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AFC West - Land of Defense
Dec 15, 2006, 7:30:49 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ
It was once the home of Bambi, the Mad Bomber, 65 Toss Power Trap, miracle throws by John Elway and the every Sunday missile launches of Air Coryell. The AFC West has always been about offense. Among them, the four teams have 14 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame from that side of the football.
And there’s still plenty of offense going on in the division. The league’s top two running backs are in the AFC West, with Larry Johnson and LaDainian Tomlinson. The San Diego Chargers lead the NFL in scoring after 13 games, averaging 32.7 points per game. Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates represent the league’s two best pass catching tight ends.
But the AFC West is turning into a division of defense and that’s never been more evident than this season. All four teams have put defenses on the field that rank in the top half of the NFL. Denver is one of the top scoring defenses in the league, the Chiefs have made big strides in improvement over recent seasons in points and yards allowed. The Chargers lead the NFL in sacks. Defense is just about the only thing the Raiders can play these days.
When it comes to yards allowed, all four AFC West defenses are in the top half of the league (16th or higher.) None of the other seven divisions can match that, with only the NFC South coming close, as Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay rank in the top half, while Atlanta is currently 21st in yards allowed. Three divisions only have one team ranked in the top half of the league: NFC East with Dallas (11th), NFC West has Seattle (15th) and the AFC South with Jacksonville (5th.)
When it comes to points allowed, only Oakland falls out of the top half of the league. Denver and the Chiefs are in the top 10. San Diego is outside of the top 10 by a single point.
It paints this picture for the Chiefs as they transition into the Herm Edwards Era: if they want to keep up with their AFC West neighbors, then defense had better be the franchise’s No. 1 priority for the next year or two when it comes to talent acquisition and evaluation.
Here are the statistics, along with the defensive choices that all division teams have made over the last seven NFL Drafts (since 2000.) It all provides an interesting trail to read and evaluate how these teams have built their defenses:
1
In the early part of the 2000s, none of the division teams was able to make much headway on their defense in the draft. The only defensive players of note to come out of those drafts in 2000-2001-2002 drafts were safety Greg Wesley in Kansas City, and linebacker Ian Gold along with defensive end Reggie Hayward in Denver. Hayward left the Broncos in free agency and his currently on the Jacksonville injured reserve list.
All four teams drafted better in the last four drafts, with a total of 21 players selected who are currently starters. All of those were first day (rounds one through three) choices with the exception of defensive end Jared Allen of the Chiefs and linebacker Shaun Phillips of the Chargers. Both were fourth round selections in 2004.
Although the Chiefs have rightfully taken a great deal of criticism for some poor drafting along the defensive line in recent seasons, Mike Shanahan in Denver tops them. In seven years he’s drafted 10 defensive linemen and only rookie Elvis Dumervil is still with the team. He didn’t use many first day picks along the line, but he did at other defensive spots where he had major flops like CB Willie Middlebrooks (2001/1st round), LB Terry Pierce (2003/2nd) and CB Jeremy LeSueur (2004/3rd.)
The award for building a defense through the draft in the AFC West goes to the Oakland Raiders. It seems to be just about the only thing the silver and black have done right over the last few years. They’ve invested a lot of high draft choices on defensive backs and they are all on the field contributing. Eight of the 11 starters on defense right now for Art Shell were drafted by the Raiders over the last seven years. Only the Chargers come close to that, with seven. The Chiefs trail with five and Denver has just four.
San Diego has successfully built a young defense with four of the front seven being draft choices in the last three seasons.
Year after year, the AFC West is the NFL’s most competitive division. And through it’s history there have been great defenders like Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Willie Brown, Ted Hendricks and Howie Long.
But it always seemed to be the wide-open, wild, wild AFC West when it came to offense. With apologies to LT, LJ, Tony G. and a handful of others, those days may be over. Defense is ruling the roost in the AFC West. If the Chiefs want to keep step, that should rule their personnel decisions over the next year or so.
