The AFC West is expected to be one of the best divisions in football. Let's make one bold prediction for each team for the 2025 NFL Season.
In 2024, three teams finished with at least 10 wins and made the playoffs, and you could argue that all four teams in the division got better in the 2025 NFL Offseason. The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers are trying their hardest to catch the Kansas City Chiefs, and even the Las Vegas Raiders seem to have gotten better.
This division belongs to the Chiefs until another team proves otherwise, but with the way things are going, KC may not have that great of a grip on the division much longer. Let's make one bold prediction for each team in the AFC West for 2025.
Bold predictions for the AFC West in 2025
Kansas City Chiefs - For the first time since 2015, KC loses its grip on the AFC West
Roster-wise, the Chiefs do not have the best squad in the AFC West heading into 2025, and the primary season for this is the years of having draft picks at the bottom of each round. This has largely prevented KC from acquiring that blue-chip talent that every single NFL team needs.
I also believe that Brett Veach has gotten too Mahomes-reliant with some of his roster moves. Don't get me wrong, the Chiefs are still a great team, but the path to winning another division title is getting slimmer and slimmer.
For the first time since the 2015 NFL Season, the three-time defending AFC Champions will not win the division.
Denver Broncos - Broncos win the division for the first time since the Peyton Manning era
But instead, the Denver Broncos will. On paper, Denver has the best defense and offensive line in the division, and the unrealized potential/ceiling of Bo Nix could also be enough to propel Denver over the top. It's not going to be easy, and the division may end up coming down to a tiebreaker, but watch out for the Denver Broncos in the 2025 NFL Season.
Los Angeles Chargers - Chargers make a league-altering move at the 2025 NFL trade deadline
The Los Angeles Chargers seemed to have gotten better, but how much is the real question. LA added more weapons on offense when they signed Najee Harris and also drafted Omarion Hampton and Tre Harris, so they did make some notable moves.
But doesn't it feel like the roster is still missing one more 'push?'
To me, it does, and however this looks, the Chargers are going to make a monumental move at the 2025 NFL trade deadline. GM Joe Hortiz may soon realize that the roster just isn't quite there yet and could put the rest of the AFC West on notice with a huge move.
The Chargers are more likely to be in a position to add than to trade since they're a good team, so perhaps they could make a strong offer for a certain player that comes available at the deadline in a few months.
Las Vegas Raiders - Geno Smith does not start all 17 regular season games
Geno Smith is an average quarterback who was essentially thrown away by the Seattle Seahawks for a third-round pick. He's in his mid-30s and isn't going to play any better than we've seen him play over the last few seasons. With Smith now on the Raiders, this figures to be one of the last chances he has in the NFL to be a week-to-week starting QB.
Smith is going to be able to lead the offense, but there will be a distinct ceiling, and I am not sure the Raiders have enough around Smith to make any sort of notable progress. In fact, with multiple young QBs behind the veteran, our bold prediction for Vegas is that Geno Smith is not startiing all 17 games for the team in 2025.