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Thread: 2017 AFC West preview

  1. #1
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    Default 2017 AFC West preview

    Early, sure, but you are reading and I am writing.

    I'm not going to talk about the Broncos roster, but rather the other AFC West teams. Who did they lose, who did they get, what threat do they pose in 2017?

    Chiefs (12-4)

    Staff - Lost Ballard, director of football ops, to Colts.
    Veterans - Lost Poe, will plug his spot with DT Bennie Logan (6 AV career guy from PHI). Also lost Nick Foles as backup QB. Re-signed Eric Berry and others.
    Developing/aging players - WR Chris Conley is a 2d year guy, 3 1-year guys on defense will now be 3d years (RILB Wilson, LCB Peters, RCB Nelson). Tyrique Hill is a 2d year guy now. Derrick Johnson will be 35.

    Draft:
    1 - Mahomes, QB
    2 - Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE Villanova (freakish specimen who has underwhelmed in live-fire drills)
    3 - Kareem Hunt, RB Toledo (my #5 RB behind the big 3 plus Mixon, reliable 3-down back with great pass-catching skills. Fumbled once in 800 touches.)

    The starting lineup is about the same as in 2016. Logan will replace Poe in general so it's not a big hole. This team is still dangerous, but to me the big question is how much will Alex Smith go Jake Plummer since the Chiefs drafted Mahomes by making the big move? Smith is only 33 this year, and looks to have a lot of football left in him. Adding Hunt to the roster is about the only roster-shaping move that I see, since the first two picks in their draft aren't 2017 impact guys. If Kpassagnon was manhandled at the senior bowl, the NFL will be even less friendly to him.

    I think the chiefs are about the same as last year, although they are a youngish squad that isn't starting any rookies this year...

    Raiders (12-4)

    Staff - Lost OC Musgrave to Broncos. Huge pickup in terms of having Carr intel.
    Vets - Signed Jared Cook TE, Marshall Newhouse (OL depth) and Cordarrelle Patterson (KR/PR..wr3)....& BEaSTMoDe
    Lost: ST ace Andre Holmes, LB Malcolm Smith, DT Stacy McGee, RB Latavius Murray, St/S standout Brynden Trawick (think D. Bruton)

    Draft:

    1- Gareon Conley, CB
    2 - Obi Melifonwu, S
    3 - Eddie Vanderdoes, DT

    So...a healthy Carr is the big thing. MVP quality signal caller. Backfield was meh last year, but the OL was mauling. Be interesting to see if Marshawn Lynch is truly an upgrade to what some Raider fans considered was a dainty Latavius Murray. The Raiders receiving corps became more legit with the additions of Jared Cook and C. Patterson to go along with Cooper and Crabtree. The offense is serious. What about the questionable defense? The main loss is LB Malcolm Smith, a 7 AV guy without a clear replacement. Other than that, the main thing is that Khalil Mack is a 3d year player on a squad with a lot of older dudes...and if Conley and Melifonwu are starters, it might improve the weakest links on the Oakland D.

    This team looks as dangerous as it did in '16, perhaps the receiving options are improved for Carr. Much of their team success will depend on the performance of the rookie secondary draft picks. . .

    Los Angeles Chargers (5-11)


    Staff - Lost HC McCoy (Broncos OC) . . . not sure of the other turnover. Whisenhunt and J. Pagano as coordinators, not sure who is still there. Who is the new HC for the LAC (not clippers)?
    Vets - Replaced King Dunlap (LT) with Russell Okung. Have fun with that. Lost Philip Rivers favorite target Danny Woodhead. Retained Melvin Ingram, Jahleeel Addae, and some others.
    Developing - RB Melvin Gordon, WR Tyrell Williams, TE Hunter Henry, LBs Kyle Emanuel and Denzel Perryman.
    Aging - QB rivers (36), TE Gates (37), NT Mebane (32), FS Lowery (31).

    Draft
    1 - WR Mike Williams
    2 - OG Forrest Lamp
    3 - OG Dan Feeney

    The secondary is still a disaster, but things look improved on offense. Adding a legit WR1 target with Keenan Allen makes for a dangerous passing attack. If Lamp and Feeney mesh with the 2017 O-line, that could improve pro-bowler Melvin Gordon's chances in 2017. Much depends on how LAC shores up a crap secondary, and if the young LB corps takes a step forward. This team was decimated by injuries in 2016, and Rivers is still the best QB in the division...don't count them out. A healthy squad was at least an 8-8 team last season. Don't overlook this team, it is very dangerous as long as Rivers is throwing the ball. Losing Woodhead hurts.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sting
    "You know cos I just lost my parents--both my parents died in the same year...to this day, people come up to me and say 'my dad died and that album really meant a lot to me,' which is very nourishing {pats heart} for a songwriter to hear that your songs have a utility beyond just their own solace, that it actually helps other people."

