A Brief Recap And Other Things
Well, just another week (long week) before training camp, and some relevant news in regard to the Chiefs and all things football.
I believe it is important to not only keep a close eye on what the Chiefs are doing, but to keep an even closer eye on what the enemy is doing. I’m going to take a brief look into what the other teams in the AFC West have done, or not done, in the off season to help them win this coming season.
First up, the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers, didn’t do a whole lot, and why should they? They won the division last year. They still have the nucleus of a very good team and didn’t try to mess it up. I still think LT is do for a season ending injury at some point, and if he goes down, the Chargers are done. They still have Michael Turner listed as LT’s back up on their official site, but I don’t see that happening since Michael moved on to the Atlanta Falcons in the off season. Look for the second best tight end in the NFL-Antonio Gates-to make a full comeback and continue to be his second best self. I am guessing, that on paper the Chargers will be the favorite to win the West again and I would have to say that is a fair assessment.
The Denver Broncos. The Broncos are in my opinion a mess. Their starting running back-Travis Henry-tested positive for marijuana (again) and was cut, and their starting wide receiver-Brandon Marshall-is a criminal thug. He too might be facing suspension. The defensive line was not very good last year and the Donkey’s haven’t done a whole lot to fix it, unless you’re counting the trade for Dwayne Robertson from NY. My goodness, they might as well made a trade for Ryan Sims (sorry Dwayne). I’ll make a bold prediction here, I say the Broncos finish last in the AFC West this year. I’m not just saying that because I hate them with a passion, but I honestly believe this will be a very trying time for the Donks this year. Maybe the Broncs can find a way to coax Alex Gibbs away from the Houston Texans where he is once again teaching young men how to hit defenders low and ruin careers.
This leaves us with the Oakland Raiders. I like to call this franchise “Washington West“. What can I say about our friends the Faiders? They have signed every free agent they could find that even thought about wanting to play for them. If they really didn’t, the Raiders front office just threw more money at them until they had no choice. They started off the year by signing Tommy Kelly (one of their own) to a multi-year deal they made him the highest paid defensive tackle in the league. If you want a good laugh, go look up Tommy’s career stats. They are owned by a man that has lost the ability to run a NFL team and has made what once was a proud and feared franchise into a pitiful and embarrassing circus-the kind you go to the local mall parking lot to watch. Al Davis didn’t allow his front office personnel to do their jobs and draft NFL talented players, he only cared about one thing-speed, baby. Now that philosophy has failed, he shook up to the front office because it had to be their fault and now he has decided to follow what Daniel Snyder of the Redskins tried for several years. Sign as many “big name” players as you can and their talent alone will win you a championship. Wrong. It doesn’t work that way, never has, never will. You need chemistry in the locker room and you can’t buy that. I hope Al stays on for a long time, he is making it easy for the rest of the AFC West.
Now a couple other quick thoughts. First, this whole Brett Favre thing, I don’t see any way in the world he would ever be in Chief. Now if you asked me that before Herm Edwards got here I would say maybe, Lord knows Carl has a penchant for old quarterbacks. But the youth movement is on, the quarterback is chosen-No Brett Favre.
Looking Ahead: OK, we should start to see the rest of the Chiefs draft picks begin signing on the dotted line this week. Except for maybe Dorsey and Albert, who by the way for those of you who like to give nicknames to Chiefs players and last year Tank Tyler and Turk McBride were “TNT” then I guess this year Glenn Dorsey and Branden Albert are “DNA”. Right?
Oakland is biggest wildcard for me. If they can somehow avoid their perrennial practice of self destruction, I could see them coming on strong down the stretch with JaMarcus and DMC hitting their respective strides.
Also, if I read you correctly, you’re saying that if LT goes down early in the season, that LJ, Gonz, Bowe & co could give us a shot at winning the division title? I don’t necessarily disagree with that but it does kind of boggle the imagination . . .
