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 at each position for the AFC West defenses and special teams positions. The breakdown will contain \u201cthe best\u201d at each unit followed by \u201cthe rest\u201d in descending order.<\/p>\n
2019 AFC West Breakdown by Position: The Offense<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>: Los Angeles Chargers<\/a><\/p>\n The Rest<\/strong>: Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, Oakland Raiders<\/a>, Denver Broncos<\/a><\/p>\n The Chargers have the best defensive line simply by virtue of having the pass rusher duo of Joey Bosa<\/a> <\/strong>and Melvin Ingram<\/a><\/strong>. When on the field together, these two are a nightmare for quarterbacks. However, they look to be improving on the defensive tackle front as well \u2013 if first-round pick Jerry Tillery<\/strong><\/a> lives up to his billing. Justin Jones<\/a><\/strong> is also there to help out with that.<\/p>\n The Chiefs are not that far behind though. They already had Chris Jones<\/a><\/strong>, who is an excellent defensive tackle. But they made multiple acquisitions at defensive end this off-season, including Frank Clark<\/a><\/strong>, Alex Okafor<\/a><\/strong>, and Emmanuel Ogbah<\/a><\/strong>. Clark is the biggest factor here; he and Jones will definitely be a problem for opposing offenses.<\/p>\n The Raiders only have half of the equation filled out. While they have a decent lineup of defensive tackles to choose from including Maurice Hurst<\/a> Jr<\/strong>, Johnathan Hankins<\/a><\/strong>, and Ethan Westbrooks<\/a><\/strong>, they\u2019re looking thinner at defensive end. They did select Clelin Ferrell<\/strong> <\/a>with the fourth overall pick. But the only defensive end on the roster with much history is Benson Mayowa<\/a><\/strong>. Furthermore, three of the defensive ends on the roster are rookies. That\u2019s a lot of young talent to build upon, but also unproven talent.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, the Broncos are looking pretty thin at the defensive line despite being known more for their defense. Their only standouts are Shelby Harris<\/a><\/strong> and Derek Wolfe<\/a><\/strong>, and neither of them currently stand out as much compared to the best defensive players (or their potential in the case of Farrell) on the other three West teams. They will have to look elsewhere for elite defensive play.<\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>: Denver Broncos<\/p>\n The Rest<\/strong>: Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders<\/p>\n The Broncos lost a couple of good members of this depth chart this off-season, but it overall still looks strong \u2013 mainly because of Von Miller<\/a> <\/strong>and Bradley Chubb<\/a><\/strong>. Miller has been playing at an elite level for years. And Chubb had a great rookie year putting up 12 sacks. They also have Todd Davis<\/a><\/strong>, who had a career-high in tackles in 2018 (114) plus Dekoda Watson<\/a><\/strong> if he can stay healthy. The depth chart gets thinner after that, but overall they a strong starting core at the position.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Chargers have improved a bit at this position over the last year. First, Uchenna Nwosu<\/a><\/strong> had a fine rookie year, capped by him forcing the game-winning fumble in the Wildcard game against the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>. Then they signed Thomas Davis<\/a><\/strong> in the off-season, who declined a bit in 2018 but still seems capable of contributing and will at least provide a veteran presence for the team. There\u2019s also Jatavis Brown<\/a> <\/strong>and Denzel Perryman<\/a> <\/strong>returning, the latter of whom will need to stay healthy. There\u2019s not much depth beyond that either, but they still look improved since the start of last season.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the Chiefs lost Dee Ford<\/a><\/strong> and Justin Houston<\/a><\/strong> to free agency, but they signed Darron Lee<\/a> <\/strong>instead who could be a good starter for them. There\u2019s also last year\u2019s free agency pickup Anthony Hitchens<\/a><\/strong> who had a career year in 2018 with 135 tackles. Then there\u2019s Reggie Ragland<\/a><\/strong> (who finished second on the team in tackles behind Hitchens), Damien Wilson<\/a><\/strong> and Jeremiah Attaochu<\/a><\/strong> to help round out the lineup. This lineup looks slightly declined from last year, but they\u2019ve still got a decent bunch overall.