1) Denver
Broncos
It didn’t end well (keep your head up Rahim Moore), but
Peyton Manning’s first season back was a huge success. How will they follow up a 13 win and #1 seed
season that ended with a deeply deflating loss?
As if Manning and this passing game wasn’t dangerous enough
already, the Broncos stole Tom Brady’s security blanket, Wes Welker. I wouldn’t think he’s going to catch 100
balls in an offense that already has a legit #1 in Demaryius Thomas and a solid
#2 in Eric Decker, but I’m sure he’d be happy with another deep playoff run. Thomas is easily a top 10 receiver in the league. He’s not as refined as Marshall, Cobb, or
Green, but only Calvin Johnson trumps him from a dominance potential standpoint
in my opinion. I think Manning has
another MVP caliber season or two in him, and having that trio of receivers
will extend that window. They also got
better in the running game, adding Montee Ball in the draft. Last year’s Doak Walker winner is expected to
eventually sit atop the Broncos depth chart, but for now it looks like he and
Ronnie Hillman will be sharing those duties.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way. Defensive stud Von Miller, he of 30 sacks in
two years as a pro, is out for the first 6 games of the season due to repeated
violations of the league’s substance abuse policy. This was on the heels of losing Elvis
Dumervil to a bizarre contract mix up and after missing out on Dwight Freeney
and John Abraham in free agency. So
that’s well more than half of their sack production that is either playing
elsewhere or suspended for a third of the season. They
need that Robert Ayers to play like a starter more now than ever. Last year’s second round pick, Derek Wolfe,
looks like a steal. He played all along
the line last year but settles in as the starting RE this year. They brought in Terrance Knighton and drafted
Sylvester Williams to give them a large three man rotation at tackle. After the way last year ended, the spotlight
should be awfully bright on this secondary.
Future HOFer Champ Bailey remains at left corner, and Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie was brought in on the cheap to start on the right side. Tony Carter and Chris Harris are nice
depth. Here’s hoping Rahim Moore makes a
game-winning play or two this year.
Is this still the team that ran off 11 straight wins
starting in October? How much will they
miss Miller?
MVP – Peyton Manning
Breakout – Montee Ball
Disappointment – Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
2) Kansas City
Chiefs
When you have the worst record in the league, change is
expected. Change happened. Andy Reid takes over as head coach after
another forgettable season in Philly.
Can he turn around a franchise that has had one winning season out of
the last six?
Alex Smith isn’t Len Dawson, but he’s an upgrade over the
Cassel-Thigpen-Huard trio that languished in KC for the last seven
seasons. The former Niner should give
Reid his high percentage, albeit low risk passer. Smith had become a better protector of the
football over the last couple of seasons, so at a minimum he’s unlikely to be
the turnover machine Cassel became. If Jamaal Charles has been paying attention
to things in Philly, he should be ecstatic about Reid taking over. Charles is one of the most dynamic backs in
the league and will undoubtedly be used in the same manner Brian Westbrook and
LeSean McCoy were in Philly. I expect
him to have a huge year. Dwayne Bowe
should be happy now. He got paid, and as
long as he’s still hungry, he’s got a chance to be a huge producer in the most
explosive offensive he’s been a part of as a pro. They still lack anything behind Bowe and gave
up on bust Jon Baldwin by dealing him to San Fran. Expect to see a lot of Charles and Bowe. The Chiefs spent the #1 overall pick in the
draft on Eric Fisher, who for now will start at right tackle with Branden
Albert remaining at left tackle. With
those two and Rodney Hudson and Jon Asamoah, the Chiefs have one the better
young lines in the game.
You’ve got to be impressed with the young talent on this
Chiefs defense. The front seven is
anchored by the trio of Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, and Derrick Johnson. Houston
is the guy I wanted the Bucs to get the year they drafted Clayborn and
Bowers. Last year he registered 9.5
sacks or 2.5 sacks less than what Clayborn and Bowers have combined for in
their careers. But I digress. Hali barely missed out on his third straight
double digit sack season and pairs with Houston for one of the more impressive
pass rushing duos in the game. Johnson
does a great job of containing the action up front, and what does get past him
is usually snuffed out by Eric Berry.
The Chiefs safety has a year under his belt from that knee injury and
should be poised for the best season of his career. The Chiefs already had the very dependable
Brandon Flowers at one corner spot, but the Chiefs doubled down this offseason
bringing in both Sean Smith and Dunta Robinson.
