ESPN's Bill Williamson Ranks AFCW's Top 40 Players

[CoMoChief]

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post...n-the-afc-west


1. Philip Rivers, San Diego: He is an elite player at the most important position on the field.

2. Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland: There’s a reason he’ll be the top prize in free agency.

3. Jamaal Charles, Kansas City: One of the NFL’s most dynamic young players.

4. Antonio Gates, San Diego: He should end up in Canton.

5. Tamba Hali, Kansas City: One of the NFL’s best defensive players.

6. Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City: He is a game-changing talent.

7. Richard Seymour, Oakland: Respected veteran changed Oakland’s defense.

8. Vincent Jackson, San Diego: Expect a strong rebound in 2011.

9. Ryan Clady, Denver: One of the game's premier left tackles.

10. Champ Bailey, Denver: Even at 33, he is special.

11. Eric Berry, Kansas City: He should be the game’s best safety soon.

12. Nick Hardwick, San Diego: An anchor to a strong offensive line.

13. Darren McFadden, Oakland: He is developing into a star.

=> 14. Matt Cassel, Kansas City: Cassel has to continue to make strides.

15. Zach Miller, Oakland: He can make Oakland’s offense special.

16. Derrick Johnson, Kansas City: He is a serious playmaker.

17. Quentin Jammer, San Diego: Solid veteran is an anchor to a good defense.

18. Kris Dielman, San Diego: A steady hand on the Chargers’ line.

19. D.J. Williams, Denver: He is a tackling machine.

20. Marcus McNeill, San Diego: He’s an upper-echelon left tackle.

21. Shaun Phillips, San Diego: He is one of the division’s best pass-rushers.

22. Brandon Flowers, Kansas City: One of the game’s best young cornerbacks.

23. Eric Weddle, San Diego: A hard-nosed playmaker at safety.

24. Glenn Dorsey, Kansas City: He came on strong in 2010.

25. Tommy Kelly, Oakland: Massive defensive tackle had a big season in 2010.

26. Elvis Dumervil, Denver: If Dumervil bounces back from sitting out in 2010, he should be ranked higher next year.

27. Rolando McClain, Oakland: McClain has a chance to be one of the division’s better linebackers.

28. Brandon Lloyd, Denver: Lloyd came out of nowhere for a special 2010.

29. Shane Lechler, Oakland: The game’s best kicking specialist.

30. Ryan Lilja, Kansas City: A gritty, tough veteran guard.

31. Malcom Floyd, San Diego: He can make the spectacular catch look easy.

32. Brian Waters, Kansas City: A great veteran presence on a good line.

33. Jason Campbell, Oakland: Oakland will be depending on Campbell a lot this season.

34. Kamerion Wimbley, Oakland: He can get sacks in bunches.

35. Tony Moeaki, Kansas City: Second-year tight end is a player to watch.

36. Lamarr Houston, Oakland: He has a chance to be special.

37. Antonio Garay, San Diego: He had a strong 2010 season at 31.

38. Ryan Mathews, San Diego: He showed flashes as a rookie.

39. Michael Bush, Oakland: He and McFadden form a nice tandem.

40. Thomas Jones, Kansas City: He can still help the Chiefs at 33.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by KnowMo2724

The media are just a bunch of what have you done for me lately assholes.... Elvis Dumervil has been getting shafted on all kinds of these lists. There is no way Tamba Hali should be higher than him, let alone 20+ spots higher. DOOM and Hali were both drafted in 06 and DOOM has more career sacks than Hali, DESPITE missing an entire season and playing the whole 2008 season with a broken bone in his hand.

Whenever you post something, I have this tune going through my head

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by SNR

Whenever you post something, I have this tune going through my head

The little fella thought Denver was a Super Bowl contender last year. No wonder he only watched 4 games

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by KnowMo2724

Elvis Dumervil has been getting shafted on all kinds of these lists. There is no way Tamba Hali should be higher than him, let alone 20+ spots higher. DOOM and Hali were both drafted in 06 and DOOM has more career sacks than Hali, DESPITE missing an entire season and playing the whole 2008 season with a broken bone in his hand.

