The Kansas City Chiefs have actually owned the AFC West the last five seasons. And much of that time accompanies Patrick Mahomes inhabiting the starting quarterback placement.
With mainly the very same lineup around the NFL’s ideal player, Kansas City is favored to win another division title as well as possibly return to a 3rd straight Super Bowl.
The Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and also Los Angeles Chargers, certainly, do not see it in this way. But have any one of those groups boosted enough to unseat the Chiefs?
” I would certainly enjoy to go contrarian and also offer you somebody besides the Kansas City Chiefs, however I just can not do that,” CBS Denver sporting activities anchor Michael Spencer stated. “I think that they are clearly the group to beat, not just in the AFC West, however in the AFC. They’ve won the division five straight times. At Any Moment Patrick Mahomes is your starting quarterback, your team is going to be in an actually excellent area, not just to win the division, however to complete for Super Bowls. So the Chiefs are the course of this department. They have actually been ever since Peyton Manning retired, following the 2015 season, and also I don’t see that transforming heading into 2021.”
As well as Kansas City may actually be much better in 2021, particularly along the offending line, where they’ve struggled in past years. Orlando Brown Jr. comes over from the Baltimore Ravens to play left deal with. Joe Thuney shows up from the New England Patriots to take over the left guard spot. Third-round pick Lucan Niang out of Texas Christian appears readied to start at ideal take on. The present deepness chart has new beginners at all five positions.
” Can the Chiefs really improve,” Spencer marvels. “I think they invested a great deal of funding this offseason bulking up their offensive line, which is a scary thought, due to the fact that you’re talking about a Chiefs crime that’s already at the top of the league, perhaps even being far better heading right into 2021, if they can protect Patrick Mahomes.”
The Chargers have a budding star quarterback of their own in Justin Herbert. The Offensive Rookie of the Year threw for 4,336 yards and 31 goals, both among the leading 10 in those categories. “With the Chargers, you feel like you understand what you have with Justin Herbert,” said Spencer. “The question is can he remain to take steps forward in year 2 after what we saw in his newbie season in 2014? And what does their defense do? I believe that may be the problem for Los Angeles moving forward.”
The Chargers brought in Brandon Staley as the brand-new head train. Staley was previously the defensive planner for the Los Angeles Rams, who flaunted the NFL’s top protection last period. Whether his existence as well as the group’s added concentrate on protection supplies a boost to the unit remains to be seen. Going from a 4-3 scheme to a 3-4 system, as the Chargers are doing, constantly leads to some growing discomforts. They will invite back Derwin James, that missed out on the whole 2020 period due to injury.
The Broncos are going done in on protection after a season in which they permitted virtually 28 points per video game. They allowed 130 yards per video game on the ground, which was amongst the most awful in the organization. Their pass protection was a little far better. This year locates Pro Bowl veterans like Von Miller and Kyle Fuller in contract years. Coming off among his much better periods, Bradley Chubb must remain in good type, if he can stay healthy and balanced. Denver likewise added cornerback Patrick Surtain II at cornerback in preliminary.
” Two video games, and also the Broncos defense has just allowed 9 factors,” Spencer mentions. “The team is really hoping that signifies things to come.”
Despite being a defense-first group, a lot of training camp speculation has actually surrounded the quarterback battle between Teddy Bridgewater and also Drew Lock. According to Spencer, “both men have played well, so I think that’s a good idea, heading right into the normal season, despite the fact that neither man– Teddy Bridgewater nor Drew Lock– is truly dividing himself because competition right now.” (Note: after taping the above video clip, Bridgewater was called the Broncos’ beginning quarterback.)
Bridgewater will certainly lead a young, talented offending unit that returns Courtland Sutton and also Jerry Jeudy. Denver can additionally have a strong running game. “Rookie Javonte Williams might have himself a good season,” Spencer thinks. “I’ll be interested to see what Melvin Gordon does too, since there’s been a lot of buzz around Javonte Williams in training school. I think he is going to be a fantasy darling this year for groups, especially early in the period.”
The Raiders started last season solid and afterwards collapsed in the second half. They still handled an 8-8 document as well as a second-place surface in the department. Derek Carr has actually masqueraded 4,000-plus backyards the last three seasons, and Darren Waller has become one of the league’s ideal playmakers from the tight end placement. Henry Ruggs III and Bryan Edwards will be wanting to build upon their newbie periods. The key to every person’s success on this side of the ball may be just how the Raiders’ spruced up offensive line integrates.
” It feels like there’s always hype around the Raiders,” Spencer notes. “They never meet that buzz. I sense that may be the instance once more.”