<\/p>\n The Raiders signed Brandon Marshall<\/a> <\/strong>from the Broncos this off-season, but they don\u2019t have a lot else besides Tahir Whitehead<\/a><\/strong>. They signed Vontaze Burfict<\/a><\/strong> as well, but he\u2019s been on the decline for a bit now due in part to being injury-prone. It\u2019s anybody\u2019s guess who\u2019ll be out there otherwise \u2013 maybe Marquel Lee<\/a> <\/strong>or James Cowser<\/a><\/strong>. All in all, this is definitely the thinnest linebacker lineup in the West.<\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>: Denver Broncos<\/p>\n The Rest<\/strong>: Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Oakland Raiders<\/p>\n After seeing their cornerback corps decline a little bit last year, they rectified that this off-season by signing Bryce Callahan<\/a><\/strong> and Kareem Jackson<\/a><\/strong>, to go along with Chris Harris<\/a> Jr<\/strong>. Callahan and Harris will make a quite good duo, and Jackson will probably make some good contributions as well. It\u2019ll also help if Isaac Yiadom<\/a><\/strong> makes some progression in his second year.<\/p>\n The Chiefs made a couple of acquisitions of their own this off-season in Morris Claiborne<\/a><\/strong> and Bashaud Breeland<\/a><\/strong>. Claiborne is coming off a career year and though he is suspended for the first four games this season, he\u2019ll probably do fine opposite Kendall Fuller<\/a><\/strong>. Breeland will have to stay healthy, but he\u2019s capable if he does so.<\/p>\n The Chargers have an interesting issue of sorts. While they have two recent Pro Bowlers in Casey Hayward<\/a> <\/strong>and Desmond King<\/a><\/strong> (though Hayward was less prolific in 2018), for some reason they seem determined to only play King as a nickel\/slot corner. Meanwhile, the actual #2 corner spot looks to go to Trevor Williams<\/a><\/strong> again or maybe Michael Davis<\/a>.<\/strong> Williams is a bit inconsistent, and he\u2019ll also need to avoid getting injured again.<\/p>\n The Raiders also have depth issues of their own. While Gareon Conley<\/a><\/strong> broke out a bit in his second year, the next guys up after that include Daryl Worley<\/strong><\/a>, Nevin Lawson<\/strong><\/a> (who is also suspended for four games), and second-round pick Trayvon Mullen<\/strong><\/a>. Besides Conley, it\u2019s anybody\u2019s guess who will be out there for the Raiders when it\u2019s all said and done (and that includes when Lawson returns).<\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>: Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n The Rest<\/strong>: Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n As of this writing, Derwin James<\/a><\/strong> has suffered a stress fracture in his foot<\/a> and his timetable for return is indefinite. For the moment, we\u2019ll assume that he\u2019ll return at some point in the season. But even without him, the Chargers have a quite solid safety lineup. There\u2019s Adrian Phillips<\/a><\/strong> to fall back on; much like James, he can play in multiple places on the field and was also a Pro Bowler last year. They also drafted Nasir Adderley<\/strong><\/a> in the second round; while he is a rookie, he was also considered a steal much like James was. There\u2019s also Jaylen Watkins<\/a> <\/strong>if he can stay healthy.<\/p>\n The Raiders are also looking fairly improved at this position. They made an underrated signing this off-season in Lamarcus Joyner<\/a><\/strong> at free safety. Elsewhere, they have a bunch of choices to choose from at strong safety \u2013 including Karl Joseph<\/a><\/strong>, Erik Harris<\/strong><\/a>, Jordan Richards<\/strong><\/a>, and first-round pick Johnathan Abram<\/a><\/strong>. With that many choices, it\u2019s hard to believe they wouldn\u2019t have someone good out there. And if anything were to happen to Joyner, they could switch one of the strong safety backups to the other side.