He's had injury problems his whole career, that's probably why he was ranked so low. And it is "what have you done for me lately league" like it or not. Elvis was injured most of last year, so he's a question mark coming into this year. The why he's so much lower than Tamba, who had a monster 2010.

That said, when healthy, Elvis is a top notch DE, at least he certainly was in 2009. If his 2011 season comes close to 2009, he'll be back in the top 10. Though he still won't be higher than Tamba .

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by PGM

Too bad like the Bengals game this season, he has come up short when it counts.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7...layoff-resumes


Maybe I’m alone in this opinion, but I think Philip Rivers is wildly overrated.

Exhibit A: His career playoff record is 3-4.

Exhibit B: He has never played in a Super Bowl.

Exhibit C: His career playoff stats are as follows:

Game 1 (Loss, 24-21 vs. New England): 14-32, 230 YD, 0 TD, 1 INT.

Game 2 (Win, 17-6 vs. Tennessee): 19-30, 292 YD, 1TD, 1 INT.

Game 3 (Win, 28-24 vs. Indianapolis): 14-19, 264 YD, 3 TD, 1 INT.

Game 4 (Loss, 21-12 vs. New England): 19-37, 211 YD, 0 TD, 2 INT.

Game 5 (Win, 23-17 vs. Indianapolis): 20-36, 217 YD, 0 TD, 1 INT.

Game 6 (Loss, 35-24 vs. Pittsburgh): 21-35, 308 YD, 3 TD, 1 INT.

Game 7 (Loss, 17-14 vs. NYJ): 27-40, 298 YD, 1 TD, 2 INT.

For those scoring at home, that’s at best three solid performances in seven postseason games.

The prosecution rests.

He has lost to Brady twice, Rothlisberger once in the playoffs. He has beaten Manning twice. He loses to the guys who are actually better than him, big suprise there when it comes to the playoffs.

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by milkman

How many comeback wins was given he credit for when it was his stupid interceptions that were directly, or indirectly, responsible for the need to comeback?

How many games did he fail to lead the Pack to a win when it was his interceptions that put his team in position to lose?

Most of his playoff games through his career are interception fests, and he's had a couple in which he's actually played pretty well, but has made boneheaded interceptions that lost games for the Pack.

I certainly wouldn't put Favre ahead of Montana or Brady on my list of Best QB's, but I still think I'd put him ahead of Manning and Marino and pretty much everyone that fits in the category of "Great Regular Season QB, not so so great Post Season QB. Except maybe Tarkenton, that guy looked like a hoss.

[Backwards Masking]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

He has lost to Brady twice, Rothlisberger once in the playoffs. He has beaten Manning twice. He loses to the guys who are actually better than him, big suprise there when it comes to the playoffs.

So Sanchez is already better than him?

Other than that the point is quite valid though. Taking down Manning in back to back years was impressive.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

BossChief- how do you feel about Ryan Harris not being on this list?

He has missed 14 games over the last two years.

For a linemen, one of the biggest factors is reliability...so he obviously lost stock due to that factor.

If he hadn't missed any games, he would be borderline and I don't think he'd make it. It'd be close.

If we can't land one of the premier right tackles, I'd be ok with giving him a 2 year deal and let him compete with Barry Richardson (who I'm not a big fan of. I think one of his missed blocks will ultimately put Stanzi on the field too soon)

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Backwards Masking

I certainly wouldn't put Favre ahead of Montana or Brady on my list of Best QB's, but I still think I'd put him ahead of Manning and Marino and pretty much everyone that fits in the category of "Great Regular Season QB, not so so great Post Season QB. Except maybe Tarkenton, that guy looked like a hoss.

Tarkenton was a lot like Donavan McNabb in that he made a lot of plays during the regular season, but he was far less effective in the post season, even while it appears he put up decent numbers.

He was more mobile than McNabb, but he struggled making plays against good defenses, when it counted.

