AFC West Watch – Secondary

The AFC West Watch segment of BroncoTalk continues, and today the Secondaries are up for debate. Every Friday I rank a unit of each team in the West 1-4 based on talent and how I feel the group will perform in 2007.

So this week, it’s the Secondaries that are under debate, and I can tell you right now that the Broncos are shoo-ins for #1. I mean, it’s not even close. Stack up Champ Bailey, Dre Bly and John Lynch against anything the other teams can bring and it’s not even close.

John Lynch and the late Darrent William team up to take down Texans RB Wali Lundy in a 2006 preseason game. Photo Courtesy

1) Denver Broncos

CORNERBACKS: Champ Bailey, Dre Bly, Domonique Foxworth
SAFETIES: John Lynch, Nick Ferguson, Sam Brandon

The Broncos secondary is one of the most talented units, on paper, in the entire NFL. But every secondary can be suspect when an adequate pass rush isn’t there, and this has been the cures the Broncos have suffered for several seasons now. With the entire revamping of our defensive line via Jim Bates and the hundred or so players we’ve brought in, I expect our pass rush to improve with this infusion of young talent complemented by veteran leadership (that doesn’t come from Cleveland).

2) Oakland Raiders

CORNERBACKS: Nnamdi Asomugha, Fabian Washington, Stanford Routte
SAFETIES: Stuart Schweigert, Michael Huff, Jarrod Cooper

The Oakland Raiders’ secondary is led by up-and-coming star Nnamdi Asomugha, who had 0 interceptions during his 3-year career until he had 8 last year. Meanwhile, another young star seems to be blossoming in the Raiders secondary in second year safety Michael Huff, who played in all 16 games last year and racked up over 70 tackles in the process. He wasn’t exactly turning heads last year, and Schweigert is still “the man” back there, but I look for him to make strides this year, particularly in pass defense and interception tally. Don’t forget, Broncos fans, as much as we hate to admit it, that the Raiders defense played admirably last year. I’ve heard the excuses about “not playing our best offense” against such a bad team, but the talent is there and so they get spot #2 today.

3) San Diego Chargers

CORNERBACKS: Drayton Florence, Quentin Jammer, Antonio Cromartie
SAFETIES: Marlon McCree, Clinton Hart, Eric Weddle

I think the cornerbacks in San Diego, particularly Drayton Florence, are a bit underrated. I mentioned earlier this week that I’ve been watching the worst performance of our season, the Week 14 loss at San Diego, very carefully, and studying what we need to do to improve. I also watched it again just for this post, and I came away impressed with the Chargers secondary. I also dug a bit deeper in my research – and Javon Walker and Rod Smith had their worst statistical games against the Chargers than any other team in the West (interesting of note: the two receivers only scored one touchdown total in the games against the AFC West). I definitely attribute part of this to the fierce pass rush, but some of it is definitely the tight coverage. For instance, in the game I’ve been re-watching, Florence was batting down passes left and right, against the strong-armed Cutler, nearly picking him off twice. Jammer wasn’t too shabby either, and last year rookie Cromartie was impressively quick in punt returns. Add in their safeties, who are servicable, complimented by 2nd round pick Eric Weddle this year who will surely grow, and the Chargers somewhat underrated unit trumps the overrated unit of…

4) Kansas City Chiefs

CORNERBACKS: Ty Law, Patrick Surtain, Benny Sapp
SAFETIES: Greg Wesley, Bernard Pollard, Jarrad Page

On paper, the Chiefs have one of the best cornerback tandems in the National Football League. But on paper doesn’t matter, and the unit was disappointing to say the least last season. A total of 5 interceptions between former Pro Bowlers Law and Surtain just won’t get the job done. And while Greg Wesley is a solid safety, despite any recent contract dispute news, he isn’t enough of a star to save the Chiefs from bottom-of-the-barrel status. I think the Chiefs easily have the potential to trump the Chargers in terms of picks and just dominance in the back 4 this year – it was a very close call between them. In the end I figured the Chargers’ younger unit would improve, while the Chiefs’ aging secondary might not be much better than they were last year – hell, they’re more likely to get worse as Law and Surtain age.

There you go, the second installment of AFC West Watch is in the books. I plan on using a scientific equation of my design to determine the AFC West rankings, based on the rankings of each unit – no, I’m not kidding. It’s kinda my thing being a Computer Science and Mathematics double major. Right now the Broncos are seeing a clear path to the top – but as I start to look at the runningback situation of each team next week, and the linebacker corps. the week after, that’s likely to change.

Debate my rankings with the Comments below. I’m always looking forward to hearing your thoughts, now that I finally have a Comments system.