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Day one of the NFL Draft is in the books. Check out MHR's day one live blog for all day one results and instant analysis from some of MHR's staffers.
Before the draft began the four AFC West teams had the following picks for Round One:
- Oakland Raiders - 4th
- San Diego Chargers - 17th
- Kansas City Chiefs - 18th
- Denver Broncos - 28th
In the end, both the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos moved up in Round One. Here's a brief roundup of the AFC West's picks for the first day of the 2015 NFL draft.
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders picked WR Amari Cooper with the 4th pick. Raiders QB Derek Carr has to be excited about the Raiders picking such a talented wide receiver for him to target next season. Cooper played for Alabama and set the SEC single-season record with 124 catches last season. He also plays well in big games.
Amari Cooper played well in big games- he averaged 127.4 YPG in 8 Iron Bowls, SEC Championships and bowl games #OAKpick
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 1, 2015
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers moved up two spots in round one to the 15th pick. They chose RB Melvin Gordon who played for Wisconsin last year. The Chargers were clearly in need of a running back to replace Ryan Matthews so this pick made sense to most analysts.
The pick also produced one of my favorite tweets of the night.
Remember, Gordon said today @nflnetwork it would be "dope" to play for the @Chargers.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) May 1, 2015
To get the 15th pick the Chargers traded the San Francisco 49ers their 17th pick, their 4th round 2015 pick, and their 5th round 2016 pick. If that seems like a lot to you to move up two places, you're not alone. SB Nation's Bolts from the Blue blog clearly wasn't too happy about what went down in Round One.
Must Reads
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs stuck with pick number 18 and chose CB Marcus Peters who played for Washington last year. This is a good-news/bad-news pick for the Chiefs. The good news is that everyone thinks Peters is a very talented football player. The bad news? He has a lot of off-field issues.
ESPN reported that the Chiefs met with Peters in Oakland earlier this week and were willing to give him a chance. Some of Peters past off-field issues include failing a drug test in 2011 and a game suspension after "sideline disruption" the previous week. Peters was actually dismissed from the Washington football team on November 6th - so he must have been pretty convincing in person.
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos moved up five places in Round One from pick 28 to pick 23 in a trade with the Detroit Lions. The Broncos chose DE Shane Ray who played for Missouri last year. Ray's pick has similarities to the Chiefs pick where there appears to be a lot of talent in Ray, but also a bit of controversy. Ray was cited earlier this week with marijuana which of course can't happen if he's going to be successful in the NFL, and there is concern that his foot isn't 100 percent healthy.
The SEC Defensive Player of the Year is off the board! With the 23rd pick the @Broncos take Shane Ray (@X_RAYted56). pic.twitter.com/rMl7SMCBIU
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 1, 2015
It's one thing to take a chance on a player with some red flags, it's another to move up in the draft to get them. Clearly John Elway was sold on Ray's potential. To move up the Broncos traded their 28th pick, 2015 5th round pick, 2016 5th round pick, and OL Manny Ramirez to the Detroit Lions.
The Oakland Raiders should be the first AFC West team to pick Friday in Round Two. They are currently scheduled to have the third pick (35th overall). The Broncos are scheduled to pick 27th (59th overall) in round two.
What did you think about the AFC West picks in Round One?