{"id":22580,"date":"2022-05-24T22:39:35","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T02:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=22580"},"modified":"2022-05-24T22:39:38","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T02:39:38","slug":"nfc-west-draft-grades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/nfc-west-draft-grades\/","title":{"rendered":"NFC WEST DRAFT GRADES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY ADAM GREENE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is it. We\u2019ve come to the end of our NFL Draft grading experience. The final marks are about to be sent and become a part of the permanent record after we look over our second consecutive underperforming division, the NFC West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you can forgive the Los Angeles Rams for their poor grades because they spent their draft picks on a Super Bowl LVI winning roster. It\u2019s the rest of the teams that have some explaining to do, including our lowest grade delivered in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grading ground rules remain the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. No team sans a first round selection can be awarded an \u201cA\u201d grade. Considering only one of these franchises picked on Day One, there\u2019s no real danger of that being an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. I deliver my Draft Grades based on college performance, not my imagination or  a player\u2019s \u201cceiling\u201d as the pundits call it. I also don\u2019t give much credence in their ability to exercise in spandex at the NFL Combine. I grade it on what the dude did in college against his competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selections:<\/strong> No. 9: Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State \u2014 No. 40: Boye Mafe, Edge, Minnesota \u2014 No. 41: Kenneth Walker III, RB, Michigan State \u2014 No. 72: Abraham Lucas, OT, Washington State \u2014 No. 109: Coby Bryant, CB, Cincinnati \u2014 No. 153: Tariq Woolen, CB, Texas-San Antonio \u2014 No. 158: Tyreke Smith, Edge, Ohio State \u2014 No. 229: Bo Melton, WR, Rutgers \u2014 No. 233: Dereke Young, WR, Lenoir-Rhyne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRADE:<\/strong> B-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s almost too much irony to deal with in the Seahawks\u2019 draft. We open with the fact that the only reason they possessed a first round pick at all was from trading away Russell Wilson, the best quarterback in the history of their entire franchise. The second irony is how much draft capitol they spent on offensive lineman, taking Cross at nine and Lucas at 72 after making Wilson play with one of the worst lines in the league for years. It\u2019s good to know Drew Lock will have plenty of time behind the O-line while he hands the ball off 35 times a game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mafe did OK as an edge rusher for Minnesota against a Big Ten schedule. He had 10 tackles for a loss and seven sacks, but that doesn\u2019t look like a 40th<\/sup> overall pick to me. If you had asked me before the draft which team would take a running back that they did not need way too high in the draft, my answer would have 100 percent been the Seahawks. Pete Carroll is gonna Pete Carroll. Walker is a good one and an NFL starter, but for a team that already had two starting caliber running backs and huge holes all over the roster, maybe you don\u2019t take him in the second round to just join the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryant looks good and could end up starting too, but that says a lot more about the depth at corner for Seattle than anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARIZONA CARDINALS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selections:<\/strong> No. 55: Trey McBride, TE, Colorado State \u2014 No. 87: Cameron Thomas, DE, San Diego State \u2014 No. 100: Myjai Sanders, Edge, Cincinnati \u2014 No. 201: Keontay Ingram, RB, USC \u2014 No. 215: Lecitus Smith, OG, Virginia Tech \u2014 Mo. 244: Christian Matthew, DB, Valdosta State \u2014 No. 256: Jesse Luketa, LB, Penn State \u2014 No. 257: Marquis Hayes, OG, Oklahoma<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRADE:<\/strong> C+<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In sudden and desperate need for a wide receiver, the Cardinals traded away their first round pick for Marquis Brown formerly of the Baltimore Ravens. It wasn\u2019t a bad move, though I think that maybe they should have given the Tennessee Titans a call on AJ Brown since he was apparently on the market. Either way, their Brown, the Hollywood guy, should be a decent fit and certainly an upgrade over anyone else they would