During the month of August, the Last Word on Sports NFL department will be breaking down every division in the league by position. This article contains a breakdown of each AFC West defense position group. The breakdown will contain “the best” at each unit followed by “the rest” in descending order.
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2023 AFC West Defense Breakdown by Position
Defensive Line
The Best: Kansas City Chiefs
The Rest: Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders
Even with the Chiefs 4-3 defensive ends being sorted with the edge rushers, Chris Jones alone essentially vaults the Chiefs to the spot. He is quite easily the best interior defensive lineman in the division, having gone All-Pro three years in a row. This most recent season, he tied his career-high of 15.5 sacks and is showing no signs of slowing down yet. His fellow defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi was quiet in 2022; we will see if rookie Keondre Coburn ends up taking his spot eventually.
Of the remaining teams, none of them have an All-Pro or Pro Bowler. The Chargers have the most complete group, however. Sebastian Joseph-Day and Austin Johnson helped greatly improve the interior run defense, and Morgan Fox broke out with an unexpected 6.5 sacks last year.
The Broncos have a couple of solid starters in Zach Allen and D.J. Jones. Allen has put up 9.5 sacks over the last two years, and Jones put up his usual statistical averages. The problem is a lack of proven options in the third spot for this 3-4 defense; Jonathan Harris seems the most likely candidate unless they move one of the outside linebackers into that spot (seeing as they have a surplus of them right now).
The Raiders have a lot of question marks on the interior line. Bilal Nichols was a little underwhelming in 2022, but even assuming he returns to some degree of form, their other options consist of Jerry Tillery, third-round rookie Byron Young, and Neil Farrell Jr. Out of that bunch, their best hope is Young getting off to a good start in his first year.
Edge Rushers
The Best: Los Angeles Chargers
The Rest: Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs
Joey Bosa spent most of 2022 injured, but when healthy, Bosa and Khalil Mack remain one of the better edge rusher duos in the league. Mack showed last year that while his most elite days may be behind him, he’s still got some strong play left in the tank. If anything happens to either of them this season, second-round rookie Tuli Tuipulotu will likely be the next man up.
The Raiders have possibly the best edge rusher overall in Maxx Crosby, who put up a career-high 12.5 sacks last year and got his second straight Pro Bowl nod. Chandler Jones was supposed to make them an elite duo as well, and while his role in the “Lunatic Lateral” helped ensure he wasn’t forgotten, he only had 4.5 sacks despite missing only two games. This seemed to concern the Raiders as well, because they drafted Tyree Wilson with the seventh overall pick. That will at least ensure the future remains bright, but Crosby will likely be making most of the pass-rushing plays – at least to start the season.
The Broncos have a decent starting lineup – on paper. But Randy Gregory has struggled to stay healthy most of his career. Case in point, he played only six games last year. Baron Browning (five sacks last year) had off-season surgery and likely won’t be available at the start of the year either. They do have some promising backups, at least; Frank Clark was signed presumably in part because of Browning’s surgery, and Nik Bonnito and Jonathon Cooper are also serviceable enough.
The future for the Chiefs at this position is bright; George Karlaftis did well in his rookie year with six sacks, and they took another first-rounder this year in Felix Anudike-Uzomah. Originally it seemed that he would be worked into a starting role with Charles Omenihu filling in until he was ready. However, Omenihu has been suspended for six games, so Anudike-Uzomah will have to adjust quickly to the big games.
Linebackers
The Best: Denver Broncos
The Rest: Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders
Alex Singleton and Josey Jewell made for a fearsome tackling tandem for the Broncos last year. Singleton racked up 100+ tackles – solo, not combined. Jewell had his best all-around year, being in on 100+ combined tackles plus having two interceptions and two forced fumbles. They also took third-round rookie Drew Sanders at least as an insurance policy. Jonas Griffith would have been the other piece on the board, but he tore his ACL during training camp.
