The Chiefs have spent the offseason attempting to beef up their offensive line and wide receiver corps to help out QB Alex Smith who was sacked 45 times last season, had 15 passes batted down, only threw four passes longer than 35 yards last season, and never connected with a WR for a single touchdown. The additions of WR Jeremy Maclin, offensive linemen Ben Grubbs and Pauliasi Fanaika should help. The team is also reportedly interested in free agent WR Josh Cribbs. Still, the offense is of such great concern that analyst Cian Fahey tweeted:
SD looks like the best team in that division. Chiefs have a CFL-worthy offense. https://t.co/fJVb2sUN65
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) June 24, 2015
WR Marvin Jones and TE Tyler Eifert are both reportedly fully recovered from injuries. OT Andre Smith, OT Cedric Ogbuehi, and LB Vontaze Burfict are still big question marks in terms of health. Returning second-year RB Jeremy Hill should have good productivity after a strong rookie year while the addition of Denarius Moore at WR and AJ Hawk at LB should help the team.
Cincinnati's offensive coordinator Hue Jackson complained that he is tired of his team "being the brunt of jokes" and stated via ESPN, "I don't want to be the laughingstock of anything, and neither do those players." The Bengals can either push for league-wide sensitivity training, or they can try not lose all of their playoff games.
The Raiders are not a competitive team, but their squad has posed problems for the Steelers over the years. Last season, the Oakland ranked last in run offense. This year, they have a new coach in Mike Tice, additions to the RB corps in Trent Richardson and Roy Helu, and a tight end who can help with run blocking in Lee Smith.
Receiving yardage was also weak for the Raiders last year with no receiver racking up more than 700 yards. First-round pick Amari Cooper and former 49-er Michael Crabtree might be able to provide a much-needed boost, but QB Derek Carr isn't exactly a stellar quarterback. It is likely the Raiders will continue to struggle.
Terrelle Pryor was just picked up by the Browns after being cut by the Bengals earlier in the week. Though Pryor has played at QB throughout his time in the league, the Browns have plan to use him as wide receiver. Before he was released from the Bengals, Pryor created controversy by posting unauthorized minicamp video to his Twitter account. WR Josh Gordon is serving his one-year suspension for drug and alcohol infractions, so WRs Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline will need to step up. The biggest problem for the Browns is that their great hope at quarterback is a man who lost 10 of his 11 starts in 2014. I'm talking about 36-year-old Josh McCown.
Check out Part I here: Around the League Part I