Biggest remaining needs for each team in the AFC

AFC West

Von Miller

Denver Broncos – Wide receiver depth

I have been waiting for these Broncos to get back to who they were back in 2015/16, when they rode that defense and a strong rushing attack to the Super Bowl with a combination of a washed Peyton Manning and a still promising young Brock Osweiler. As below-average as that duo actually was throughout the year, the quarterback situation has been absolutely dreadful ever since.

However, even though the defense has lost key pieces in Aquib Talib, Bradley Roby, Brandon Marshall and others since last offseason started, they have found the guy to actually be a force off the opposite side on Von Miller in Bradley Chubb and they brought in Kareem Jackson from Houston, as well as turning an undrafted free agent in Philip Lindsay into a 1000-yard rusher behind an offensive line that now looks more than formidable with second-round pick Dalton Risner and free agent Ja’Wuan James on the right side.

Joe Flacco is at least a slight upgrade over Case Keenum with what he has proven to be capable of in biggest moments and they got him a hyper-athletic tight end in Iowa’s Noah Fant. Last year the Broncos had some of the best third and fourth receivers in the league. Without an older Demaryius Thomas, Isaiah McKenzie leaving in free agency and Emmanuel Sanders still recovering from an ACL late in the season, those second-year guys Courtland

Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton will be asked to step into front roles. I really like the outside-inside duo those two present, but after that the wide receiver group is pretty thin for the Broncos. The most productive guy in that room is Tim Patrick, who has more career receiving yards than those other guys have combined with about 300.

Kansas City Chiefs – Center

Everybody is crowning the Chiefs as the biggest threat to the Patriots in the AFC and you won’t find a lot of bigger fans of reigning league MVP Patrick Mahomes than me after I doubted how he would transition into the NFL, which I made clear after just two weeks (and filling in for week 17 last season). However, Kansas City gave up their top two edge rushers and a leading figure in Eric Berry, even if I think they might be slightly better by trading for Frank Clark, signing Tyrann Mathieu and some of their draft picks.

More importantly, for as incredible as Patrick Mahomes was in his first year as a starter and all those numbers the Chiefs put up, I am starting to get more and more concerned with this offense. I like Georgia’s Mecole Hardman, but I thought they reached on him in the second round and he is not nearly the same type of player as Tyreek Hill at this point – even though he clearly is a better person.

However, more importantly they lost a top five center in the league in Mitch Morse and they did nothing to replace him. Austin Reiter looks like the favorite to take over that spot right now and Cameron Erving has some experience at center, if they thought they had somebody better at guard, but that is a major downgrade.

The Chiefs allowed only 24 sacks last season despite the way Mahomes likes to extend plays and make things happen off script, which Morse was a big part of, not being responsible for a single one himself.

Los Angeles Chargers – Punter

Man, this Chargers roster is so damn good. I thought their biggest areas for improvement were the interior of the D-line and a true free safety. They ended up drafting one of most the impressive D-tackles in Notre Dame’s Jerry Tillery and my number one safety in Delaware’s Nasir Adderley. The Bolts also added Thomas Davis and some depth to that linebacking crew in the draft, plus they could afford to lose Tyrell Williams because of how Mike Williams emerged for them later on in his second year as a receiver.

Philip Rivers showed some signs of aging when the Patriots dared him to throw the deep ball and he could not make them pay in the Divisional Round, but he played at a very high level throughout the season and has as much talent around him as he has had in about a decade, especially with tight-end Hunter Henry returning from injury.

So with all that being said, I am improving the special teams for this team – last year they finally got a consistent kicker in Michael Badgley and now it is time to find a field-changing punter. Undrafted rookie Tyler Newsome steadily was around 44 yards per punt at Notre Dame. He has a strong leg and was a bit of an internet sensation when he put up 30 reps on the bench press at his pro day, but he has had a few bad moments with shanked punts. So with how unlucky the Chargers have been on special teams, I think this is the one area they could still upgrade to above-average.

Oakland Raiders – Left guard

This is probably the Raiders’ final season in the Black Hole and they don’t want to leave with another 4-12 season. They improved a whole lot all-around by completely remaking that receiver room led by the offseason protagonist Antonio Brown, adding the top running back in the drafting with Josh Jacobs, spending three of their four picks in the top 40 on big school players on defense and adding two veteran linebackers, who should start for them as well.

I might not agree with a lot of their picks and the value they added with them, but I can see a vision from Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock and how they want to build that roster. With that being said, they also lost one of the better interior offensive linemen in the league when they traded Kelechi Osemele to the Jets for only a fifth-round pick. I know this was purely about finances for them, but now they have a big hole at one of those guard spots.

Gabe Jackson has been very solid for them these since they drafted him back in 2014, but it might be up to Denzelle Good and Chaz Green to fight for that position on the opposite side. I hated the Kolton Miller pick from a year ago and how they made Trent Brown the highest-paid offensive lineman in league history, but it really is that left guard spot that doesn’t show a lot of promise. When Derek Carr was at his best three years ago, they had one of the elite pass-protecting offensive lines and weapons around him.