Zach Wilson report is latest evidence Chiefs have no real challengers in AFC West

For the umpteenth year in a row, the Kansas City Chiefs should win the AFC West going away. The last team in the division that even had a remote clue about coming in first place would be the utterly toothless Denver Broncos. The last time the Broncos were even the least bit good was when the won Super Bowl 50 over the Carolina Panthers in 2015. I am pretty sure Zach Wilson was in middle school.

With the notion that the former BYU star and failed New York Jets starter will be competing for the Broncos' starting job with the likes of veteran Jarrett Stidham and first-round rookie Bo Nix, that tells you everything you need to know about this year's team in Denver. We can safely cross them off from being a top-four team in the deep AFC. The big question is what about the other AFC West teams?

In time, I suspect that the Los Angeles Chargers will emerge as a competent operation. Jim Harbaugh has taken over in Inglewood, but I still have my reservations over how well he will gel with Justin Herbert. I have a bad feeling Harbaugh's overly enthusiastic personality is going to wear Herbert out faster than Tom Thibodeau can wear out a point guard's knees. And, there are the Las Vegas Raiders.

While we all know who is going to finish in first place in the AFC West, I know who is going to be last.

Zach Wilson competing for Denver Broncos QB job is so very revealing

I may be slightly biased here. I covered the Raiders for a year and grew to like them a bit more than I probably should. John Elway took a Super Bowl away from my crap-tastic team. For as much fun as LaDainian Tomlinson was playing for the Bolts when I was in grade school, the Chargers haven't won diddly poo since then. I'm 34, going on 35. It is why the Broncos' struggles are so very concerning.

This was the model franchise in the AFC West for the better part of my lifetime. The Chiefs were perennial underachievers until Andy Reid showed up. They became what they are now once Patrick Mahomes was given the keys to the car in 2018 after a few good spins with Alex Smith. While the Chiefs have been great and the Raiders and Chargers have been up and down, Denver has been bad.

Truth be told, I think there is a chance that Nix can be the cure to what ails the franchise, eventually. My problem is the Broncos have the worst general manager in football in George Paton, and I have no reason to ever like Sean Payton and what he is all about. Where have all the cowboys gone? Better yet, where have all the Gary Kubiaks gone? The Broncos need to hire the next equivalent of him.

For now, we can appreciate Wilson playing ball in the same time zone he used to star in during COVID.