to do the next two weeks.

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NFL Playoff Jabber: Title Games

I have to say that looking at my RSS Reader this morning I thought that I had accidentally subscribed to The Weather Channel. The big story seems to be the weather for the games today. They are looking at a temp around zero with wind chill of -15 to -20 below in Green Bay. Those East Coast papers are so damned cute whining about their 20 degree temps. I can tell you that I intend to have a blanket on the couch just in case.

This weekends games are being looked at as practice games for the most part of the Packers and Patriots. We should not forget that there have been a couple upsets so far in the tournament. With that said, this weekends games will be like practice games for the Packers and Patriots…

As we have done weeky here in the playoffs we will take a look at some polls from here at Football Jabber, AccuScore (which is used collectively by the mainstream sites) and our friends at The Fan Yard who use The Yard Stick to measure fans thoughts on the winners and the points they will win by. We will follow that up with a link and quote dump after the jump.

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Kickoff is at 2pm EST on CBS

Poll Results:

• Football Jabber has the Patriots with 82%
• AccuScore favors New England by 88%
• The Yard Stick have the Patriots by 88% and 11 points

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Kickoff is at 5:30pm on FOX

Poll Results:

• Football Jabber has the Packers by 79%
• AccuScore has 67% in favor of Green Bay.
• The Yard Stick has the Packers by 70% and 6 points.

Now on to the link and quote dump…

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NFL Footballderdash/AFC-NFC Title Games

What a weekend of football we had last week! It’s going to be hard just going back to Sunday now. Bring on the snow and elements! Do we have story lines? Hell yeah! Those Patriots are a game away from entering the Super Bowl undefeated. Have you heard? We also have Ol’ Man Favre playing at home in Title Town. You never know when he will be playing his last game.

We both took a beating last weekend. Our hero (me) took a little bit more I think by picking the Patriots to lose to the Jags.

Hey, Jabberheads, remember to vote in the polls for the games over there in the sidebar —>

Last week

Good Guy (Lee)

Regular Season 30-23/Playoffs 5-3

Bad Guy (Kelloggs23)

Regular Season 30-23/Playoffs 4-4

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The Chargers gave it everything they had to get this far…maybe too much. One has to wonder if they have anything left. They are battling injuries at their key offensive positions (QB, RB, TE). Sure, the backups did what they needed to do in the latter part of the game against the Colts, but what if they have to do it for a whole game? Speaking of whole game, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. The Patriots play the whole game, every game. That is what is separating them from the rest of the NFL right now. I just really can’t see the Chargers keeping up blow for blow in this game, as much as I would like to see it happen.

Lee: New England Patriots

Ready for this? San Diego will win this game. Or at least they would have if LT, Gates & Rivers were healthy. I think SD is a very underrated team and could have made some big waves in this matchup had they not gotten hit so hard by injury the last two weeks. The Brady run offense will be kept in check somewhat, but the NE D will overmatch the limping Chargers O. I think it will be good to see Seau get a return to the Super Bowl and Moss get his first trip. With the kind of numbers he has put up in primetime games, I can’t wait to see what he does when the whole world is watching. Not that I am looking pas San Diego, but oh yea, I am. Game, set, match. Brady is the man.

Kelloggs23: New England Patriots

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NFL Playoff Jabber/Divisional Sunday

Something that makes Divisional Sunday a little different than most weeks is both games we have in mind who the winner will be playing. Who’s going to match up better? Could they have pulled that off next week? Could both Championship games be played as football should in January, in the snow?

Most will view the AFC Championship as the real Super Bowl (just as they did years ago with the NFC). Whether it’s the Chargers or Colts, the AFC title game will rule the headlines. The Pats have history with both. Oddly, scanning the headlines, the Colts still seem to be under the radar in a sense. Nobody is talking about them.

This is just personal opinion…wouldn’t you rather have the NFC headlines watching the weather in Green Bay for the week rather than if Tony Romo is slipping into a dressing room with Jessica Simpson at a shopping mall? Of course that is from a person who has no personal stock in the teams playing.