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  3. #2
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    Nice.

    I am pretty sure chris jones will replace Poe in kc.
    I think kc is very close to us, but I actually give the edge to the raiders because of their qb.

    The raid defense sucks but they have now two really really good safeties in Joseph and Obi.....that backend is nice! If the raper turns out the. They have good corners too! They are on their way to being a complete team. I have to see their schedule to know for sure but, I think they'll will be good again this year. I thought last was more of a fluke than anything but I loved their draft!
    The Plan at the moment:

    Draft: Trade a 3rd and 6th this year to a team to move up and get a 2nd next year (this will happen).

    Players I want:
    Jake Ferguson (Jake Butt) or Jelani Woods or Jeremy Ruckert or Cade Otten (owen daniels) at TE- All 4th rd or later.
    Troy Anderson LB 3rd/4th rd (yay Timmy!)
    Neil Farrell, JR DL- run stuffer- bye purcell

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  5. #3

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    Well done. Need to process it a bit before I can agree or disagree on the projections.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaded View Post
    Y’all know I’m an OL Groupie but I think Jeudy is going to be worth missing out on a T, knock on wood.

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    Chargers are better than their 5-11 record last year. Chiefs and Raiders records last year won't be matched this year.

    There's going to be a logjam in the AFCW this year. Divisional games are going to be super important. We could very well have three teams with double-digit wins.

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    Vegas has post-draft over/under expected wins at

    Raiders - 9.5
    Chiefs - 9
    Broncos - 8.5
    Chargers - 7.5

    That sounds about right, if I'm objective about the uncertainty at the QB position in Denver.

    Of course the Broncos will blow that target out of the water, so please everyone bet on the over.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sting
    "You know cos I just lost my parents--both my parents died in the same year...to this day, people come up to me and say 'my dad died and that album really meant a lot to me,' which is very nourishing {pats heart} for a songwriter to hear that your songs have a utility beyond just their own solace, that it actually helps other people."

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    I really think KC is a player or two away and should have waited on a QB - hopefully that benefits us this year. I believe they are the 1st or 2nd best team in the West. Tyreek Hill is terrifying, Justin Houston should finally be returning to form, Marcus Peters is legit. Andy Reid is steady and solid if nothing else. This is our biggest threat. That OT win against us last year was about as impressive of a road win as you'll see in the NFL.

    I think the Raiders were over their skis last year. Del Rio is an average coach who will always revert to the mean. Their roster has more holes in it than their record indicated last year - as was evident when Carr got hurt. I think their offense might be less dynamic - not more dynamic - after signing Beast Mode and getting rid of Murray. But their WR corps is as good as any in the league. Nevertheless, we gon' snatch the proverbial chain right off their necks this year. This team will fold up if and when they meet significant adversity.

    The Chargers will be mediocre but competent, per the usual. Not enough talent and too much uncertainty to compete in this division. Plus Rivers for all his strengths just gives 2-3 games away every season with crunch time turnovers.

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    Nfl power rankings.....broncos #14

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    I have the Raiders at 10 wins. They've not played a top tier schedule before while having expectations. It's different. You're spot on about their secondary - rookies in the secondary are often improvements overall for what the team had, but the mistakes they make can be crippling. The one issue that I think the Raiders will have is their running game. Marshawn Lynch isn't an answer. He's 32. I don't care how good he was, he's old. And while I expect him to have a couple games where he just beats the piss out of people, he's going to be splitting time for a reason. I wonder if they can get another career year from Crabtree? Then again, it's fair to expect Amari Cooper to improve as well. Maybe that offsets some things?

    The Chiefs' offense will be brutal to stop. They're not going to drop 45 points a game on anyone, but between their RB's, Smith's precision, Hill, and Kelce...they're actually talented on offense. Their line is solid, too.

    The Chargers have been killed by injuries in the past several years. Still, I expect them to be a 5-6 win team that should be a 7-8 win team.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaded View Post
    Y’all know I’m an OL Groupie but I think Jeudy is going to be worth missing out on a T, knock on wood.