<\/p>\n The Broncos have Will Parks<\/strong><\/a> at the strong safety position\u2026 and not a whole lot else, but he\u2019s okay enough. At free safety, you have Justin Simmons<\/a><\/strong>, who had a bit of a poor Pro Football Focus score at 60.9<\/a> but also had a career year in tackles (97) and interceptions (three). Still, if he does have any significant struggles, they can fall back to Su\u2019a Cravens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Chiefs also made a big free agent pickup this off-season in Tyrann Mathieu<\/a><\/strong>, who will have the strong safety spot locked down. As for the free safety position, it comes down between Daniel Sorensen<\/a><\/strong> and second-round pick Juan Thornhill<\/a><\/strong>. While that isn\u2019t necessarily a bad position to be in, this safety lineup does feel a bit less prolific outside of Mathieu.<\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>: Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n The Rest<\/strong>: Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos<\/p>\n The Chiefs undeniably have the most complete special teams in the West. They have an accurate kicker in Harrison Butker<\/a><\/strong>, a two-time Pro Bowl punter in Dustin Colquitt<\/strong><\/a>, and both Tyreek Hill<\/strong><\/a> and rookie Mecole Hardman<\/strong><\/a> for the return game. They\u2019re only the team in the West to be pretty set at all three key of these key spots.<\/p>\n The Raiders are the only other one to have a solid returner in Dwayne Harris<\/a><\/strong>. They also have Daniel Carlson<\/a><\/strong> at kicker, who did a lot better once he went from the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> to the Raiders. He\u2019s not a rookie anymore either. Their punting situation looks more iffy, with the only punter on the roster being some guy named A.J. Cole III<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the Chargers finally found a reliable kicker in Michael Badgley<\/strong><\/a>. They also have an iffy punter situation though. The competition is currently between Ty Long<\/strong> and Tyler Newsome<\/strong>. Neither of them have experience punting in the regular season (though Long has been in the CFL). The Broncos have the opposite problem; they have a solid punter in Colby Wadman<\/strong><\/a>, but a sometimes shaky kicker in Brandon McManus<\/a><\/strong>. He can kick it a long way\u2026 it\u2019s just that sometimes you have no idea where it\u2019s going.<\/p>\n The Best<\/strong>: Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n The Rest<\/strong>: Los Angeles Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos<\/p>\n Andy Reid<\/strong><\/a> finally shook off some of his playoff struggles that he\u2019s had with the Chiefs as he finally took them to the AFC Championship Game, which went into overtime. Even despite some questionable clock management at times, he\u2019s a pretty good coach overall. He gets his teams to the playoffs the majority of the time. And anyone who can make playoffs four out of five years with \u201cCaptain Checkdown\u201d Alex Smith<\/strong><\/a> at quarterback deserves respect.<\/p>\n Anthony Lynn<\/strong><\/a> has also quickly put himself in a good position with the Chargers \u2013 by almost getting the team to the playoffs in 2017 after a 0-4 start, and then actually doing so in 2018 with a 12-4 season that saw the team have their best season in nearly a decade. He definitely seems to have this team rallied around him, and as long as that\u2019s the case (and as long as Philip Rivers<\/a><\/strong> is still there), they\u2019re sure to continue to be successful.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Jon Gruden<\/strong>\u2019s first season with the Raiders didn\u2019t go well. The team may have been deliberately tanking it, but that doesn\u2019t excuse how lifeless the offense often looked \u2013 or some of his questionable GM decisions. He still has some goodwill from his better years from his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> and his first Raiders tenure, but he\u2019ll need to improve.<\/p>\n The Broncos have a new head coach in Vic Fangio.\u00a0<\/strong>This is also his first head coaching tenure, which leaves him automatically at the bottom of this list for now. Sure, he\u2019s been a good defensive coordinator. But so was Wade Phillips<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Main Photo:2019 AFC West Breakdown by Position: The Defense and Special Teams<\/h2>\n
Defensive Line<\/h3>\n
Linebackers<\/h3>\n
Cornerback<\/h3>\n
Safety<\/h3>\n
Special Teams<\/h3>\n
Coaching<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>