One Super Bowl contender and three pieces of fodder for the contender.
Oakland Raiders
Ya know, as horrible as they are, they’ve got some players.
Head Coach: Tom Cable
Offensive Coordinator: N/A
Defensive Coordinator: John Marshall
Special Teams Coordinator: John Fassel
Owner: Al Davis
Offensive Starters (Projected)
QB: JaMarcus Russell
HB: Darren McFadden
FB: Oren O’Neal
WR: Chaz Schilens
WR: Darrius Heyward-Bey
LT: Khalif Barnes
LG: Robert Gallery
C: Samson Satele
RG: Cooper Carlisle
RT: Cornell Green
TE: Zach Miller
Defensive Starters (Projected)
DE: Trevor Scott
DE: Greg Ellis
DT: Tommy Kelly
DT: Gerard Warren
LB: Jon Alston
LB: Kirk Morrison
LB: Thomas Howard
CB: Nnamdi Asomugha
CB: Chris Johnson
FS: Michael Huff
SS: Tyvon Branch
Special Teams
K: Sebastian Janikowski
P: Shane Lechler
Position Battles:
Throw darts at a depth chart, whatever position you hit probably has a battle going on.
RB: Another RBBC, Run DMC, Justin Fargas, and Michael Bush are all quality backs who could start for most teams. McFadden has the highest potential on any given play.
WR: Chaz Schilens? Louis Murphy? I think they’re fine on one side, I have as much faith in DHB as anyone outside Al Davis, but the other side is going to be scary bad.
DE: Trevor Scott is getting a bit of a push from Matt Shaughnessy for the start opposite Greg Ellis.
DT: This is a large group of pretty much nothing. William Joesph and Terdell Sands are in the running for some playing time.
OLB: They can’t even decide who is starting on their depth chart, they have two guys listed as starters for one position. Which would actually help them, they could use 12 defenders on every play.
FS: Michael Huff was the high round draft pick, but they’ve been starting Hiram Eugene. I don’t see that last too long.
Rookies to Watch:
Like I said earlier, I’m pretty high on Heyward-Bey. If you look at the size, speed, and build of him, he compares pretty well with Randy Moss. Do I think he’ll put up numbers like Moss did in his rookie year? Absolutely not. But I think he will be a reliable target for Russell. Another guy to keep an eye out for is Matt Shaughnessy. He’s got the same type of physical, workmanlike attitude as Aaron Kampman. I think he could become a good DE.
Season Expectations:
I expect them to show up for all of their games. As for winning them, that they could have some problems with. The offense should be ok, I think Russell, Heyward-Bey, Miller, and McFadden are going to make this offense click at least some of the time. The defense just got destroyed by the Saints, but that is an offense that can destroy a lot of teams so that should be the low point of the season for this group. Asomugha is one of the best corners in the league, which means most teams don’t pick on him, so they pick on the weakness of the CB on the other side. Chris Johnson and Stanford Routt are going to have to step up and make some plays this year for this defense to take a step forward. Having you’re head coach not punching coordinators would probably be a good step too, but we can’t ask for too much, they are the Raiders. Actually, that should probably be Oakland’s motto for the year, “We can’t ask for too much, they are the Raiders.” I do expect royalties.
San Diego Chargers
Could this finally be the year?
Head Coach: Norv Turner
Offensive Coordinator: Clarence Shelmon
Defensive Coordinator: Ron Rivera
Special Teams Coordinator: Steve Crosby
Owner: Alex G. Spanos
Offensive Starters (Projected)
QB: Philip Rivers
HB: LaDaninian Tomlinson
FB: Mike Tolbert
WR: Chris Chambers
WR: Vincent Jackson
LT: Marcus McNeill
LG: Kris Dielman
C: Nick Hardwick
RG: Kynan Forney
RT: Jeromey Clary
TE: Antonio Gates
Defensive Starters (Projected)
DE: Ryon Bingham
DE: Luis Castillo
DT: Jamal Williams
LB: Shaun Phillips
LB: Stephen Cooper
LB: Time Dobbins
LB: Shawne Merriman
CB: Quentin Jammer
CB: Antonio Cromartie
FS: Eric Weddle
SS: Clinton Hart
Special Teams
K: Nate Kaeding
P: Mike Scifres
Position Battles:
They’re pretty much entrenched with starters.
RG: Louis Vasquez is fighting with Kynan Forney for the starting gig.
DE: They just traded for Travis Johnson who could give Ryon Bingham a challenge for the starting spot.
Rookies to Watch:
Larry English was their first round pick. He’ll probably be a fill in, injury back up guy who could make some noise in a few years. Louis Vasquez has the best chance to do something this year. If he gets the start at RG he should be able to stay there for a long time with all the changes the O-Line will be going through over the next few years. I also like 6th round pick Kevin Ellison. He’s a big physical safety who played on a great defense in college.
Season Expectations:
All of the pieces are in place for the Charges to make a deep run into the playoffs. They just need one thing. Health. The last few years, that has been asking a lot. Darren Sproles is good, but the need LDT to make the offense work. They’ve got good WRs, but they need Antonio Gates keeping the middle of the field and the safeties occupied. They drafted Larry English, but they need the pass rushing ability of Shawne Merriman. They’ve got Billy Volek who could start for most teams, but they work best with Philip Rivers at the helm. They’ve got a good O-line, but not much depth, they need them to stay healthy. If all that happens and everyone stays healthy, they’ve got a great chance to make a lot of noise in the playoffs.
Denver Broncos
Not the ideal offseason for a new coach.
