Chargers and Merriman in a class by themselves

Editor's note: Scouts Inc.'s philosophy is to wait three years before judging a draft class. As the 2008 draft approaches, we are looking back at the 2005 draft to determine how teams fared.

The Chargers' 2005 draft is by far the best in the AFC West. Shawne Merriman is the best player to come out of this class, and he is a tremendous difference-maker on the field. The Broncos took a shot on RB Maurice Clarett in the third round and that failed miserably. The Raiders saved their draft by taking LB Kirk Morrison in the third round, while the Chiefs salvaged theirs with a punter. Let's take a team-by-team look at the AFC West's 2005 draft class.

Denver Broncos

Obviously, Darrent Williams' tragic death is not the fault of the Broncos, but if we have to grade the draft on what each team got from the players they selected, giving this draft a good grade is tough to justify. There are some role players here, but not enough production overall. In Denver's defense, though, the Broncos did not have a first-round selection, which obviously makes matters far more difficult.

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