The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2006/12/15/gretz_afc_west__land_of_defense/
Dec 15, 2006, 7:30:49 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ
It was once the home of Bambi, the Mad Bomber, 65 Toss Power Trap, miracle throws by John Elway and the every Sunday missile launches of Air Coryell. The AFC West has always been about offense. Among them, the four teams have 14 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame from that side of the football.
And there’s still plenty of offense going on in the division. The league’s top two running backs are in the AFC West, with Larry Johnson and LaDainian Tomlinson. The San Diego Chargers lead the NFL in scoring after 13 games, averaging 32.7 points per game. Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates represent the league’s two best pass catching tight ends.
But the AFC West is turning into a division of defense and that’s never been more evident than this season. All four teams have put defenses on the field that rank in the top half of the NFL. Denver is one of the top scoring defenses in the league, the Chiefs have made big strides in improvement over recent seasons in points and yards allowed. The Chargers lead the NFL in sacks. Defense is just about the only thing the Raiders can play these days.
When it comes to yards allowed, all four AFC West defenses are in the top half of the league (16th or higher.) None of the other seven divisions can match that, with only the NFC South coming close, as Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay rank in the top half, while Atlanta is currently 21st in yards allowed. Three divisions only have one team ranked in the top half of the league: NFC East with Dallas (11th), NFC West has Seattle (15th) and the AFC South with Jacksonville (5th.)
When it comes to points allowed, only Oakland falls out of the top half of the league. Denver and the Chiefs are in the top 10. San Diego is outside of the top 10 by a single point.
It paints this picture for the Chiefs as they transition into the Herm Edwards Era: if they want to keep up with their AFC West neighbors, then defense had better be the franchise’s No. 1 priority for the next year or two when it comes to talent acquisition and evaluation.
Here are the statistics, along with the defensive choices that all division teams have made over the last seven NFL Drafts (since 2000.) It all provides an interesting trail to read and evaluate how these teams have built their defenses:
1
In the early part of the 2000s, none of the division teams was able to make much headway on their defense in the draft. The only defensive players of note to come out of those drafts in 2000-2001-2002 drafts were safety Greg Wesley in Kansas City, and linebacker Ian Gold along with defensive end Reggie Hayward in Denver. Hayward left the Broncos in free agency and his currently on the Jacksonville injured reserve list.
All four teams drafted better in the last four drafts, with a total of 21 players selected who are currently starters. All of those were first day (rounds one through three) choices with the exception of defensive end Jared Allen of the Chiefs and linebacker Shaun Phillips of the Chargers. Both were fourth round selections in 2004.
Although the Chiefs have rightfully taken a great deal of criticism for some poor drafting along the defensive line in recent seasons, Mike Shanahan in Denver tops them. In seven years he’s drafted 10 defensive linemen and only rookie Elvis Dumervil is still with the team. He didn’t use many first day picks along the line, but he did at other defensive spots where he had major flops like CB Willie Middlebrooks (2001/1st round), LB Terry Pierce (2003/2nd) and CB Jeremy LeSueur (2004/3rd.)
The award for building a defense through the draft in the AFC West goes to the Oakland Raiders. It seems to be just about the only thing the silver and black have done right over the last few years. They’ve invested a lot of high draft choices on defensive backs and they are all on the field contributing. Eight of the 11 starters on defense right now for Art Shell were drafted by the Raiders over the last seven years. Only the Chargers come close to that, with seven. The Chiefs trail with five and Denver has just four.
San Diego has successfully built a young defense with four of the front seven being draft choices in the last three seasons.
Year after year, the AFC West is the NFL’s most competitive division. And through it’s history there have been great defenders like Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Willie Brown, Ted Hendricks and Howie Long.
But it always seemed to be the wide-open, wild, wild AFC West when it came to offense. With apologies to LT, LJ, Tony G. and a handful of others, those days may be over. Defense is ruling the roost in the AFC West. If the Chiefs want to keep step, that should rule their personnel decisions over the next year or so.
The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2006/12/15/gretz_afc_west__land_of_defense/