How many Chiefs would make an All-AFC West team?

DEFENSE (BASE 4-3)

Interior DL: Chris Jones (RDT), Sebastian Joseph-Day (LDT)

Chris Jones is a fantastic interior defensive lineman. He has been since he entered the league in 2016. In 2021, 13 solo tackles, 5 assists,10 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. It was a slight drop from his 2020 season, in which 21 solo tackles, 9 assists, 8 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. Jones was an obvious choice for this spot.

Sebastian Joseph-Day was influential in the Rams’ regular season. He had 28 solo tackles, 8 assists, and 3 sacks. This was a regression statistically from his 2020 season, in which he had 42 solo tackles, 13 assists, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble. He isn’t as good as Chris Jones, but he positively influences the Chargers’ defensive front.

Edge: Maxx Crosby (LDE), Joey Bosa (RDE)

Maxx Crosby is an elite defensive end. He really had a breakout season in 2021, recording 39 solo tackles, 12 assists, and 10 sacks. I’m sure he’ll continue trending upward in the coming seasons.

Joey Bosa is one of the best active pass rushers in the league. He eats quarterbacks. He’s been consistently listed as (aside from 2017) one of the best in the league since he got drafted. In 2021, he recorded 31 solo tackles, 11 assists, 10 sacks, and 6 forced fumbles. He’s just ridiculously good.

Linebackers: Nick Bolton (SLB), Alex Singleton (MLB), Willie Gay (WLB)

In his first season, Nick Bolton recorded 83 solo tackles, 33 assists, and even had one 86-yard fumble return for a TD in week 18 against the Broncos. We’ll see how he does on the strongside. But, as of now, he may actually be the best linebacker in the AFC West.

Singleton isn’t bad at all. In 2021, he recorded 94 solo tackles, 39 assists, 1 interception, and 1 forced fumble. This was an improvement over his 2020 rookie year, in which he recorded 83 solo tackles, 31 assists, and 1 interception. However, he had two sacks in 2020 as compared to zero in 2021.

Willie Gay is pretty good. On 432 snaps in 2021, he recorded 32 solo tackles, 14 assists, and 2 interceptions. He also recorded one sack. He improved in 2021 from his 2020 season, so I am hopeful to see more improvement from him in the 2022 season.

Cornerbacks: J.C. Jackson, Patrick Surtain II

Jackson is easily the best cornerback in the AFC West, now that he’s here. In 2021, he put up numbers. 45 solo tackles, 50 receptions allowed, 98 targets (51% allowed), 8 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble. And this was his best year yet. In 2020, he recorded 38 solo tackles, allowed 45 receptions on 75 targets for a 55% completion rate, and had 9 interceptions.

Surtain was an unsurprising success. Being picked 9th overall, we all expected him to be good. In his rookie year, he recorded 49 solo tackles, 49 receptions allowed, 85 targets (58% allowed), and 4 interceptions. I expect him to only get better with time. These two were the most obvious choice for the CB slots.

Safeties: Derwin James, Justin Simmons

James is the best safety in the AFC West. He’s been consistently good since being drafted in 2019. In 2021, he allowed 76 solo tackles, 35 receptions allowed on 58 targets (60% allowed), 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, and 3 sacks. He missed two games due to a shoulder injury, so he likely would have been ranked higher if not for that.

Justin Simmons has been the most consistently good safety in the AFC West for the longest. In 2021, he recorded 62 solo tackles, 29 receptions allowed on 47 targets (62% allowed), 5 interceptions, and 1 sack. This was about the same as his 2020 season. He should be a steady defensive back for the Broncos for years to come.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Placekicker: Harrison Butker

Some may argue that Daniel Carlson belongs here, but that argument comes from recency bias. Butker has been more consistent for longer. He missed a few key plays in a few key games, but other than that, he is simply the best kicker in the division. I’d say the conference, but Justin Tucker exists.

Punter: A.J. Cole III

A 50-yard average punt, 71-yard long, and 32 punts within the 20. Cole is one of the best punters in the league right now.

Long Snapper: James Winchester

Who really knows anything about long snapper comparisons?

Kickoff Returner: Kenyan Drake

Kenyan Drake is far from the best returner in the league, but he is the best in the AFC West. On 10 kickoff returns, he totaled 192 yards for an average of 19.2 yards. His long was 31 yards with 4 20+ yard returns.

Punt Returner: Mecole Hardman

Hardman is currently listed as both the punt and kick returner for the Chiefs on depth charts. However, he’s only the best in the division when it comes to punt returns. On 13 punt returns, Hardman averaged 12.1 yards and totaled 157 yards. His long was 31 yards with 3 20+ yard returns.

When people say that the AFC West is absolutely loaded at almost every position, they aren’t kidding. The only even slightly weak position is the linebackers. Even then, Those three are good, just not great. This team may well be able to handily beat any other team in the league. And, to answer the main question of the article, the Chiefs have 12 of the 27 positions listed on this team. This double the runner-up, the Chargers, who have 6 players on the team. The Raiders have 5, and the Broncos have 4.

Thank you all for reading this article. This was a blast to write, and I hope you all had equal fun reading it.