The Broncos/Chiefs matchups should be interesting.
I don’t want to overhype a team that won just two games the
previous season, but this is a club that had five Pro Bowlers last year, six if
you count punter Dustin Colquitt. The
division is wide open behind the Broncos, and the Chiefs have enough talent
and, now, coaching to be a playoff threat.
MVP – Jamaal Charles
Breakout – Eric Berry
Disappointment – Sean Smith
3) San Diego
Chargers
I consider it an accomplishment that last year’s Chargers
team won seven games. They weren’t very
good on either side of the ball, and I can’t say I’m impressed with their
efforts to improve.
Things for the Chargers start and end with Philip
Rivers. Once thought of as the shield’s
heir apparent to Brady and Manning, Rivers may become irrelevant before either
legend is out of the game. He’s coming
off two straight disappointing seasons and doesn’t appear to be showing signs
of coming back. All of these guys are
competitive, but I’ve got to think that someone as physically animated as
Rivers often is has to be wearing down due to continually falling short of
expectations. Speaking of falling short,
Ryan Mathews certainly hasn’t become the workhorse the Chargers were hoping
they traded up in the draft for in ’10.
He has the physical gifts and has had an impressive preseason. Is this his year? I do like their acquisition of Danny
Woodhead, the free agent from New England . Don’t be surprised if the Chadron State San Diego is still trying
to replace Vincent Jackson. Malcolm
Floyd, Vincent Brown, Eddie Royal, and rookie Keenan Allen lead a receiver
group that should have Rivers shaking his head a lot again this year. Antonio Gates is supposedly finally over his
foot issues, but how much does he have left at this point?
Corey Liuget is the best player up front, and they’ll need a
big second year from him as last year’s first round pick Melvin Ingram looks to
be out for the year with an ACL injury.
Dwight Freeney was signed to stop the bleeding, but how successful will
he be at 33 and without the Indy turf? The
other OLB, Jarrett Johnson, didn’t make much of an impact in his first year as
a Charger. As if I didn’t have enough
reasons to be down on this squad, they went out and drafted drama queen Manti
Te’o to solidify the middle of the defense.
I can’t say I’m optimistic. Not
that they could afford it, but the Chargers took a big step back at corner this
offseason, replacing the departed Antoine Caron and Quentin Jammer with Derek
Cox and Shareece Wright. Eric Weddle is
the only guy in the secondary that causes offenses to pause.
The only thing keeping this team out of the basement is the
Raiders.
MVP – Eric Weddle
Breakout – Corey Liuget
Disappointment – Manti Te’o
4) Oakland
Raiders
I’ll be quick here.
After the failed Carson Palmer experiment, the Raiders are
starting over yet again at QB. Matt
Flynn sat behind Russell Wilson last year, and he may end up sitting behind
Terrell Pryor this year. The former
Seahawk and Packer had a bad preseason, and the more physically gifted, yet
mechanically inept Pryor may be given the job.
Either way, the Raiders will feature a limited passer as the #1 QB for a
team with limited weapons. Darren
McFadden is still looking for his first 16 game season as a pro, and with his
wreck of an offensive line, he’s unlikely to see 16 this year either. McFadden is the name, but I think Marcel
Reece is the better pure player in the backfield. With the departures of Brandon Myers and
Darrius Heyward-Bey, Denarius Moore is the lone passing game weapon, and with
Flynn’s lack of arm strength, the Raiders won’t be able to utilize Moore ’s greatest asset of
tremendous deep speed.
Richard Seymour, Desmond Bryant, Tommy Kelly, Michael Huff,
and draft disappointment Rolando McClain are all gone. Lamarr Houston is their best player up front,
which isn’t saying much if you scan the depth chart. Defensive tackle signings Pat Sims and Vance
Walker should help against the run, but they’ve got no one outside of Houston to put pressure
on the passer. The linebacker unit is
uninspiring, and the starting cornerback duo of Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter
should be picked apart regularly.
Charles Woodson must really love football (and/or money) to return to
this mess.
This squad is my favorite to pick first in next year’s
draft.
MVP – Marcel Reece
Breakout – no one
Disappointment – Flynn/Pryor; whoever plays more games at QB
Division MVP – Peyton Manning
Division Breakout – Eric Berry
Division Disappointment – Flynn/Pryor; whoever plays more
games at QB
No comments:
Post a Comment