KC Chiefs: Four AFC West players who could regress in 2019

Each year in the NFL, there are players who will regress statistically or begin to decline at some point. Notable names on the KC Chiefs, and in the AFC West in general, are not immune to having a year of regression.

For fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, the hope is that the player regression lands on the rosters of the division rivals.

Kansas City fans know which players to watch for when the Chiefs play the Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders. The hope is that those players who have been hard to overcome will no longer be the same player that they used to be, especially players that are such important parts of their respective team.

Let’s take a look at who could potentially regress in 2019.

Von Miller

The Denver Broncos’ Von Miller has been a force to be reckoned with since entering the league in 2011. Miller has compiled 98 sacks in eight seasons, which averages out to be just over 12 sacks a season.  Miller’s ability to get to the quarterback is likely the biggest reason that the Chiefs signed Mitchell Schwartz in 2016, one of the very best tackles in all of football.

Thankfully, the Chiefs just extended Schwartz’s contract to keep in him Kansas City through 2021. This will definitely help in keeping Von Miller away from Patrick Mahomes for at least a few more seasons. But could there be reasons other than Schwartz that keep Miller away from Mahomes in 2019?

There is one battle that every great NFL player faces at some point in their career – age. While Miller isn’t quite yet in the twilight of his career, he’s also no spring chicken, which he may know a thing or two about. All jokes aside, Miller turned 30 years old this last March, which is typically the age that even the greatest players often start to decline.

Another reason that Miller may regress is the change in head coaches after last season. In 2017 under then-new head coach, Vance Joseph, Miller’s numbers seemed to take a bit of a dip. Could they do the same under new head coach Vic Fangio?

While Fangio is certainly a defensive coach, so was Joseph. No matter the coach, differences in schemes or systems will inevitably take time to adjust to and this will hopefully be the case for Miller in 2019.

In the latter part of a great career, this could be the season where Miller is no longer looked at as the best pass rusher in the AFC West.