Kansas City Chiefs: Defense may be the best in AFC West
By Chris Taylor
Comparing the Kansas City Chiefs secondary to the rest of the AFC West
The secondary is looking quite different for the Chiefs than it did last season. No Peters, no Parker, no Gaines, and no Mitchell.
Oakland Raiders
Gareon Conley, Karl Joseph, Reggie Nelson, Rashaan Melvin, and Leon Hall make up your Raiders secondary. Combined, they total 1,215 tackles, 68 interceptions, and 246 pass deflections.
Gareon Conley could be a superstar in the league if he can stay healthy. Joseph and Melvin shouldn’t scare anyone. Hall and Nelson are solid veterans but getting up there in age.
Denver Broncos
Bradley Roby, Justin Simmons, Darian Stewart, and Chris Harris make up the Broncos core of the secondary. Depth will be a definite issue in 2018. Together they total 899 tackles, 35 interceptions, and 176 pass deflections.
Harris is legit, Stewart is too. Roby has playmaking ability, but there is little to no help beyond that. The numbers aren’t impressive collectively and depth should concern all Broncos fans.
LA Chargers
Casey Heyward, Derwin James, Adrian Phillips, and Trevor Williams are your core members of the Chargers secondary. The totals here without Jason Verrett are pretty bland. 363 tackles, 26 interceptions, and 104 pass deflections are all you get.
James looks to have what it takes to become one of the finest safeties in the league. He is a superstar in the making. Verrett going down absolutely crushes this group.
Kansas City Chiefs
Eric Berry, Kendall Fuller, Steven Nelson, David Amerson, and Armani Watts should be the core guys for your Kansas City Chiefs secondary. Combined, the group totals 755 tackles, 26 interceptions, and 147 pass deflections.
This secondary is turning up to be one of the better ones in the West. Amerson may get beat at times, but he puts a hand on the ball more than any other member of the Chiefs. Berry returning means more than anything.
Tally
The numbers go the Raiders way here, which happens if you employ the oldest players at each position. Yes, that’s a friendly stab at our rival Oakland Shady Acres.
Despite those numbers, No team has the talent the Chiefs have if they remain healthy. Chiefs, Raiders, Broncos, then the Chargers.