AFC West: August 2008 Archives

Nothing irritates fantasy owners more than an unresolved Mike Shanahan running back derby. Denver can throw anyone behind their flawless zone-blocking offensive line, and they would be able to rush for over 1,300 yards. Well, almost anyone. But too often Shanahan decides on his starter after fantasy leagues draft, or, even worse, splits up carries between multiple backs.

The San Diego Chargers have no such problems deciding who to hand it off to. LaDainian Tomlinson was the NFL's leading rusher last year. Oh yeah, he's also the best player in the history of fantasy football. But don't just grab Tomlinson with the number one overall pick and move onto another team. San Diego is as loaded as any team in the NFL with useful fantasy players.

We got to start getting down to business here, people. The regular season opens in a little more than three weeks and most leagues will start drafting very soon. We'll be bringing you rankings for every position as well, so lets motor through these team previews. Today, we'll focus on two AFC West pushovers, the Chiefs of Kansas City and Raiders of Oakland.

The common thread between both these teams? Their offenses blow hard. KC's Brodie Croyle may be the NFL's worst starting QB- hurray for this guy!-, and after roughly eight kazillion carries the last three seasons, good ole' Larry Johnson doesn't look as awesome as he once did. The Raiders' O will likely be equally anemic, but they at least have potential. With JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden lining up in the backfield, the Raiders should be set for a very long time. It's just unlikely that both will make big contributions in their first full seasons. The real reason fantasy owners may want to avoid these two teams is because both feature poor offensive lines. Also featuring: Al Davis and Herm Edwards. That isn't a good thing.