Anyway, this week we have our poll results (at the time of writing this) from the Jabberheads here, the AccuScore Game Forecast used at the mainstream sites, and The Yardstick from our friends at FanYard. We’ll also take a look around the web with a bunch of links and quotes for today’s games.

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Kickoff is at 1:00pm EST on CBS

Poll Results:

• Football Jabber: 83% in favor of the Colts
• Accuscore: 68% in favor of the Colts
• YardStick: 92% in favor of the Colts

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Kickoff is at 4:30pm on FOX

Poll results:

• Football Jabber: 60% in favor of the Cowboys
• Accuscore: 67% in favor of the Cowboys
• YardStick: 59% in favor of the Cowboys

Let’s check out some links and quotes…

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NFL Footballderdash/Divisional Playoffs

Love the playoffs in the NFL! We are a week into it and things are shaping up just about how most people thought they would. Except for my nemesis, who picked the Steelers over the Jaguars last week. Let’s get to the divisional round. While your here, go ahead and hit the polls over there in the side bar for these games! —>

Last week

Good Guy (Lee)

Regular Season 30-23/Playoffs 4-0

Bad Guy (Kelloggs23)

Regular Season 30-23/Playoffs 3-1
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Story lines! Brett Favre making another run, Will it be his last? His former backup, Matt Hasselbeck, returns to Green Bay. The Big Show, Mike Holmgren returns to where he brought a Lombardi home. The thing that catches me eye about this game is how different the seasons ended up in the running game. The Seahawks were supposed to have one of the top running backs in the NFL in Shaun Alexander. The Packers were not supposed to have a running game. Oh, what a difference 16 games can make. This one for me comes down to simple math. Over the season it has worked fairly well for me. Passing game+Running game+Defense beats having a Passing game+Defense-running game. The Seahawks sound as if they are content in coming in with Hasselbeck’s (a hurt Hassellbeck) arm a blazing and get the job done. Don’t see it happening.

Lee: Green Bay Packers

Favre’s swan call. The Seattle D showed just how menacing they can be this last week and will keep it going against the Pack @ Lambeau. I think Alexander will come around this game and play with more authority. I’m not saying 200 yards and 3 TDs, but I think he breaks the century mark and finds the end zone a couple times. Hasslebeck has been quietly putting up great numbers all year and will keep it going. The GB D is overrated IMO and will be exposed for who they are this game. Favre will be playing catchup and you know that means he will be forcing some balls which will get him into trouble. Holmgren comes back to GB and shows them what they missed out on by letting him go. Hasslebeck is gonna take the ball cuz they are gonna score!

Kelloggs23: Seattle Seahawks

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NFL Playoff Jabber/Wild Card Sunday

I have to say that the 4th quarter in both of the playoff games on Saturday was some of the best post season football in the NFL in while.  Edge of your seat stuff, especially if you were a fan of one of the teams.  We can only hope that today brings as much action.  You can check out highlight videos HERE for the Jags/Steelers and HERE for the Seahawks/Redskins.

Let’s move on to the Sunday games.  Below is some results from the polls done here as well as what the rest of the world outside Jabberland thinks via NFL.com polls (results at the time of writing this).  Following that is a big link and quote dump getting us set for the rest of Wild Card Weekend.

Giants @ Buccaneers

Kickoff is at 12pm EST. on Fox

Poll Results:

Football Jabber Poll: 55% in favor of the Giants

NFL.com Poll: 55% in favor of the Giants

Footballderdash Picks: Both Lee and Kelloggs23 take the Giants.

Titans @ Chargers 

Football Jabber Poll: 91% in favor of the Chargers.

NFL.com Poll: 81% in favor of the Chargers.

Footballderdash Picks: Both Lee and Kelloggs23 take the Chargers.

Now for some linkage and quote dumpage…

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