NFL Power Rankings: Predicting every division for 2024 season

7. AFC West

1. Kansas City Chiefs

The reigning Super Bowl champions are the class of one of the worst divisions in football right now, but they're also just the class of the NFL. The Chiefs are even coming off of a "down" year in 2023, especially offensively, but they obviously turned it up when it mattered most. There's plenty of change in 2024 again for this team, but the key pieces -- Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid -- will keep this team in the NFL's final four once again.

2. Denver Broncos

The Broncos reset at the quarterback position and Bo Nix is a wild card here, but this team won eight games in 2023 and substantially improved in the trenches defensively. If Nix can come in and improve the consistency of the passing game, this Broncos team could be surprising in 2024.

3. Los Angeles Chargers

The arrival of Jim Harbaugh should pay some immediate dividends but are the Chargers an immediate playoff team? I think that remains to be seen. Harbaugh was a huge fish for this franchise to reel in, but implementing his program will likely take at least a year. We'll see how quickly the Harbaugh effect can impact quarterback Justin Herbert, who has been getting dragged back by the rest of this team (and the previous coaching regime).

4. Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders finished last year in second place in the AFC West but they're not passing the offseason eye test for me right now. The decision to hire Antonio Pierce over every other possible option has put a lot of pressure on the organization and the Raiders also don't appear to have a long-term solution at QB on the roster. We'll see if Aidan O'Connell can change that perception.