Team Needs

AFC West
Denver Broncos

1. Defensive Tackle
2. Safety
3. Linebacker

Notes: You might want to move Wide Receiver to this list if Brandon Marshall takes any time returning from his off-season accident. But the Broncos defense suffered greatly last year because of poor defensive line play which also effected the linebacking corps — say goodbye to Ian Gold. Getting a top defensive tackle would be very nice and Sedrick Ellis of Southern Cal would be an excellent choice with the 12th pick in the first round.

Kansas City Chiefs

1. Offensive Line
2. Cornerback
3. Wide Receiver

Notes: Lets face facts — the Chiefs are looking more and more like a team that will have trouble matching their record from the first two years of the Herm Edwards era. In fact he is more likely to continue the trend from those two years (9-7 in 2006 to 4-12 last year). The Chiefs actually may be in a good position this year though. It is entirely plausible that both Darren McFadden and Matt Ryan will be available when they pick 5th. They don’t need either player but other teams do so a trade down is likely. And if they can parley that spot into two or three trades down, they could end up with several first day picks that could begin to fill some of the major holes this team has — the problem is they have so many holes that almost all of their picks will need to pan out and that never happens. Look for Kansas City to trade down and eventually take an offensive lineman in the first — they need three.

Oakland Raiders

1. Defensive Line
2. Quarterback
3. Running Back

Notes: Yes, even with Jamarcus Russell the Ravens need a quarterback. Andrew Walter is not sufficient as a backup and Daunte Culpepper is unsigned (though he could conceivably re-sign). There are also questions at the running back position. Is Justin Fargas as good as he looked last year? Will the real Lamont Jordan please stand up? But what they really need is an interior defensive lineman. And they just might be able to get the guy that is number one on Mel Kiper’s big board. Glenn Dorsey would seem to fit the old school Raider’s image as well. Besides, if the Raiders take Dorsey, it sets up my KC scenario.

San Diego Chargers

1. Running back
2. Defensive tackle
3. Tackle

Notes: It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Chargers take Jonathon Stewart here if he fell this far. But I don’t expect that to happen. Likewise they would love to see Gosder Cherilus drop to them. But again, Cherilus is expected to go before they pick. So it will likely come down to taking someone like OT Anthony Collins (a reach at this pick) or taking a player that is not a need — someone like CB Aqib Talib or WR DeSean Jackson might be here for the Chargers.

Tags: Denver Broncos, Draft, Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers