ESPN Ranks the AFC West

I was a subscriber to ESPN Insider for about 3 months. It took me that long to figure out that I wasn’t getting my money’s worth for information I get from Sirius NFL Radio every day. But they do have lists and the like that are always fun (if not accurate/reliable) to read while killing time in the offseason, and their latest is a nine-part series that ranks each area of each team in the league 1-32. Starting with quarterback and ending today with special teams, they’ve determined who has the best rosters out there.

I’ve pledged never to let this blog become pure article-bashing, but I thought I’d throw in my two cents and average out the rankings so you don’t have to. I’ll focus on the AFC West.

Since I no longer subscribe, kudos to MissouriBronc over at the BroncosFreak forums for posting them into the thread.

Quarterback

Chargers – 6
Broncos – 20
Raiders – 24
Chiefs – 32

My Take: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This is the one that ESPN really got wrong… as unproved as Jay Cutler is, he has a ton of talent and way more upside than 2/3 of the quarterbacks in this league. I already ranked the top 10 QBs in my book – announcing that I’m done sitting on the fence with Cutler and expect him to be a TOP 6 quarterback in 2006. And Rivers is rated way too high… the fact that there are only 3 teams between Denver and Oakland makes me sick.

Runningback

Chargers – 1
Chiefs – 2
Broncos – 8
Raiders – 13

My Take: Can’t really complain about these rankings, except that there’s no way Oakland’s running game is that good. We all saw what LaMont Jordan can do last year, and I don’t expect a big help from Dominic Rhodes.

Receivers

Broncos – 7
Chargers – 23
Raiders – 27
Chiefs – 29

My Take: Solid choices, although I would rank the Raiders ahead of the Chargers. Everyone’s counting on Vincent Jackson of the Chargers to have this breakout year, and the only reason I ever hear boils down to “just because.”

Tight Ends

Chargers – 1
Chiefs – 2
Broncos – 13
Raiders – 26

My Take: Like I said, the quarterback position was the only one they got “really” wrong. I would have our boys Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler in the top 10, though. Assuming Scheff is healthy.

Offensive Line

Chargers – 1
Broncos – 3
Chiefs – 24
Raiders – 32

My Take: I would rank the Eagles with the best offensive line in football, followed by the Colts, then a close battle between us and the Chargers (ESPN has them SD, IND, DEN, PHI). Last year the Chargers’ line was definitely better, but ours was more hurt and theirs seem to break out. We’ll see if they can stay consistent, since the O-Line was long considered one of their weaknesses before 2006.

Defensive Line

Chargers – 5
Broncos – 11
Raiders – 13
Chiefs – 24

My Take: Solid again, although I think he has us a little bit too high there. If they’re going to rank us 20th in quarterback because there are questions with all the changes, stay consistent. I have more questions about our defensive line than anything else. I would have flip flopped us and the Raiders in this category.

Linebackers

Chargers – 1
Raiders – 12
Broncos – 16
Chiefs – 21

My Take: I agree with this one probably most of all. It’s the same order I ranked them in my AFC West Watch last week, and that’s about where I would put all of them overall in the league.

Defensive Backs

Broncos – 3
Raiders – 4
Chargers – 9
Chiefs – 24

My Take: The Broncos should be #1 here. Champ Bailey is so much better than any other corner, it gives us a huge head start. Add Dre Bly, far and away the best #2 corner in the league, and we’re way ahead. Baltimore’s Ed Reed isn’t THAT much better than John Lynch so as to pull them ahead to #1. The Chargers aren’t close to Top 10, either.

Overall (Average)

Chargers – 5.875
Broncos – 10.125
Raiders – 18.875
Chiefs – 19.75

My Take: First off, this doesn’t include special teams, which would likely drop the Broncos down a few tenths of a point. But it’s worth noticing that the Raiders are above the Chiefs, and that the Broncos’ roster averages to be around the top 10 at each position. Of course the Chargers will be ranked the highest, but I don’t expect that to remain that way for long.