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Flush with 13 picks going into the NFL draft — including six in the first three rounds — Chiefs coach Herm Edwards hoped that would give his team an advantage over his AFC West rivals.
“While they’re sitting, we’re picking, and that’s good for us,” Edwards said before the draft.
Certainly, the Chiefs came away with a bounty of talent. But the competition wasn’t totally idle.
The Oakland Raiders had only five picks, but made one of the biggest splashes by taking running back Darren McFadden of Arkansas.
Owner Al Davis couldn’t resist McFadden’s 4.3 speed and 41 career touchdowns at Arkansas, even though the club has a deep stable of running backs, including Justin Fargas, who just signed a $12 million contract for three years.
“We really didn’t have a need at running back,” Kiffin said, “but Darren is such a fabulous player, he’s so explosive in what he can bring to your team. Not just at running back, but outside of the formations, and as a returner as well. We were just nervous he wasn’t going to be there.”
The Raiders are hopeful the presence of the multidimensional McFadden, who even took direct snaps from center at Arkansas, will make a better quarterback out of JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick in last year’s draft.
Denver, too, picked up help for their its third-year quarterback Jay Cutler. The Broncos selected offensive tackle Ryan Clady of Boise State to protect Cutler’s blind side, wide receiver Eddie Royal of Virginia Tech as a replacement for Walker and as a kick returner, and former Shawnee Mission Northwest running back Ryan Torain of Arizona State.
“He will start at left offensive tackle the day he comes in,” Denver coach Mike Shanahan said of Clady.
The Chargers replaced Drayton Florence with cornerback Antoine Cason of Arizona in the first round. Although they didn’t have their own picks in the second and third rounds, general manager A.J. Smith traded into the third round so he could take LSU running back Jacob Hester, who has the capability of either replacing Michael Turner as backup to LaDainian Tomlinson or playing fullback in place of Lorenzo Neal, who was released.
Just for good measure, the Chargers took UTEP running back Marcus Thomas in the fifth round, and he’ll battle former Kansas State star Darren Sproles for playing time.
Once the draft was done, Edwards surveyed the scene in the AFC West.
“I know the Raiders got the big-play guy, the home-run hitter in the running back,” Edwards said. “The Chargers got the corner. We liked him also. We knew Denver was going to take an offensive lineman. We liked him also. I don’t worry about what they do so much as concentrate on our own business.”
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