replace for the suspended DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McBride is the pick that might save this draft for Arizona. He put up ridiculous yardage stats for Colorado State, catching 90 passes for 1,121 yards last season, but only got into the end zone once. That\u2019s probably more on the playcalling and design than on him. Thomas put up good numbers against weaker opponents, 20.5 tackles for a loss and 10.5 sacks, so he could turn into an above average NFL player. Sanders is a mystery pick for me. For a guy touted to be an \u201cedge rusher,\u201d he only produced 2.5 sacks a season ago against AAC opponents for the most part. That sounds like a UDFA at best. Not a third round pick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOS ANGELES RAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selections:<\/strong> No. 104: Logan Bruss, OG, Wisconsin \u2014 No. 142: Decobie Durant, CB, South Carolina \u2014 No. 164: Kyren Williams, RB, Notre Dame \u2014 No. 211: Quentin Lake, Safety, UCLA \u2014 No. 212: Derion Kendrick, CB, Georgia \u2014 No. 235: Daniel Hardy, DE, Montana State \u2014 No. 253: Russ Yeast, Safety, Kansas State \u2014 No. 261: AJ Arcuri, OT, Michigan State<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRADE: C+<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rams have not had a first round pick since they hired Sean McVay so the 2022 draft was no different from the last five. This time, however, they also didn\u2019t have a second so they were forced to sit a good long while before turning in their first card. Bruss is a good pick in the third. He\u2019s a day one starter that probably won\u2019t have to start, considering LA is bringing back a solid offensive line. He scored an 82.5 grade from Pro Football Focus. Decobie Durant is from a smaller FCS school, but dominated his opponents as you\u2019d expect a draftable player should. He had 12 interceptions in his career, three last season to go with 14 passes defended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams is endemic of the Rams\u2019 constant need to bring in running backs as their top heavy salary cap situation, even the way they manipulate it, will keep them from ever signing an RB to a second contract. Williams will be worked in this season and probably be the No. 2 next year. The steal here is probably Kendrick at 212. I have no idea how he dropped that far in the draft. I had him as a third rounder so, even though the Rams had just one Day Two pick, they ended up with two Day Two players and maybe three if Durant pans out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selections:<\/strong> No. 61: Drake Jackson, Edge, USC \u2014 No. 93: Tyrion Davis-Price, RB, LSU \u2014 No. 105: Danny Gray, WR, SMU \u2014 No. 134: Spencer Burford, OG, Texas-San Antonio \u2014 No. 172: Samuel Womack, CB, Toledo \u2014No. 187: Nick Zakelj, OT, Fordham \u2014 No. 220: Kalia Davis, DT, UCF \u2014 No. 221: Tariq Castro-Fields, CB, Penn State \u2014 No. 262: Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRADE:<\/strong> D+<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the Rams and Cardinals, the 49ers had no first round picks thanks to their trade for Trey Lance a season ago. Jackson is another \u201cedge rusher\u201d that didn\u2019t seem that effective as an edge rusher in college. Last year he managed just eight tackles for a loss and five sacks. Also like the Rams, the 49ers are never paying an RB a second contract, but, unlike the Rams, they seem to find guys capable of being 1,000 yard rushers pretty much anywhere in the draft. Davis-Price is probably just another one after a 1,003 yard, six TD season with LSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray scored a lot of touchdowns for SMU, but had just 49 catches for 803 yards. Buford at guard is a long term project at best. No one in this draft looks as if they\u2019ll contribute significantly this season for the Niners, with the exception of Davis-Price who might work his way into the platoon by season\u2019s end. He\u2019s no better than fifth on the depth chart right now. This is the lowest grade I\u2019ve given for this draft class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter <\/em>@TheFirstMan<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect with us our socials on <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news, viral moments, betting odds and the occasional memes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ADAM GREENE This is it. We\u2019ve come to the end of our NFL Draft grading experience. The final marks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22583,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22580\/revisions\/22583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}