FanPost

Power Ranking the AFC West: Starting QB Edition

It is middle of July with not much else happening for at least another couple of weeks so I figured now would be a good time to look at the AFC West as a whole. In this series I will be ranking the teams by positions or groups in some cases. There are some other ideas but I will let this series evolve over time. Oh and this will be posted to all 4 AFC West SBNation blogs to get feedback from other fans. Oh and there will be some jabs in there too.

To start off I figured it would be a good idea to rank the starting QB of each team since the QB is the most important player on the team. This should be fun since there shouldn't be any QB controversies in the AFC West during camp. This is going to surprise some people and I expect some lovely comments.

  1. Philip Rivers (LA Chargers)- Love him or hate him, as it stands he is the best starting QB in the division as it stands right now. He might be the only reason the team isn't in the running for a top 10 pick this year since players keep on dropping like flies even before camp starts. If Rivers is healthy, the Chargers will always be a dangerous team until some poor Pacific Rattlesnake bites them at some point. The one catch is that Rivers will decline and hit the wall at some point. Father Time is undefeated and the Chargers have no backup plan if he either gets hurt or his arm finally gives way. While I still have the Chiefs winning the West, Rivers will be the big reason why the Chargers even come close.
  2. Patrick Mahomes II (KC Chiefs)- I can hear the Raiders and Broncos fans crying now. I get it Patrick Mahomes has only one start. I get that he has more career INT's than TD's at this point. What I also know is that he has the most talent on paper out of any QB in the AFC West. He also has the best position players around him out of any QB in the league. Could he fail? Oh absolutely but the odds of that are low barring injuries to Kelce, Hill and Watkins. If everything goes right for a change, Mahomes might challenge Rivers for the 1 spot. Mahomes can't fail because the system the Chiefs have in place will not allow it. Oh and the Chiefs don't trade Alex Smith unless they felt 2PM was ready.
  3. Derek Carr (Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders)- Not going to lie, when I came up with this list you could swap Carr with the number 4 spot here. I gave Carr the edge because of coaching. If Chucky can get Carr right, Carr can be a decent QB. Is he this elite QB everyone makes him out to be? Not even close and that contract is going to cost the Raiders but there wasn't much of a choice. After all he is the best the Raiders have had since Rich Gannon. Carr was also the only reason the Raiders didn't go a full blown decade and a half without finishing above 500. Carr has the arm and the work ethic but his football IQ is lacking and things get bad when the defenses decide to change things up on him. I love Carr but it is going to take a miracle for him to live up to that deal.
  4. Case Keenum (Denver Broncos)- Oh come on Denver. You lose out on Kirk Cousins so you have to settle for Keenum? You had Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Lamar Jackson available in the draft to you. I get that Keenum was signed before the draft but my point still stands. Your HC is likely going to say that it is an open competition at QB but Lynch ain't winning squat and the most physically gifted QB on your roster is still recovering from an ACL tear. Keenum and Carr are the same level but at least Carr has a semi-competent coach. Keenum is likely going to regress quite a bit but he can be good.
I expect the salt to flow and I welcome it. What is wrong with some banter among rivals.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Bolts From The Blue community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bolts From The Blue editors or SB Nation.