Rank the AFC West: Special Teams
This is a thread for the Addicts among us. Who among the AFC West sports the best specialists, and who sports the worst?
Vote in comments, and be sure to keep track of your votes as this series rolls on. It could be interesting to see how good you think each team is once you add up all your rankings.
- QBs here.
- RBs here.
- WRs here.
- TEs here.
- OTs here.
- OGs here.
- Centers here.
- DTs here.
- DEs here.
- ILBs here.
- OLBs here.
- CBs here.
- Safeties here.
The following are your depth charts at specialist positions:
Denver Broncos: K Matt Prater, P Britton Colquitt, KR Demaryius Thomas, PR Eddie Royal
Kansas City Chiefs: K Ryan Succop, P Dustin Colquitt, KR Dexter McCluster, PR Javier Arenas
Oakland Raiders: K Sebastian Janikowski, P Shane Lechler, KR Jacoby Ford, PR Johnny Lee Higgins
San Diego Chargers: K Nate Kaeding, P Mike Scifres, KR Darren Sproles, PR Antoine Cason
My vote after the jump. Yours is invited in comments.
1. Oakland Raiders — The Raiders have the best kicker and the best punter in the league. They also feature a pair of phenomenal returners in Jacoby Ford and Johnny Lee Higgins.
2. San Diego Chargers — The Chargers feature a Pro Bowl pair of legs with Kaeding and Scifres. Their return game isn’t as dynamic as Oakland’s, seeing as Sproles has lost a step and Jacob Hester is less than surprising in relief of him. Cason is a solid punt returner.
3. Denver Broncos — The Broncos feature a great pair of returners. Thomas, when healthy, was a good play maker off kick offs. Eddie Royal is simply explosive and must be properly contained. Their kickers are iffy, however. Prater has a fantastic leg but wavering accuracy, and Colquitt isn’t quite the man his brother is.
4. Kansas City Chiefs — The Chiefs sport one of the league’s best punters in Colquitt, but Succop is not a terrifically accurate kicker or that strong of a leg. Arenas is a reliable punt returner, but has yet to show that special burst. McCluster is a jukey, quicker guy. Not the distance returner required for kickoffs.
So, assuming a 1st is 4 points, and a 4th is 1 point, this is my individual position scoreboard so far:
Chargers: 43
Chiefs: 41
Raiders: 29
Broncos: 28