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    I think the Raiders are the team to beat in the west, at least as of now. Yes, they probably won't be as good offensively as they were last year but they're still going to be good. Carr looks like the real deal, as much as I hate to say it. I think they actually underachieved on defense last year, and they've worked to shore up some weaknesses there in the draft. If Carr and Mack stay healthy, they will be tough to beat.

    I think the current Chiefs have peaked. There are a lot of little things they do well (and hopefully we can recreate some of those ourselves, mostly on special teams) but lack the push to get over the hump. I'm not going to rag on Alex Smith, but we know what he is by now. He's what, 33? And the Chiefs spent big picks to move up to draft his eventual replacement. This tells me that they're stuck between the present and the future, and while I think they'll be good, I don't think they win the division.

    The Chargers will be interesting. I think they're the worst team in the division, but even so, they're not "bad." They worked on fixing that OL this year (even if they overpaid Okung) and you can never count Rivers out. Bosa looks legit and is yet another terrifying pass rusher to worry about.

    I think the Broncos will be competitive here. If our QB (whoever that may be) can step up, we're back in a dogfight for the division. Now I'll take the orange sunglasses off ...

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    Broncos will be 16-0.

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    The Raiders may end up playing like shit like other lame duck teams have. There's something about being a team playing in a place that isn't really their home anymore.


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    The huge wildcards in each NFL season are injuries and turnovers or the lack of the two. Those can not be predicted. So I will talk about how the '17 team compares to last year's 0 and 7 team.

    Offensively, the Broncos have the appearance of an improved team. Last year's OL was horrendous without regard of what scale you might choose with our OTs being the lowest rated pair in the NFL. Whatever combination of Bolles, Sambrailo, and Watson one would think must be better than Stephanson and Okung. At guard, We have Leary or one of our young starters from last year with another year's experience. Paradis will return at center. That appears to be a significant upgrade. By the second half of the season last year our RBs were unimpressive. The return of C.J., the addition of Jamaal, and the increased speed and receiving ability capabilities has me smiling. Our starting wideouts (2 of the leagues best) return along with a probable increase in talent at TE and slot. A lot of things would have to go wrong for this to not be a much improved unit this season.

    Special teams has had an infusion of speed. How can that not yield improved field position and with it a better point differential.

    Last year's pass defense was the best in the league with our weakness being stopping the run. Our draft and free agent signings targeted that area and at least on the surface appears our D line should force team's to play to our strength by having to put the ball in the air.

    IMHO these changes translate into once again being in the play-offs and once a team is there anything can happen.
    Last edited by Dean; 05-05-2017 at 12:17 PM. Reason: Our English police were offended.
    RIP Cameron, D, & D

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dean View Post
    The huge wildcards in each NFL season are injuries and turnovers or the lack of the two. Those can not be predicted. So I will talk about how the '17 team compares to last year's 0 and 7 team.

    Offensively, the Broncos have the appearance of an improved team. Last year's OL was horrendous irregardless of what scale you might choose with our OTs being the lowest rated pair in the NFL. Whatever combination of Bolles, Sambrailo, and Watson one would think must be better than Stephanson and Okung. At guard, We have Leary or one of our young starters from last year with another year's experience. Paradis will return at center. That appears to be a significant upgrade. By the second half of the season last year our RBs were unimpressive. The return of C.J., the addition of Jamaal, and the increased speed and receiving ability capabilities has me smiling. Our starting wideouts (2 of the leagues best) return along with a probable increase in talent at TE and slot. A lot of things would have to go wrong for this to not be a much improved unit this season.

    Special teams has had an infusion of speed. How can that not yield improved field position and with it a better point differential.

    Last year's pass defense was the best in the league with our weakness being stopping the run. Our draft and free agent signings targeted that area and at least on the surface appears our D line should force team's to play to our strength by having to put the ball in the air.

    IMHO these changes translate into once again being in the play-offs and once a team is there anything can happen.
    Where in the hell have you been!?

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  22. #14
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    Irregardless is not a word. It is not correct.
    The Plan at the moment:

    Draft: Trade a 3rd and 6th this year to a team to move up and get a 2nd next year (this will happen).

    Players I want:
    Jake Ferguson (Jake Butt) or Jelani Woods or Jeremy Ruckert or Cade Otten (owen daniels) at TE- All 4th rd or later.
    Troy Anderson LB 3rd/4th rd (yay Timmy!)
    Neil Farrell, JR DL- run stuffer- bye purcell

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    Quote Originally Posted by underrated29 View Post
    Irregardless is not a word. It is not correct.
    It's similar to a double negative, almost like saying it should be regarded.

    I want answers!!!! I want the truth!!!

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