AFC West Positional Rankings

[Lightningwill_420]

I do think Rivers will eat up the budget for Weddle. He is not going to get another contract here, so IMO he will be moved. I just don't see him playing out his final year here without an extension.

Have we not learned that the Spanos family doesn't deal well with dudes who hold out? If Weddle holds out, he won't be traded or released. He'd just be missing games, which would mean his next contract would be for a malcontent who hasn't played for a year. Plus, the Spanoses would send out their secret operatives to make sure the Union Tribune trashes Weddle's reputation.

[RTPbolt]

I agree should do ST.

That said, a good analysis.

Adding points by ranking with lowest ranking being best we get.

Chargers 18
Denver 22
KC 25
Oaktown 32

Not exactly statistical but does give an interesting ranking of sorts. Surprisingly we edge out Denver mainly due to their losses mostly within the division. I believe our biggest moves were in RB with Gordon being given the chance to shine in a system that fits well to his skills plus Woodhead returning. Next surprisingly OL with taking a top player in Franklin from Denver. KC losing Hudson is a big loss for them in an offense that struggles. I actually like our WRs as gaining strength with Stevie and even Jones may contribute positively to improve our situation.

[Steve]

KC is the only team who has a really good interior DL situation, and it isn't close, although for a DL who has the name guys they do, they sure give up a ton of easy yards right up the middle. I do think Denver DL is going to be very good. They were good in the 43, and Wade's 34 is a better fit for those guys. I don't think that switch helps us. Plus Wade is the master at the 1st year change. Long term, he is not nearly as good, but the D his 1st year is usually outstanding, even if the personnel isn't, and in Denver it is.

As far as true LB, I think Oakland should get some credit for Mack. He may be a productive pass rusher and play over the TE, but Oakland uses him off the line too, so he helps them there a lot. And with Moore, it means that the "other" guy, is just some body who gets a few snaps later in the game stuffing the run, after the other team has a lead. I think their LB corp is pretty good, or was depending on how they use Mack this year. But he is that good. But if I was going to be weak, ILB is the place, because how much of an impact can ILB make? Don't get me wrong, we need to upgrade over Butler, and Teo still makes a fair # of mistakes, but you can get some inexpensive cast of ILB and probably get by. THey will get their 90-120 tackles each, but they probably won't make enough other plays to matter.

Secondary, pass rush, interior DL.... those are the positions that matter, so us being weak at interior DL and edge rusher, hurts a lot more then picking up some at ILB, and not even really being "good" there, we are just not as inept as other teams.

[Formula 21]

I'm really looking forward to watching Carrethers this year to see how much he's improved. I still love to watch the big powerful nose tackle do his job.

[onelazyfock]

Really solid work. Good breakdown. One guy I forgot about, who I think will play a decent amount is mitch unrein on the DL.

[Boltjolt]

Yeah, we have nothing beyond Weddle, and who knows if he will hold out at this point. The rest of the division is close but at least they have some bodies.

He is no Weddle but Stuckey has made some nice plays when he got his chances. I do think id give Denver a slight edge at CB only because Verrett missed too much time and Talib is a bit better than Flowers. Its pretty close though. Robinson imo gives us a much better player than Wright was.

[Ebenezer]

He is no Weddle but Stuckey has made some nice plays when he got his chances. I do think id give Denver a slight edge at CB only because Verrett missed too much time and Talib is a bit better than Flowers. Its pretty close though. Robinson imo gives us a much better player than Wright was.

Verrett did miss time but when he was healthy he was playing as well as anyone's on the Broncos. And that was as a rookie. I disagree on Flowers/Talib. The latter was pretty inconsistent last season. Flowers, when not concussed, was a super steady top 10 corner. But on the whole I can see why someone would give Denver the edge there.

[Lightningwill_420]

Verrett did miss time but when he was healthy he was playing as well as anyone's on the Broncos. And that was as a rookie. I disagree on Flowers/Talib. The latter was pretty inconsistent last season. Flowers, when not concussed, was a super steady top 10 corner. But on the whole I can see why someone would give Denver the edge there.

If Denver gets the Edge 459808556.jpg, we get Buckethead Buckethead_cr_EthanMiller_2006.jpg.

[Mister Hoarse]

Buckethead would shred for us.

[Boltjolt]

Verrett did miss time but when he was healthy he was playing as well as anyone's on the Broncos. And that was as a rookie. I disagree on Flowers/Talib. The latter was pretty inconsistent last season. Flowers, when not concussed, was a super steady top 10 corner. But on the whole I can see why someone would give Denver the edge there.

Yeah it is really close. Verrett only played in 6 games so playing well or not, he has to be on the field. Roby for Denver played better than i was expecting so as a group i just give them a slight edge which isnt to say ours cant be better. I think they can.

[Ebenezer]

KC is the only team who has a really good interior DL situation, and it isn't close, although for a DL who has the name guys they do, they sure give up a ton of easy yards right up the middle. I do think Denver DL is going to be very good. They were good in the 43, and Wade's 34 is a better fit for those guys. I don't think that switch helps us. Plus Wade is the master at the 1st year change. Long term, he is not nearly as good, but the D his 1st year is usually outstanding, even if the personnel isn't, and in Denver it is.

As far as true LB, I think Oakland should get some credit for Mack. He may be a productive pass rusher and play over the TE, but Oakland uses him off the line too, so he helps them there a lot. And with Moore, it means that the "other" guy, is just some body who gets a few snaps later in the game stuffing the run, after the other team has a lead. I think their LB corp is pretty good, or was depending on how they use Mack this year. But he is that good. But if I was going to be weak, ILB is the place, because how much of an impact can ILB make? Don't get me wrong, we need to upgrade over Butler, and Teo still makes a fair # of mistakes, but you can get some inexpensive cast of ILB and probably get by. THey will get their 90-120 tackles each, but they probably won't make enough other plays to matter.

Secondary, pass rush, interior DL.... those are the positions that matter, so us being weak at interior DL and edge rusher, hurts a lot more then picking up some at ILB, and not even really being "good" there, we are just not as inept as other teams.

You mind elaborating on what you see in Denver's defensive line? Malik Jackson is a nice player, but both Sly Williams and Derek Wolfe have been below average through 2 and 3 seasons respectively. I get that Wade is a good coach, but he's been a good coach with good players.

On Mack, he's an edge rusher regardless of where they have him on the depth chart. He'll play DE more than anything else. So that's where I slotted him. I'm not going to give Oakland credit for him in two spots. And if he's primarily a DE, their LB corps is pathetic.

[Steve]

Wolff had a very good rookie season, then kinda fell out of favor with Del Rio and company, because they prefer bigger vet guys. Del Rio also tends to ask his DT to do a lot of reading and more gap control, where Wade lets his guys penetrate a bit more. Much simplier scheme. Fewer techniques, more emphasis on the 1st step, less on all the different ways to take on and shed the various blocks. Wade has a history of getting a lot out of early draft picks and guys who are developing.

Mack is more than just and edge rusher. He is a complete LB who can rush the passer. He is physical and has good technique on the edge, but Oakland let him line up off the line and diagnose plays and he was just as good as he was going forward. He spends a lot of time playing LB on early downs, then moves to play DE on passing downs. It's not any more ridiculous to grade a guy like him as a LB since LB are only spot players anyway. Moore will probably be their only full time LB, Mack will play DE on passing downs and DB will take over for the 3rd guys and Mack.

The silly thing is pretending that you have to grade 3 LB as starters, since NFL teams only play 2 LB at a time. ALL NFL teams are truly 425 teams, so why not grade them as such.