Around the AFC West: Interesting decisions and big moves on the horizon
May 10, 2019, 6:00 AM
The NFL had a slower news week. That’s not to say there was nothing happening, it was just a little less frequent as the entire league had a week to digest what happened in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The AFC West actually had quite a few news items compared to other divisions. Good and bad news littered the news wire this week in the division.
Let’s take a spin around the AFC West to see what the competition is up to.
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Oakland Raiders
The Raiders made a big trade for wide receiver Antonio Brown this offseason. The veteran is a superstar receiver on the field and a big pain in the you-know-what off the field. No matter, he’s there to be a huge part of what they do on offense.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said this week that Brown won’t play in the preseason at all. Instead of getting glimpses of what the Broncos will have to deal with, we’ll be left to wonder just how the connection between Brown and Derek Carr is going. Practice is one thing, but seeing the duo connect a few times in the preseason would be nice. Instead, we’ll have to wait until the regular season debut against the Broncos to see Brown in his silver and black jersey.
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Kansas City Chiefs
It’s just rookie minicamp, but it sounds like rookie wide receiver (and potential Tyreek Hill replacement) Mecole Hardman is making a positive impression on the Chiefs coaching staff.
“Every day, he got a little better,” head coach Andy Reid said. “These routes are new to him. He did a nice job in the red zone, which normally is the toughest place to work, but he did extremely well there. He had a good finish.”
Hardman has speed to go on top of speed. He flies down the field and does a good job of tracking passes over his shoulder. He’s not a refined route runner, but in the Chiefs offense he doesn’t need to be. They’ll use his speed the right way, and it sounds like he’s off on the right foot.
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Los Angeles Chargers
Could the Chargers land defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh? It’s possible, and they are one of the teams most linked with the veteran free agent.
Now that the May 7 deadline has passed, teams can sign free agents like Suh and it won’t negatively impact what they receive in the compensatory pick calculation.
The Chargers run defense was a big problem last year, especially in the postseason. They were ran over by the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, one of the reasons they selected Notre Dame defensive tackle Jerry Tillery in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
They may not be done, and Suh would continue to fill a big need for the team. The Chargers are in a playoff window and may decide that paying Suh big money is the final move to put them over the top.
Word has it the Tennessee Titans are cooling on the idea of adding Suh. That leaves the Chargers as perhaps the front-runners for the impact veteran.
