The AFC West is about as weak as it gets this year. There’s a good likelihood this one will be wrapped up by Thanksgiving, if not sooner. We didn’t get a lot of interest from bloggers in this division, in part, perhaps, because they may be bored with their own teams. But thanks to Nathan Mason from Kansas City for taking part anyway.

Andy Tellijohn, Zoneblitz.com

San Diego
Oakland
Kansas City
Denver

I think San Diego isn’t as good this year as they were last year. But they’re still the class of this division and it isn’t close. Ryan Mathews could be a stud in replacing L.T., but losing Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill for chunks of the season will hurt. But Philip Rivers will get the team to the playoffs and once there anything can happen.

The Raiders are a ways off yet. But they’ve finally had a good offseason. The big move was acquiring Jason Campbell, a competent quarterback. And we saw last season how competitive the Raiders became even after upgrading from JaMarcus “Purple Drank” Russell to the ultimate journeyman, Bruce Gradkowski. With what should be a decent running game and a stud defensive back whose name I always struggle to spell, much less say, the Raiders could become the second best team in the division.

I don’t know what to think of Kansas City or Denver. Ultimately it just feels like Kansas City has some positive mojo coming off of the emergence of Jamaal Charles and the acquisition of Thomas Jones. Denver, on the other hand, has lost Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall in successive offseasons and lost Elvis Dumervill for the season during training camp. I think that has a chance to make them one of the league’s bottom feeders this season.

For our blogger’s thoughts, click to the jump:

Nathan Kent, Kansas City Chiefs
www.homeofthechiefs.com

San Diego
Denver
Kansas City
Oakland

Not that many seasons ago the AFC West was lauded as one of the strongest divisions in the league. Not so anymore. Nowadays the key word is implosion. Every year I hear that the San Diego Chargers are on the verge of it. I hear that AJ Smith lacks the personnel skills to maintain the house that John Butler built. I hear that Norv Turner can’t coach his way out of a box. I don’t see it. I see a team that hasn’t had a losing season during Smith’s tenure. I see a team built nearly exclusively from homegrown talent. I also see a team that doesn’t have a division rival to fear. They are at a minimum a 10 win team this season, and probably will be as long as Philip Rivers is at the helm.

On the subject of implosion, Denver is a team that has, or, perhaps more actively, is in the process of. Josh McDaniels has done what I can only describe as a piss poor job of managing his roster. Furthermore, it appears that the only thing worse than his personnel skills are his personal skills. He does not appear to connect emotionally on any level with his players, and, based on his treatment of Jay Cutler and to a lesser extent Brandon Marshall, I get the feeling he’s not even aiming to. I await with bated breath the day he cuts loose Champ Bailey and Elvis Dumervil. In any other division, save possibly the NFC West, they wouldn’t be my pick at #2, but in the AFC West, there isn’t much competition.

With Kansas City I see progress, but not enough. They’re weak in the trenches. Despite having a considerable stock of budding young talent in the backfield, they’re a nonentity on defense. They cannot stop the run. On the other side of the ball, the offensive line is strong in the middle but weak at both tackle positions. Branden Albert just doesn’t look as good now as he did before Todd Haley made him shed the extra weight. Some guys just play better big, and I think Albert is one of them. At the other end, Ryan O’Callaghan is nothing more than a liability. None of this matters, of course, because for as much talent as they’re stockpiling at a few key skill positions, they haven’t properly addressed the most important. Matt Cassel was a college backup for a reason, and in the preseason he’s continuing to play accordingly. I hope he’s got Wes Welker on a lifetime membership to Omaha Steaks, because he owes him dearly.

Oakland is a bit of a wild card. They’re a talented team. They’re also the worst run franchise in the league. As Al Davis gets older and crazier, his team follows suit. One need only look at their second pick in the 2009 draft to see what I’m talking about.

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