Did the Denver Broncos have the best draft among the AFC West?
The first draft of the Sean Payton/George Paton era is in the books. How did they perform in the draft in relation to the rest of their AFC West rivals? We won't truly know how any draft class pans out until literal years down the road.
We can at least examine the three other classes and see if the Broncos perhaps got better value with their picks than their rivals did.
Denver Broncos' draft picks:
WR Marvin Mims Jr
LB Drew Sanders
CB Riley Moss
S JL Skinner
C Alex Forsyth
Kansas City Chiefs' draft picks:
EDGE Felix Anudike-Uzomah
WR Rashee Rice
OT Wayna Morris
CB Chamarri Conner
EDGE BJ Thompson
DT Keondre Coburn
CB Nic Jones
Los Angeles Chargers' draft picks:
WR Quentin Johnston
EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu
LB Daiyan Henley
WR Derius Davis
G Jordan McFadden
DT Scott Matlock
QB Max Duggan
Las Vegas Raiders' draft picks:
EDGE Tyree Wilson
TE Michael Mayer
DT Byron Young
WR Tre Tucker
CB Jakorian Bennett
QB Aidan O'Connell
S Christopher Smith II
LB Amari Burney
DT Nesta Jade Silvera
I think right off the bat, the one draft that I don't think is all that special is the Chargers'. Site Expert Sayre Bedinger recently made a good point that he thought the selection of Quentin Johnston was them forcing to take a certain position of need instead of the best player available, and I think that's an excellent point.
The Max Duggan selection is weird, to say the least as well. I think the Chiefs did well for themselves. Wayna Morris is going to have a legitimate shot to become the starting right tackle and they nabbed him in the middle rounds.
Rashee Rice was also a nice value pick from Kansas City, and they did clearly attempt to make some strides along their defense with three additions along their defensive line and one in the secondary.
The Raiders' draft is a bunch of "eh" to me. They drafted Tyree Wilson instead of taking a top cornerback like Christian Gonzalez, who was the higher-rated prospect to me. The Raiders did have a solid defensive front, so I'm not sure Wilson was the right selection there.
Michael Mayer figures to replace Darren Waller, and I do give them credit for that pick as he was constantly mocked much higher than he went, and the Aidan O'Connell addition could be something worth monitoring. The Broncos were rumored to have had an interest in O'Connell in the late rounds.
Denver's draft was pretty solid. Marvin Mims is a legitimate speed threat with return ability, so could this be an actual replacement for KJ Hamler and Montrell Washington? That's the hope.
I think the Drew Sanders' selection is odd. He's primarily an inside linebacker and is currently too small to come off the defensive edge. The one pick of the Broncos that I do love the Alex Forsyth selection. Seventh rounders hardly make any noise in the NFL, but I think this is someone who can complete for the starting job in 2023 if the Broncos don't address center with the remaining players in free agency.