Welcome to our Division Depth Chart – AFC West article! Which AFC West IDP players should you target in your drafts? Read to find out!
Let’s take the four teams in the AFC West and create an IDP depth chart with Defensive Line, Linebacker, and Defensive Backs. The strength of the AFC West is the defensive line. The weakness of the division would be the Linebackers. On to the division depth chart – AFC West analysis!
Defensive Line
DL Starters-
Maxx Crosby – Las Vegas Raiders
Crosby is one of the most disruptive IDP players in the NFL. He has posted 26 sacks over the past two seasons. Crosby has 179 tackles in the past two seasons which is incredible for a defensive lineman. Of those 179 tackles, 45 have been tackles for a loss. Offenses are constantly trying to come up with schemes to slow Crosby down and disrupt his path to the ball. They will double-team him, chip him with a running back, and run to the opposite side. Crosby still delivers and will continue to deliver for as long as he can walk. The warrior has not missed a game over the past four seasons.
Chris Jones – Kansas City Chiefs
Jones would be the other defensive lineman to be thoroughly in the mix of the most disruptive players in his position group in the NFL. He also has 26 sacks over the last two seasons. Jones has only missed one game in the last two seasons and that was a contract-related holdout. He is not as dominating as Crosby in the tackle department, but he still registered 74 tackles, 30 of them being tackles for a loss over the past two seasons. Jones plays more inside than he does edge, so the double teams are very consistent against him.
Christian Wilkins – Las Vegas Raiders
Wilkins was one of the most dominating interior defensive linemen in the NFL over the past three seasons while not missing a game. 252 tackles were delivered in that time period. His lack of sacks is what keeps him out of Tier 1.
George Karlaftis – Kansas City Chiefs
Karlaftis was a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. After a promising rookie season where he posted 6 sacks and 33 tackles, Karlaftis increased his sacks to 10.5 with another 47 tackles. He is on his way to the Tier 1 level and could be there after the 2024 season. Karlaftis has only missed one game in his two-year career, and that was the season finale when a lot of Chiefs sat out.
DL Backups-
Khalil Mack – Los Angeles Chargers
At 33 years of age, Mack is not showing many signs of slowing down. 2023 had him deliver 17 sacks and 74 tackles. The 17 sacks were a career high. The 74 tackles were his best showing since 2017.
Zach Allen – Denver Broncos
In his first year with the Broncos, Allen delivered a career-high 60 tackles while playing every game. 2024 should see an increase in both tackles and sacks with more familiarity with the defense.
Tuli Tuipulotu – Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers look like they hit with their second-round pick of last year’s NFL draft. He played in all the games and delivered 4.5 sacks and a very nice 53 tackles.
DL Honorable Mention –
Jonathon Cooper – Denver Broncos with 72 tackles and 8.5 sacks in 2023.
Michael Danna – Kansas City Chiefs with 50 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2023.
Malcolm Koonce – Las Vegas Raiders with 43 tackles and 8 sacks in 2023.
Linebacker
LB Starters-
Alex Singleton – Denver Broncos
Let me introduce you to the top tackling LB in the AFC West over the last two seasons combined. His name is Singleton and he has four straight years of triple-digit tackles. In fact, Singleton has increased his total tackle number in each of his years in the league. He delivered an incredible 177 tackles last year.
Nick Bolton – Kansas City Chiefs
Bolton’s 2023 season was a lost season because of ankle and wrist injuries. He only played in eight games. 2022 had Bolton play every game and he delivered an amazing 180 tackles. Bolton should return to his 2022 level after fully recovering from his ankle and wrist injuries.
Robert Spillane – Las Vegas Raiders
Spillane had a career year last year, which was his first as a Raider. He almost doubled his career-high in tackles from 79 tackles in 2022 with the Steelers to 148 tackles in 2023. The Raiders brought no one as competition, so the statistics should be similar in 2024 for Spillane.
LB Backups-
Divine Deablo – Las Vegas Raiders
The other Tier 2 LB will be the other Raider LB. Deablo played in 15 games and still broke triple-digit tackles with 106. He seems to be making the position switch transition quite well. Deablo was originally drafted as a defensive back and made the switch to LB as a rookie in 2021. He has gotten noticeably better with each season.
Cody Barton – Denver Broncos
Barton has hit triple-digit tackles in each of the last two seasons with two different teams. The Broncos are his third team in as many seasons. Drew Sanders has torn his Achilles tendon which seems to give Barton the first shot at Josey Jewell‘s old spot.
Drue Tranquill – Kansas City Chiefs
Tranquill has already shown he can be a super-efficient LB with 148 tackles in 2022 with the Chargers. In eight starts last year in his first year with the Chiefs, he posted 78 tackles with 4.5 sacks. Willy Gay has moved on and Tranquill will be the beneficiary.
LB Honorable Mention-
Leo Chenal – Kansas City Chiefs – A third-year LB who started 10 games last year and had 65 tackles and 3 sacks.
Junior Colson – Los Angeles Chargers – A third-round rookie who played for the new Chargers head coach last year on the defending champion Michigan Wolverines.
Defensive Backs
DB Starters-
Derwin James – Los Angeles Chargers
Not only is James the best DB in the AFC West, he is the best DB in the NFL. He is the only DB to be ranked in the Top 5 in each of the last three years by points scored. He was first in 2021, fifth in 2022, and fifth in 2023. This is with missing 6 games during these three years with at least one in each of the years. He has at least 115 tackles in each of the last three seasons. He has 18 passes defended and 5 interceptions during this period.
Nate Hobbs – Las Vegas Raiders
Hobbs will be entering his fourth year with the Raiders after being selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft. He has proven himself as a playmaker when on the field as he averaged 77 tackles per season. He would make it into Tier 1 if it weren’t for his 10+ missed games in his short career.
Justin Reid – Kansas City Chiefs
Reid just completed his second year with the Chiefs and posted a career-best in tackles with 95. He also added 3 sacks and 7 passes defended. Reid has fit into the Chiefs plan quite well and there is not a real threat to anyone stealing any of his snaps.
Trent McDuffie – Kansas City Chiefs
McDuffie doubled his rookie year output with 80 tackles in 2023. He also added 3 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, and 7 passes defended. With L’Jarius Sneed moving on to the Tennessee Titans, his 186 tackles over the last two seasons will be up for grabs with McDuffie likely to take a majority of them. He’s one of my favorite players to target from this Division Depth Chart – AFC West article.
DB Backups-
Ja’Quan McMillian – Denver Broncos – Started playing in Week 4 last year and posted 51 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 5 passes defended, and 2 interceptions. He is set to be a force in 2024.
Tre’von Moehrig – Las Vegas Raiders – Easily his career best last year with 83 tackles, 2 sacks, 8 passes defended, and 3 interceptions.
Asante Samuel Jr. – Los Angeles Chargers – He has gotten better in each of his three seasons thus far. 2023 had him deliver 63 tackles, 13 passes defended, and 2 interceptions.
Thank you for checking out my 2024 IDP Division Depth Chart – AFC West article! You can read all of my articles on my IDP Guys author page. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @OldMan_FF and @IDP_Plus (we have offense, too), and please consider becoming a subscriber!