The Chiefs have a solid group as well for their 4-3 setup, with Nick Bolton being the main highlight, having also gotten 100+ solo tackles last year along with two interceptions. They also acquired Drue Tranquill in free agency, who had a career year last season with 95 solo tackles and five sacks. Willie Gay may be the least notable of the trio, but he can pull his weight as well.
The Chargers will be depending on Eric Kendricks to do the bulk of the work here. He had a somewhat down year last season, but that may have been due to being in a defensive scheme that fit him less under Ed Donatell. We will see if he can return to form with the Chargers. Kenneth Murray is in a make-or-break year, and they will have third-round rookie Daiyan Henley waiting in the wings if they run out of patience with Murray.
The Raiders have an almost astonishingly weak group here. Divine Deablo, Robert Spillane, and Luke Masterson are the expected starters of that group. They really seem to be banking on Deablo having a breakout year. Getting a more accomplished veteran to help this group out would have been good – and no, Spillane is not accomplished enough to fit that bill. This is in the running for the worst defensive position group in the entire division.
Cornerbacks
The Best: Denver Broncos
The Rest: Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders
The Broncos getting the top spot here does come down partially to having easily the best cornerback in the West. Patrick Surtain II has lived up to his top-ten draft status, having gone All-Pro in just his second year. While Damarri Mathis didn’t pull in an interception last year, he still did well as a rookie and has a promising future. K’Waun Williams remains one of the better slot corners in the league, which also helps the Broncos case for the top spot.
L’Jarius Sneed may not be on the level of Surtain, but he did pretty well last year for the Chiefs, pulling in three interceptions and having 11 passes defensed. Trent McDuffie didn’t stuff the stat sheet in his rookie year, but he had seven passes defensed and a 73.6 PFF score. We will see if he can progress in his rookie year. Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson (notable for his 99-yard pick-six last year) round out the depth.
The Chargers are in an interesting cornerback situation. A lot depends on how J.C. Jackson does this year coming off a patella tendon injury – which has been known to be career-altering. The fact that he’s even ready for Week 1 is impressive. But he also played mostly horribly last year before the injury – to the point where the Chargers were literally better without him, and with Asante Samuel Jr and Michael Davis as the starters. The ceiling is high for this group, so it may be a little unfair to rank them third, but with the major question mark that is Jackson, here they will have to stay for now.
It’s telling that the Raiders signed Marcus Peters around the start of training camp – Nate Hobbs and Brandon Facyson don’t really inspire confidence. The problem is, Peters hasn’t really been the same since his 2021 ACL injury – hence why he was a free agent for so long. Elsewhere, Duke Shelley had some good play for the Vikings last year, but it’s not clear where he fits into the picture right now.
Safeties
The Best: Denver Broncos
The Rest: Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders
Both the Broncos and Chargers are vaulted by having one All-Pro on each side. For the Broncos, that’s Justin Simmons – who was tied for the league lead in interceptions with six, which was also a career-high for him. And all that was despite missing five games. Kareem Jackson is past his prime for the Broncos, but Caden Sterns has pulled in two interceptions each of the last two years and looks promising. For the Chargers, they have Derwin James, whose everyman abilities have ensured he’s gone All-Pro every year he’s been healthy. The difference that puts the Chargers in second is them rolling with Alohi Gilman opposite James, and we haven’t seen enough from him yet to rank him over a potential Simmons-Sterns tandem.
The Chiefs are putting a lot of confidence in Bryan Cook after letting Juan Thornhill walk in free agency. Time will tell if that confidence is misplaced or not. Opposite Cook, Justin Reid had a solid season last year despite not pulling in any interceptions. But he’s not on the level of Simmons or James by any means.
The Raiders signed Marcus Epps in free agency to put opposite Tre’Von Moehrig, who didn’t take much of a step forward in his sophomore year. Epps will be able to help out in run defense, but his pass coverage abilities do leave something to be desired. The only other notable player in the corps is fifth-rounder rookie Christopher Smith II. At the moment, this does look to be the weakest safety tandem in the division.
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