The 2022 NFL Draft has officially come and gone and now we have a better idea of the final version of the LA Chargers and the 31 other teams for the 2022 season. For the Chargers' sake, it is important to not only break down how the Bolts performed in the draft but how the AFC West foes did as well.
The Kansas City Chiefs were the only other team in the AFC West that had a first-round pick in the draft as they had two. Meanwhile, Denver traded its first-round pick for Russell Wilson while Las Vegas traded its first-round pick for Davante Adams. A team can have a great draft without having a first-round pick, though. This raises the question:
Which Chargers' AFC West foe had the best showing in the 2022 NFL Draft:
Let's dive into the AFC West draft hauls, ranking the three teams in the AFC West.
3. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders had a really interesting draft without having a first or second-round pick from the Davante Adams trade. This was the first draft post-Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock and you would think that they were still calling the shots as I did not love the Raiders' decisions at all in this draft.
Well, as a Chargers fan, I did love the decisions they made in the draft, just want that to be clear.
With the team's first pick in the draft they took guard Dylan Parham. Parham is a technically-sound guard prospect who is a bit on the smaller side and may struggle against the better interior rushers in the NFL. What the Raiders really needed was a tackle but they missed out on some of the tackles that went earlier in the third, such as Abraham Lucas and Bernard Raimann. Alex Leatherwood being tabbed as the full-time right tackle is a beautiful thing for the Chargers.
Then with various needs on the defensive side of the football, the Raiders spent their second pick in the draft on running back Zamir White. He is a fine running back prospect, but the Raiders could have used help on the defensive side of the ball.
Vegas then took two defensive tackles, more offensive line help and yet another running back. It seems that the Raiders trust in their pretty thin secondary a bit too much as it is shocking they didn't take defensive back help considering the quarterbacks they have to play in their division.