2013 Offseason Needs: AFC West

This week and next, between Tuesday and Friday, I am going through the NFL division-by-division, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. I have covered the bases in the AFC East, AFC North and AFC South, so today I move on to the AFC West.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Denver Broncos

Denver’s offense doesn’t worry me. Manning will be healthier with an offseason to work at full strength. Knowshon Moreno also has an offseason to continue recovering from an injury that caused him to miss a lot of the middle part of the 2012 season. They have good depth at running back and receiver, their offensive line did a good job keeping Peyton on his feet, and unlike a lot of analysts, I’m a fan from what little I’ve seen of Brock Osweiler, their backup signal caller.

What Denver needs this offseason is defensive pieces, specifically in the secondary. A very weak schedule down the stretch hid some of their holes, but they were put on full display by a bizarre but effective offensive game plan by the Ravens in the divisional round. They need to add a good safety to help over the top. Denver has a few of the better corners in the league, but they’ll have off days like Champ Bailey did against Baltimore. Their safeties were unable to give help over top in that game, and that can’t be the case next year if Denver wants to be considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Kansas City Chiefs

As soon as Kansas City picked up Andy Reid, I liked their chances for next season. Reid is still an excellent coach; it was just time for a change of scenery. Now they’ve picked up Alex Smith in what I consider a very fair trade with San Francisco. This team had the talent of a playoff team on a 2-14 team last season. Now they have a quarterback, and that could get them to the playoffs next season.

With the addition of Smith, I think there’s a better chance of keeping Dwayne Bowe, at the right price. Another thing that the trade gives them the ability to do is trade their #1 draft pick for more picks in this year’s draft, or to just take the best player available, which I guarantee you is not a quarterback.

Other than that, just add depth to the defensive unit and a wide receiver or two and this is a playoff caliber team.

Oakland Raiders

Oakland is a tough cookie to crack. Carson Palmer hasn’t panned out to this point, but it’s hard to say they should just get rid of him and go with Terrelle Pryor, who we haven’t seen much of since his days at Ohio State.

There is no doubt that this is a time of rebuilding in Oakland, and this project is going to take a few years. McFadden will likely be gone, if not this offseason then next; whenever the Raiders realize that they need more talent across the board rather than all their talent in one position.

After that, it will just be a matter of taken the best player available with each of their draft picks, because they don’t have much cap room to play with in free agency. Oakland is a mess and I think their 10-season run without a playoff appearance is going to increase by a few more years, especially with Denver a perennial contender for at least another three years and both Kansas City and San Diego likely on their way back up.

San Diego Chargers

I’m sure Denver would have liked to hold on to Mike McCoy as their offensive coordinator, but the way he’s carried himself over the past two seasons, getting the Broncos to the playoffs with Tim Tebow and then meeting Peyton Manning halfway in a brand new offense, he’s earned his job as head coach in San Diego. Believe it or not, Norv Turner has not put this team beyond repair. Philip Rivers is still a good quarterback and there’s a good shot that with McCoy’s help, we’ll see a little of the old Rivers in 2013.

I also liked McCoy’s hire at offensive coordinator, nabbing Ken Whisenhunt, who did good work in Arizona when he had decent quarterbacks leading his offenses.

The biggest areas of concern are the line on offense and the secondary on defense. Rivers was rarely given time in the pocket to go through more than a couple of his progressions, and their defense struggled mightily in the passing game. Depth in the backfield is also a concern with Ryan Mathews struggling to stay healthy.

On Monday I will recap the biggest news stories from the NFL of this week, then I will do what I’ve done for the past four days, but for the NFC divisions. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.