The AFC West is probably one of the more interesting divisions in the league – headlined by the Chiefs, who are looking to ride a newly-minted star quarterback into a dynasty, but with the often-overlooked Chargers close behind them. The Raiders appearance on Hard Knocks is probably the most on-the-nose TV appearance for any team, with Jon Gruden leading the way in bluster and bravado while his team is likely to still lag behind in the standings. And then there are the Broncos.

Coming into last season Mahomes was one of the more polarising players in preseason previews – his flashes at the end of the previous season had got fans and critics excited, which was doubled down when the Chiefs showed their faith by trading away the incumbent Alex Smith. Obviously Mahomes went on to have a historically good season in leading an offensive juggernaut of a team into the postseason.

So how can we expect Mahomes to follow up this year. The conversation actually seems to be going along similar lines to that of a year ago – where one side of the fence continues to hype Mahomes to alarming degrees, while the other is tempering expectations and suggesting he can’t live up to said hype.

My feeling is that Mahomes will be more of the latter than the former – he will be great, just not historically great again. The McCoy signing seems to be a very astute move – the sort of move that the Patriots did time and again whilst establishing a dynasty around their generational quarterback, while the Chiefs will feel like they have another signing on offense in their retention of Tyreek Hill when he seemed destined to depart the way of Kareem Hunt.

If we are to continue to compare the Chiefs to the team that all must aspire to be (the Patriots), it is their defence that demands the most scrutiny.

Finishing next to last in total defense and pass defense is hardly the stuff of a Championship-worthy team, even in the defence-first NFL that we are living in today. So it is no surprise the Chiefs retooled – from a new head coach through to 2 new leaders in Matieu and Clark, the Chiefs have certainly splashed in improving their defence, while it will remain to see if such moves actually lead to significant improvement. Their pass rush is likely to be better, but they remain questionable at the cornerback position.

I suspect that the Chiefs will once again blow most opposition away when on offense. Mahomes, Kelce and Hill will all probably be amongst the top players at their respective positions and combine to offer versatility as well as outright threat on offense. Combine that with the playcalling wizardry of Andy Reid and the Chiefs can be expected to rack up high numbers indeed. I expect them to romp into the postseason, and it will be there where the defence will need to make a difference. Recent postseason years have seen a number of back-and-forth high scoring games between high-octane offenses, and while I expect the defence to remain porous overall, I believe in Matieu and Clark they have a couple of clutch players that could come through in the big moments come playoff time.

It really surprised me when I was doing my research for this article to remind myself that the Chargers finished with the same record as the Chiefs last year. But that feels somewhat appropriate for a team and a quarterback that seem destined to fly under the radar. It seems like Philip Rivers has never received quite the same kudos as his contemporaries, but that is probably led by his failure to capture that which even Roethlisberger and Manning managed, despite probably being more flawed QB’s.

I expect this year to come to see another year of consistent delivery throughout the season from Rivers, albeit continuing in do so in his understated way, and without the flashes of his divisional counterpart in Mahomes.

As Rivers goes, so seems to go the rest of the team – it is difficult to pin down real high highs in the team, but equally they are pretty solid throughout the team.

They even seemed managed to improve their most glaringly frustrating area, as they were middle of the pack in field goal % last year, having been dead last by a mile in 2017. They were still second-from-bottom in XP%, but Michael Badgely showed he could perform under pressure with a hugely impressive performance against the Ravens suggesting the Chargers could at least put their kicking hoodoos behind them.

On defence, a big miss will be Derwin James, who is likely to see most of his Sophomore season be spent on the sideline, which is a big disappointment as I thought his rookie season was one of the more exciting in recent memory with him popping up as a difference making all over the field.

Luckily, they still have the dual threat of Bosa and Ingram to fall back on, and should ensure they get a few game changing moments peppered throughout the season from their defence.

Unfortunately, I fear that the Chargers are likely to make the playoffs once again, but will see their lack of superstar talent come back to bite them when they hit the business end of the season. Rivers won’t be around forever, and the Chargers could suffer the fate of being really really good but keep running into teams that are great.

I feel like I shouldn’t linger on the Broncos or the Raiders for opposite reasons.

Von Miller and Bradley Chubb form a tandem that is likely to disrupt a few opposition offenses, but outside of the two of them the Broncos are mostly underwhelming. Flacco has been in heavy decline for years and has the potential to drop off a cliff, and while Lindsay and Sutton could continue flashing unexpectedly, the offense as a whole will likely be a bit of a snorefest. Vic Fangio did a great job at Chicago, but his appointment feel uninspiring in a league of hotshot offensive upstarts leading the offensive revolution.

On the flipside of the soporific Broncos you have the one-man-band that is the Oakland Raiders. Like the man with the entire orchestra strapped to him, Jon Gruden seems to be building a team to make the most noise, the tune or subtlety of which is most definitely secondary. The odd relationship he has with Derek Carr would be the headline act and drama enough for most teams, but the Antonio Brown show has wheeled into town with the kind of spectacle that makes you feel the Raiders should have saved him up for the move to Las Vegas. Add in Vontaze Burfict to the mix, who has produced the most noise of anyone on the field (Suh included) in recent years, and you have a team that feels like they are attention-seeking rather than victory-seeking.

In terms of overall expectations, I believe the Chiefs will be worthy of all our attention for their on-the-field actions, and the Raiders equally so for what goes on the rest of the time. The Chargers will be bland but good, the Broncos will be blander and bad.