July 14th, 2008 at 9:15 amBroncos = BAD
Oakland = Who knows but chances are bad
KC = Who knows, chances are mediocre
San Diego = Better, but still a step behind the Pats and Colts
I see KC challenging for the division title around 2010 with Denver staying at the bottom until they fire Shanahan and bring in a new regime. Oakland will win some games this year but until Al dies they won’t be a contender. Chargers are going to turn into the Chiefs in about 3 or 4 years….not doing enough to stay on top and they will get old.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:13 amDouble D–No, no, I didn’t mean it that way, but now that you mention it, if LT did go down to injury that ended his season early on in the year, I would like the Chiefs shot just as much as Oakland or Denver. I don’t know who the back up for LT is now…do you?
July 14th, 2008 at 10:27 amLet’s not forget about Darren Sproles, one of the better back-ups in the league. Think of him as a smaller, poor man’s Barry Sanders. And, yes, I went to K-State. I don’t care–kid can play. Wish he was a Chief, because he can return, too. I’m not sure there’s a drop-off between him and Turner, especially when both would be getting back-up touches.
Totally agree on Denver. This year they are headed for disaster. At least we’ve already hit rock bottom. I think. Same with Oakland. Again, I think.
As for DNA, I like it. I think we are all in for a treat if their DNA ends up being as good as we think it is.
As always, enjoyed the piece, Steven.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:37 amI remember a time not too long ago when the AFC west was the best division in the league. SIGH
Here is my crystal ball:
We (as in the CHIEFS) will be the team to beat in two years and for many years to come after that!
San Diego will fade. LT is losing a step. (LT said recently that he may retire in two years, don’t remember were I read that though, anyone?).
Raiders will not be a contender until the old man (DAVIS) passes. Their cap will be a mess in just a few years (absolute mess)!
Broncos, will have to add a new coaching regime and management. All those bad free agents (on D Line) will cone back and haunt them. (Champ Bailey gettind old too).
The Chiefs are the only team focusing all their attention on the long haul, with a healthy salary cap in mind. We are the only team building the whole team on young players. We will be solid.
Any doubters?
The growing pains will be fun to watch thenext season or maybe two.
GO CHIEFS
July 14th, 2008 at 11:39 amOne thing I will say about the Donks is that I think they did a pretty good job of picking up at least 3 or 4 guys in the draft who have potential to be pretty productive/useful players within their system – maybe not this season but down the road. Namely OT Clady, WR Royal, C/OG Lichtensteiger, and RB/FB Hillis. Also, their FA LB acquisitions, Koutevides and (Boss) Bailey, should improve their run defense a bit.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:56 amas i said months ago sooner or later LT WILL get a major injury(hes been too good for too long not to) maybe this is the year in fact i already predicted it. if that was to happen my other prediction of 10-6 gets a WHOLE lot easier
July 14th, 2008 at 5:20 pmCorrect me if I’m wrong, but how long has Travis Henry NOT been a Bronco now? Isn’t Selvin Young the starter at this point at RB?
July 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pmI think that’s correct, IISaiNtII.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:22 pmIISaiNtII–you are correct, now Selvin will be the starter and he was last year when Travis went out. But I don’t think there was much doubt, when healthy and not smoking pot and getting caught, he was penciled in as the starter.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:33 amWell I dont know about Selvin… living here in Austin I watched him a lot on TV and he’s got fumble and concentration issues – flashes of greatness true, but he also had a pretty serious run-in with the law over a kilo of weed in a car he was in. Not sure how it worked out for him legally, but I think the `Horns dumped him after that. He could turn out to be Ricky Light(weight) – especially in that prison yard Shanny’s running up there in ponyboyland.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:01 pm[...] West: More interesting conclusions drawn from thin air (this time from the Chiefs). [Arrowhead Addict] sr_adspace_id = 3043007; sr_adspace_width = [...]
July 16th, 2008 at 8:01 am