Bronco Rob
08-03-2009, 05:57 PM
Q: Why in the world has the AFC West dropped to the bottom of the barrel as far as division strength is concerned? I miss the days where the West was arguably the best division in football. An 8-8 record could win that division.
From Nick in Meriden, Conn.
A: Everything in this league goes in cycles, and the cycles become more pronounced in periods of bad drafts. You have to admit that the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos haven't drafted well for years. It finally caught up to them. Their talent level dropped. The Kansas City Chiefs tried to win with older rosters, but eventually the talent cupboard became bare. I thought they had a great draft in 2008, but it's going to take a couple of years to rebuild. The weird part about the Broncos' decline was that I thought former coach Mike Shanahan had one of his better drafts in his final season. That's why I was stunned when he was fired. Better days are ahead, but it's not going to be this season for those three teams.
Video @ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp09/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4373785
:afro:
From Nick in Meriden, Conn.
A: Everything in this league goes in cycles, and the cycles become more pronounced in periods of bad drafts. You have to admit that the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos haven't drafted well for years. It finally caught up to them. Their talent level dropped. The Kansas City Chiefs tried to win with older rosters, but eventually the talent cupboard became bare. I thought they had a great draft in 2008, but it's going to take a couple of years to rebuild. The weird part about the Broncos' decline was that I thought former coach Mike Shanahan had one of his better drafts in his final season. That's why I was stunned when he was fired. Better days are ahead, but it's not going to be this season for those three teams.
Video @ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp09/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4373785
:afro: