Well the draft is done and OTA's and Training Camp are next.
So why not a little power ranking AFC West style. I am going to rank them based on overall talent, off-season pickups, off-season losses, draft and schedule.
Follow me....
4- Oakiand Raiders: Coming in at number 4 is the Oakland Raiders. They are recovering from the Crypt Keeper and will be for a few more years. Their draft was meh at best and the only draft worse were the Saints. Also due to cap restrictions, they lost quite a bit of their team. The only notable pickup is Matt Leinart. Yeah folks, the two QB's that kept Matt Cassel sitting on the bench are on the Raiders. Both Leinart and Carson Palmer are Heisman Trophy winners but Palmer's best days are behind him and Leinart just plain sucks. I wonder how Leinart feels knowing that his backup is going to have a better career than he is. (Projected Record: 5-11)
3- Denver Broncos: Yeah I know that Peyton Manning is on their team but that first place schedule is going be hell for them. Outside of the new horse in town and his barnyard pals, no real pickups for them. Why Manning wanted to go to the Broncos, myself, the media and the rest of Chiefs Nation have been trying to figure this out (maybe its a horse thing) since the signing. Manning better be prepared to get mauled because they have 3 of the top five defenses on their schedule. Throw in that Tamba Hali makes Ryan Clady look like Barry Richardson and Crennel makes a habit of making Manning his female dog, this isn't going to be pretty. Outside of a mid round pickup at RB and Center, they did hardly anything to help Manning. (Projected Record: 8-8)
2- San Diego Chargers: This was a toss up. The Chargers killed it with the draft but the talent they had to replace was not going to replace themselves. Vincent Jackson is in Tampa and that gives Phillip Rivers one less target. While they did get Meachum, VJax is on another level. They also re-signed Jared Gaither and signed Le'Ron McClain. They still have a gaping hole at Guard (I honestly thought David DeCastro or Peter Konz was going to be a Charger) as their vet LG retired. I don't know what happened last year with Rivers but for San Diego fans sake, it better not be a repeat or this will be...
Oh Rivers you give me so much joy. (Projected Record: 10-6)
1- Kansas City Chiefs: No this is not my homerism speaking. The Chiefs have the best roster in the AFC West. Their off-season losses were minimal with the only big one being Brandon Carr. Their pickups were the bees knees. Eric Winston just filled that gap at RT, Kevin Boss and Stanford Routt are the from the Raiders fire sale and Peyton Hillis has a chip on his shoulder after last years nightmare. Throw in the fact that they are getting Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, Tony Moeaki and Matt Cassel back from injury, this roster is packed. What holes they do have after the draft are not big needs. Their schedule is far from daunting too. Hard to believe 3 years ago the Chiefs were 2-14 and picking 3rd overall. Last year even with the injuries were two blocked FG's from going to the playoffs.
(Projected Record: 12-4)