Edit:I'd put Manning ahead of Favre, but they would be right there with each other.

[Gadzooks]

Originally Posted by milkman

Tarkenton was a lot like Donavan McNabb in that he made a lot of plays during the regular season, but he was far less effective in the post season, even while it appears he put up decent numbers.

He was more mobile than McNabb, but he struggled making plays against good defenses, when it counted.

Edit:I'd put Manning ahead of Favre, but they would be right there with each other.

Where do you put Otto Graham?

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Gadzooks

Where do you put Otto Graham?

Too young to remember Graham, so I can't forward any opinion on him.

[highBOLTage]

Originally Posted by PGM

Too bad like the Bengals game this season, he has come up short when it counts.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7...layoff-resumes


Maybe I’m alone in this opinion, but I think Philip Rivers is wildly overrated.

Exhibit A: His career playoff record is 3-4.

Exhibit B: He has never played in a Super Bowl.

Exhibit C: His career playoff stats are as follows:

Game 1 (Loss, 24-21 vs. New England): 14-32, 230 YD, 0 TD, 1 INT.
Suffered lisfranc injury in week 17 and didn't practice during bye week; played meh-ly.

Game 2 (Win, 17-6 vs. Tennessee): 19-30, 292 YD, 1TD, 1 INT.
Sprained MCL late in season. First half played poorly; second half well.

Game 3 (Win, 28-24 vs. Indianapolis): 14-19, 264 YD, 3 TD, 1 INT.
Played great. Tears ACL last play of 3rd quarter.

Game 4 (Loss, 21-12 vs. New England): 19-37, 211 YD, 0 TD, 2 INT.
Played very well, but the stats are garbage. Couldve possibly turned one of the FGs into a TD if he saw that VJ was open and a bad forced INT immediately after Vrabel's BS uncalled personal foul trip that turned into an INT (thanks for the effort Chris Chambers).

Game 5 (Win, 23-17 vs. Indianapolis): 20-36, 217 YD, 0 TD, 1 INT.
Below average game.

Game 6 (Loss, 35-24 vs. Pittsburgh): 21-35, 308 YD, 3 TD, 1 INT.
Played well. SD ran one offensive play in the 3rd quarter. Tipped ball at the line is intercepted.

Game 7 (Loss, 17-14 vs. NYJ): 27-40, 298 YD, 1 TD, 2 INT.
Played average until back-breaking INT late.

For those scoring at home, that’s at best three solid performances in seven postseason games.

The prosecution rests.

Added my impressions of his performances above.

He's played pretty well in the postseason; he just needs to stay healthy (Gates healthy would be nice too) and not having a bunch choking, idiot teammates (Kaeding, McCree, VJ, Cromartie et al.) would be nice too.

[The_Doctor10]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Kyle Orton should have been on that list over Jason Campbell.

I'm sure he was left off because he's pretty much guaranteed to not be a Bronco come training camp.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Unleash_the_Phury

I'm sure he was left off because he's pretty much guaranteed to not be a Bronco come training camp.

If that were the case, Asomuagha would have been left off.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Thomas Jones was one of the NFL's very worst running backs last season. But he's better than Brandon Carr, who is a legit top-20 cornerback in the NFL?

TJ ALWAYS gets his ass kissed by the media. I just don't get it. He was absolutely HORRIBLE the last 8 games of the season. Worst performer on our team IMO.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by KnowMo2724

The media are just a bunch of what have you done for me lately assholes.... Elvis Dumervil has been getting shafted on all kinds of these lists. There is no way Tamba Hali should be higher than him, let alone 20+ spots higher. DOOM and Hali were both drafted in 06 and DOOM has more career sacks than Hali, DESPITE missing an entire season and playing the whole 2008 season with a broken bone in his hand.

It's a list of who is better NOW.

Not who WAS better in 2009.

Hali did have 15 ****ing sacks last season, and countless pressures.
If Houston is what I think he is, Hali is going to be an absolute terror.
Maybe Dumberville will have healed up by next season........Maybe.