AFC West Preview

*shakes head, walks away*

Chargers- the only team with no glaring problem areas in this division. Obviously, LaDainian Tomlinson is still LaDainian freaking Tomlinson. Thus, barring injury, the running game should be fine. He's backed by a veritable molehill of a man, Darren Sproles, and while not technically a halfback, rookie runner Jacob Hester figures to see extra carries in the event of LT2 suffering a setback on his career. Hester has good ball skills, being seen as a viable receiving option last year on a tremendous Lousiana State team. Sproles has some big play ability as a kick returner; and, in theory, to replace the firestorm that currently resides in their backfield they would use Sproles' lightning to Hester's thunder. Philip Rivers is coming off of a big knee injury, but still projects to be at least adequate in an offense with the weapons he has. Out wide there is refugee from the Miami disaster Chris Chambers, a true deep threat in a league currently lacking them, and Vincent Jackson, a player I personally am huge on because he's the size of a tight end and runs like a half back. That brings me to the guy who actually lines up at tight end, who I don't really need to say much about by the same virtue as Tomlinson being a quasi footnote: you've heard plenty enough about them already. He's the size of a power forward and uses it to reach up and grab balls that should be jumpballs, plus he can shield even the quickest of linebackers off the ball when he hauls them in over the middle. The offensive line returns 4 of 5 starters including the most important one, Marcus McNeill. Shane Olivea, former right tackle, left in free agency and is replaced by Jeromey Clary. Nick Hardwick and his interior line cohorts Mike Goff and Kris Dielman should do fine, as they might face their toughest assignment of the year in team drills in training camp (Jamal Williams). They should be fine to pencil in for another superior season. Defensively, we have returning starters on the defensive line, all 3. They were certainly good enough last year and I see no reason to expect otherwise this year. Sadly, they have no real gaudy numbers to report because in a 3-4, their designated responsibility is basically to occupy blockers so the coordinator can turn his linebacking hounds loose. Those linebackers, in this case are All-World pass rusher Shawne Merriman, Ted Backer Matt Wilhelm, Mike Stephen Cooper, and Merriman's outside counterpart, Shaun Phillips. The outside guys share more than a first name, as both have a penchant for introducing opposing QBs to the turf, up close and personal. They lost corner Drayton Florence in free agency, but return Antonio Cromartie, last years INT leader, and Quentin Jammer, who, as his name implys, is a physical corner on the outside and not an easy assignment to beat for a receiver. The safeties are Eric Weddle, a highly athletic but somewhat raw player in the secondary and Clinton Hart, the weak link- although, that's not to say he's bad.

Broncos- Finishing second in a division that doesn't figure to be very good. Selvin Young, unknown quantity at running back. He figures as a speedy little package; firecracker out of the backfield, and it's a Shanahan offense so he should do just fine for himself. The entire offensive line besides guard Ben Hamilton, unknown quantity. Jay Cutler should improve this year since he won't be battling defenses AND Diabetes every week this year. Brandon Marshall should turn in another stellar year if he doesn't get suspended. Keary Colbert/Eddie Royal/anyone else competing to be the #2 wideout figures to disappoint. Tony Scheffler should be a good checkdown lifeline, though. The defensive line is underwhelming. Alvin McKinley, John Engelberger, and Marcus Thomas aren't much to get excited about, although Elvis Dumervil has shown flashes of pass rushing brilliance. D.J. Williams is a superior force in the intermediate range of the passing game. Niko Koutouvides is a workman type of middle linebacker, good for the plays he is expected to make and not much more. Boss Bailey doesn't have quite the athleticism of his better known brother Champ ,(although I'd call the names a draw) but is a stout run stopper and makes things happen at a tick above average for a strong side backer. Champ and Dre Bly are the best corner duo in the league outside, but safeties Hamza Abdullah and Marlon McCree make the secondary human again.

Chiefs- (should I have said Chieves?) Well. Brodie Croyle is still Brodie Croyle, and Devard Darling is still Devard Darling. I don't really need to review their passing game any more than that. The running game is much more interesting with Larry Johnson and Jamaal Charles in the backfield. However, Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones, and Damian McIntosh figure to keep them somewhat grounded, and not in a good way. Dwayne Bowe could be fun to watch, though, and Tony Gonzalez might reach some new plateaus this year, career-wise, so at least there's a little something to note in the passing game. Brandon Albert is something to build on in that trainwreck offensive line, so there's some hope for the future with a real blue chipper there. The defense is in a similar situation with Glenn Dorsey and Tamba Hali on the line to hope for progression from. The rest of the line seems uninspired, though, which is a shame because Donnie Edwards and Derrick Johnson are good enough outside backers that I could start in the middle and the unit would still be above average (as it stands Napoleon Harris is penciled in there, and he's quite a nice little piece to slide into the center of your defense). Brandon Flowers, a second round pick at corner, is seen as quite NFL ready and should learn more as he can read up under Patrick Surtain, one of the better cover men of this generation. Jarrod Page and Bernard Pollard man the safety spots and provide some cheap thrills for this defense with big hits and ballhawking flashes of talent.

Raiders- ROFL. JaMarcus Russell's career is basically at it's beginning, so don't count on much of anything from him- especially not in that offense. His number one option (Javon Walker) wanted to retire this offseason but was persuaded to stay in the game by Anti-Christ/owner Al Davis, and his number two, while I'm high on him (Ronald Curry), has never topped 750 yards in a season in his five years in the league. That leaves us with Zach Miller, who was never a speed threat, although he runs good routes and has solid hands. In the backfield we have Justin Griffith, a good fullback who can do damage with the ball in his hands- something not often seen in the league of today- and is still capable of putting linebackers on their ass if he can get into them. Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden are in the backfield as the chief runners, and while Fargas had a good year last year, and could possibly do the same again this year if given the same opportunity, I highly doubt they spent a boatload of cash on DMC to have him ride the pine. They should do well in a zone blocking one cut downhill style running game, with former bust turned respectable player Robert Gallery at left guard. Cooper Carlisle and John Wade fill out the interior offensive line, with Cornell Green and Kwame Harris as the tackles. This could be the most surprising single unit in football, or they could just play like the Raiders offensive line again. Who knows. When we flip the ball around, we get uninspired by Tommy Kelley Terdell Sands and Jay Richardson. Derrick Burgess is still a solid end, though. Linebacker wise, Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard could please you in IDP leagues, behind a leaky line and with a good level of skill on each of them. Howard has safety speed, but isn't the biggest hitter. Don't expect a lot of fumbles forced by this defense. The backfield will be a disappointment as Al Davis showed his love of 40 times when he dealt for DeAngelo Hall to play opposite geuine shutdown corner Nnamdi Asomugha. Safety Michael Huff will really appreciate the addition of Gibril Wilson to play alongside him, and really needs to make or break his career here. Wilson himself should be fine, although he will probably end up being frustrated when he realizes that last year he won more games in January than he does this year in September through December.