The NFL Draft changes the landscape of the league each year with an influx of young talent. With that being said, here are the moves by AFC West rivals that should have the Denver Broncos worried moving into next season.
Three moves by Broncos division rivals that should have fans worried
Kansas City Chiefs Draft Fastest Combine Receiver Ever
With the Buffalo Bills once again trading with the Chiefs in the draft, the Chiefs were able to draft a wide receiver 28th overall. This time, it was the fastest wide receiver to ever run the 40-yard dash in Texas Longhorns speedster Xavier Worthy. The Broncos just got done having to deal with Tyreek Hill for six years and now another fast wide receiver is in the division.
Not to mention the Chiefs also signed Marquise Brown who ran a 4.27 40-yard dash back at Oklahoma’s pro day in 2019, according to Chiefs.com. Now, the Chiefs have two of the fastest wide receivers in the NFL to take the top off, and perennial all-pro tight end Travis Kelce will be even more open underneath.
In an offense as potent as the Chiefs, with a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, the last thing we all needed was for them to get another dynamic offensive weapon. This is even worse when the Bills needed to draft their own wide receiver, but instead allowed the defending Super Bowl champions to move up to get their own.
Las Vegas Raiders Draft Best Tight End In 2024 NFL Draft
The Raiders drafted the best tight end available this year in former Georgia Bulldog Brock Bowers at 13th overall. This is a problem when the history of the Broncos in recent years includes an allergy to covering tight ends.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Broncos gave up the most fantasy points at 167.90, most touchdowns at 10 and most yards at 1,091 in the entire league last year to tight ends. Factor this in with the fact that now the Broncos have to play Bowers twice a year along with Kelce, and that doesn’t bode well for a team that has a history of struggling with tight ends.
Plus, the Raiders still have Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers on the offense to wreak havoc. While the Raiders likely drafted Bowers due to them not being able to get Michael Penix Jr., it still doesn’t make it any better.
According to his combine report, Bowers is projected to be a year one starter, so we can’t hold our breath and hope he doesn’t see the field.
Los Angeles Chargers Improve Already Top Ten Offensive Lines
The Los Angeles Chargers have a new coach in Jim Harbaugh, and they also drafted arguably the best lineman in the draft this year.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Chargers had the ninth-best offensive line in the league last year, and with the drafting of Joe Alt out of Notre Dame, it’s only going to be better. This is bad for the Broncos as they ranked near the bottom in sacks last year and were generally bad in the pass rush department.
Obviously, when you give a quarterback more time to throw, in this case Justin Herbert, it’s going to be more successful for the offense. PFF gave Alt a 90.7 overall grade in 2023 and he graded out with a 86.5 run block grade and a 91.2 pass block grade, he will be the new stalwart on the offensive line.
Granted, last year the Broncos combined for seven total sacks across two games against the Chargers which is encouraging, but factoring in Alt two times a year could change that.