AFC West Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos LB Bradley Chubb burst onto the scene as a rookie, notching 12 sacks in his NFL debut. For many players, 12 would be a dream season and likely a career-high. His teammates say Chubb, though, is just getting started. 

“He’s a totally different player,” Broncos LB Von Miller said via Aric DiLalla of the team’s official website. “… He’s going to have the same jersey number on, but he’s going to look totally different. He’s been working on a lot of stuff. I’m excited for him.”

Chubb has been a terror so far during the preseason and seems like a perfect fit in new HC Vic Fangio‘s defense. With Miller drawing attention across from him, the two are poised to wreck opponents this season. 

“I don’t even know what he did,” Miller said. “If I find out what he did, I’m going to start doing it. I think it’s just natural. I think it’s just natural for defensive players to take a huge leap from Year 1 to 2. You saw it with me. I had 11 sacks and I jumped to 18.5 sacks my second year. You saw the same thing with Khalil Mack and Vic Beasley and all of these guys. Same thing with Bradley Chubb. I don’t know if it’s a certain drill or sleep or whatever else, I just think it’s exposure and time. He will definitely be a brand-new player this season.”

• Per the Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala, Bill Bowlen’s lawsuit against the trustees, including Broncos CEO Joe Ellis, of former Broncos owner Pat Bowlen‘s trust has been dismissed. 
• Jhabvala says Bill Bowlen expected his lawsuit alleging the trustees failed to act in Pat Bowlen’s best interests to be dismissed when he passed away in June. 
• The arbitration between the trustees and Pat Bowlen’s oldest daughters is also on hold. 

Chiefs

• NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo mentions Chiefs RB Carlos Hyde as a notable player on the roster bubble after being jumped on the depth chart by sixth-round RB Darwin Thompson.

Raiders

Raiders HC Jon Gruden said it is going to be a “challenge” to determine the team’s final roster cuts on Saturday. 

“It’ll be a challenge for us,” Gruden said, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports. “[Mike] Mayock is going to have to have his boxing gloves on. We’re going to have some fights about this roster.”

Gruden added that the Raiders could look at players who become available following Saturday’s roster cuts. 

“I think the big part of that is the injury status of our team, and who becomes available,” Gruden said. “We’ve been talking to a lot of teams, a lot of teams have been talking to us about roster changes, etc., so there’s a lot that goes into that right now.”

Raiders ST coach Rich Bisaccia said the team’s preseason game against the Packers in Winnipeg, Canada “lost an evaluation game” given the field was only 80-yards. 

“Guys are fighting for their livelihood and we lost an evaluation game,” Bisaccia said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic. 

Bisaccia said he is not given an allotted number of players for special teams and the Raiders are focused on determining their “best 53 players.”

“Not really,” Bisaccia said. “There are no ‘X’ number of spots that I get. We’re all just trying to keep the best 53 players that give us a chance to win every week. And we all have input on that.”

• The Athletic’s Vic Tafur believes the Raiders keep both quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman.
• Undrafted rookie free agent G Lester Cotton likely won’t make the team, while fellow UDFA OT Andre James is on the right side of the bubble. 
• Tafur adds OT Brandon Parker has the edge for now over OT David Sharpe for the backup tackle spot. 
• UDFA FB Alec Ingold has one more game to beat out veteran FB Keith Smith, per Tafur. 
• Tafur notes UDFA DT Anthony Rush and DE Ethan Westbrooks are likely battling for one spot. 
• Tafur mentions UDFA CB Keisean Nixon might have pushed CB Nick Nelson off the roster with his strong play.