Head Coach: Josh McDaniels
Offensive Coordinator: Mike McCoy
Defensive Coordinator: Mike Nolan
Special Teams Coordinator: Mike Priefer
President/CEO: Pat Bowlen
Offensive Starters (Projected)
QB: Kyle Orton
HB: Knowshon Moreno
TE: Daniel Graham
WR: Eddie Royal
WR: Chad Jackson
LT: Ryan Clady
LG: Ben Hamilton
C: Casey Wiegmann
RG: Chris Kuper
RT: Ryan Harris
TE: Tony Scheffler
Defensive Starters (Projected)
DE: Ryan McBean
DE: Kenny Peterson
DT: Ronald Fields
LB: Mario Haggan
LB: DJ Williams
LB: Andra Davis
LB: Elvis Dumervil
CB: Champ Bailey
CB: Andre Goodman
FS: Brian Dawkins
SS: Renaldo Hill
Special Teams
K: Brett Kern
P: Matt Prater
Position Battles:
The offense is pretty much set. The defense has a lot of questions.
RB: Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan, Peyton Hillis and Moreno will probably all see time this year. McDaniels took Moreno in the first round and he’ll want him to play.
D-Line: McBean, Fields and Peterson are starting now, come back in a week it could be different. No sure thing in this group.
CB: Champ Bailey is entrenched on one side, the other side could be taken away from Goodman if Jack Williams, Josh Bell or Alphonso Smith show something in the last preseason game.
Rookies to Watch:
Everyone knows about Moreno and the success he had in college. He’s got a good line in front of him, so he shouldn’t have a bad year. But he’s not going to be Terrell Davis this year either. I’ve got my eye on two other players, Robert Ayers could be the linebacker they’ve needed for a few years. He’s big and strong to hold up against the run and he can bring some pressure on the QB as well. Second guy is Tom Brandstater. He was a sixth round pick at QB out of Fresno State, he put up good numbers in college and won’t be forced into the starting role this year. But with Kyle Orton and Chris Simms ahead of him, there shouldn’t be too much competition if he gets a chance.
Season Expectations:
This could get ugly. And I know a few Broncos fan’s who are kind of hoping it gets ugly. Josh McDaniels came into town expecting everyone to bow down to him and he’s already had two superstars say no. Jay Cutler was traded and Brandon Marshall has been suspended. Not exactly the way you want to start off coach. To add to the problems, they’ve decided to change around the defense, which in theory is smart because the defense has been pretty bad the last few years. But when you can’t stop the run, which has been Denver’s problem, it’s not smart to switch to a 3-4 which generally isn’t as good against the run, especially when you don’t have the players to be running a 3-4 in the first place. McDaniels is trying to build the Broncos the same way Belichick has the Pats built, but we’ve yet to see if McDaniels has the coaching ability and player eye of Belichick.
Kansas City Chiefs
Another team in flux. There are a lot of them in this division.
Head Coach: Todd Haley
Offensive Coordinator: Recently Fired
Defensive Coordinator: Clancy Pendergast
Special Teams Coordinator: Steve Hoffman
Chairman: Clark Hunt
Offensive Starters (Projected)
QB: Matt Cassel
HB: Larry Johnson
FB: Mike Cox
WR: Dewayne Bowe
WR: Devard Darling
LT: Brandon Albert
LG: Brian Waters
C: Rudy Niswanger
RG: Mike Goff
RT: Damion McIntosh
TE: Sean Ryan
Defensive Starters (Projected)
DE: Tyson Jackson
DE: Ron Edwards
DT: Glenn Dorsey
LB: Mike Vrabel
LB: Zach Thomas
LB: Derrick Johnson
LB: Tamba Hali
CB: Brandon Flowers
CB: Brandon Carr
FS: Jon McGraw
SS: Bernard Pollard
Special Teams
K: Ryan Succop
P: Dustin Colquitt
Position Battles:
Surprisingly set.
WR: Dewayne Bowe, Amani Toomer, Devard Darling, Mark Bradley, and Terrance Cooper all look to be options this year.
TE: Not so easy picking at tight end now that Gonzales is gone.
LB: Zach Thomas may not start, Demorrio Williams or Monty Beisel could jump ahead of him.
Rookies to Watch:
I really like the Tyson Jackson pick. He’s a great 3-4 defensive end. He’ll have a good year back by his old buddy Glenn Dorsey and the two of them should hold down the KC line for the foreseeable future. Jackson should be just as good of a DE as Marcus Spears is for the Cowboys.
Season Expectations:
I expect them to lead the league in childish humor jokes. Mike Cox and Niswanger. They write themselves. Other than that, the defense has a lot of talent scattered around. Jackson and Dorsey make the front line one of the best three man fronts in the league. Johnson and Hali are super-athletic linebackers who can fly around and make plays. Brandon Flowers is an emerging CB in the league and Bernard Pollard is more than just a Tom Brady killer. So the defense should be fine. The Offense could be another question. Albert is a good start, Waters used to be amazing, but he’s showing signs of wear and the rest of the O-line are nice pieces, but not outstanding. WR’s you’ve got Dewayne Bowe who’s been having a rough camp and Amani Toomer has been a solid pro, but after that, who do you throw to? RB’s are still ok, Johnson and Charles are two of the better back combinations in the league. And QB isn’t as solid as they’d like it to be. Cassell had a great year last year throwing to Moss and Welker with a great O-line. Throw a bunch of questions around him and he becomes a question as well. They’ll probably play a lot of low scoring games, and lose their share of them.
Next week is the last week of this whole ordeal and we finish with the NFC West.
