2025 Dynasty Division Outlook: AFC West

With the draft in the books, we’re covering each NFL division’s dynasty fantasy football outlook. We’ll bring you an overview of each team, highlight the best and worst positional groups, and make some predictions for the division as a whole. Let’s jump into it!

AFC West Outlook

Denver Broncos

Data courtesy of 4for4 Team Depth Charts.

Bo Nix was the forgotten quarterback of last year’s class, but he ended up having the second best rookie season of the group. While the big three were the most coveted, and Michael Penix made all of the headlines, Nix went to one of the best situations possible. Playing under Sean Payton, he flourished, throwing for 29 touchdowns and rushing for another four. His rushing production is what really pushed him over the edge, adding 430 yards and helping him finish as the number seven quarterback for the season. He got better and better as the season went on, finishing with 22 fantasy points per game in the second half. As a 25-year-old sophomore, Nix will get some reinforcements to help bolster this offense.

The marquee reinforcement comes in the backfield with second-round pick RJ Harvey out of UCF. Harvey was a darling of the pre-draft process, but his draft capital was still surprising to most. He should immediately lead this backfield in touches in year one and is well worth a first-round rookie draft pick. Just like his quarterback, despite not being the second, third or fourth player taken at their position, he could be in line to have the second best rookie season (behind Jeanty) of this group. Audric Estime is one year removed from being a fifth-round pick for Payton. If Estime can take a step forward, he could play the Mark Ingram role to Harvey’s Alvin Kamara over the next three years.

The pass-catching improvements on this offense began with a trade for Evan Engram. His final season was a disaster after back-to-back top-five seasons – he only played in nine total games and caught only one touchdown. Payton’s offenses have a history of highlighting tight ends, but the talent just wasn’t there last year for anyone to shine through. If Engram can stay on the field this season, he has the potential to be the number two target on this team and be a TE1 again, especially in PPR. At receiver, the Broncos took Pat Bryant out of Illinois in the third round. The buzz around Bryant started stirring right away when Payton compared him to Michael Thomas. He’ll be in a competition with Marvin Mims, Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin for WR snaps behind Courtland Sutton. Vele reportedly had an outstanding showing at OTAs so he may have the leg up for a starting role. Sutton has WR1 upside in a contract year in this offense, coming off a WR15 season in 2024.

Kansas City Chiefs

Data courtesy of 4for4 Team Depth Charts.

The class of the NFL for the past decade is finally starting to show some wear and tear, especially in the world of fantasy football. Patrick Mahomes finished down at QB11, Travis Kelce checked in at TE5 (his lowest finish in a decade), and they didn’t have a single running back or wide receiver finish higher than 30th overall at the position. It’s become abundantly clear that this team is playing to survive the regular season and win Super Bowls. Fantasy managers may be victimised by that strategy.

Mahomes finished as a top 12 quarterback for the seventh season in a row, but it was his worst finish since he became a starter. He matched a career-low in passing touchdowns with just 26, and he had only 58 rushes, his lowest total since 2019. Of course, there were so many injuries on this team, it can be expected that he’d struggle. Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown missed most of the season, Isiah Pacheco had long injury absences, and Kelce wasn’t the red zone weapon he usually is. If his weapons can stay on the field, this should be a bounce-back season for Mahomes and a nice buy-low opportunity.

The biggest x-factor to a Mahomes bounce-back season could be Rashee Rice. He tore his ACL in week four last year and never returned, taking the best receiver on this team off the field. He’s a full go at OTAs, so health shouldn’t be a lingering problem for him this year. The lingering problem will instead be his legal issues. His drag-racing incident is still being worked out in the courts, and it’s possible that it won’t be resolved until 2026. The NFL likely will not levy a suspension on Rice until the legal process has run its course, so he should be good to go. Worthy was this team’s leading receiver last year, but the presence of Rice should make him even more effective in the PPR game. Jalen Royals was an intriguing addition late in the draft. Kelce is going to give it another go this season, and he appears to be in good health. But, the Chiefs will want to make sure he’s 100% for the playoff run and may take it easy on the 35-year-old during the regular season.

Las Vegas Raiders

Data courtesy of 4for4 Team Depth Charts.

The Raiders got a facelift this off-season, starting with the hiring of Pete Carroll. After a championship-winning campaign in Seattle, he retired, but has decided to return for the black and silver. Not long after he joined Vegas, the Seahawks made a trade for Geno Smith, who had a career renaissance under Carroll in Seattle. Since he got the Seahawks starting job, Smith has been a serviceable QB2. That should continue in Vegas, especially if he runs as much as he did last year.

The Raiders got the fantasy gem of the off-season, selecting Ashton Jeanty with the sixth overall pick in the NFL Draft. Running back wasn’t a glaring need, but this regime decided they wanted to prioritize drafting a stud, bell-cow running back they can run their offense through. He is immediately a top-three running back for fantasy on this team. Raheem Mostert might be worth stashing as a handcuff, but this is Jeanty’s backfield, and he’s going to eat.

The pass catchers essentially start and end on this team with Brock Bowers. He was the number one tight end in all of fantasy last season, and that was with the revolving door of quarterbacks in Vegas’s backfield last year. Now, they have a solid, veteran signal caller in Smith, who will get to love throwing the ball to his young tight end. Bowers is the number one tight end in dynasty according to all of our DLF Expert Rankers. The wide receivers are a different story, with Jakobi Meyers as the veteran leader of the group. He had his first top 20 finish in PPR last season, and could repeat it once again with a better quarterback situation. Jack Bech, Dont’e Thornton and Tommy Mellott are all worth consideration in deep dynasty leagues.

Los Angeles Chargers

Data courtesy of 4for4 Team Depth Charts.

The Chargers once again found themselves playing the bridesmaid to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs as they finished with an 11-win season before losing a disappointing playoff matchup to the Texans. It was a six-game turnaround in the first year under Jim Harbaugh, so things seem to be going well under the former National Champion. Unfortunately, Harbaugh’s regime may be a disaster for Justin Herbert and his fantasy value. This group loves to run the football first and foremost. He averaged 29.6 attempts per game last season, more than five fewer than he had in the previous season. He still managed a QB12 finish, but it’s a far cry from his QB2 finish in 2021.

Despite the lack of production in the passing game, Ladd McConkey finished as the WR13, catching 82 balls for 1,149 yards and a touchdown. He only caught 119 passes over three college seasons, so this kind of production was impossible to predict. Meanwhile, the Chargers brought back Mike Williams, and drafted Tre Harris out of Ole Miss in the second round. He should help to take the top off of this offense and take some attention away from McConkey. Quentin Johnston is likely not long for a starting job on this team, and he could be on the way out of LA before the end of his rookie contract in 2027.

In the first round, the Chargers selected Omarion Hampton, creating an interesting backfield split in LA along with Najee Harris. Hampton is an outstanding running back, but this wasn’t a perfect landing spot for 2025. Harris may start this season as the lead back while Hampton gets his feet wet. In the long term, as long as Harbaugh and Greg Roman are running this offense, then the running game will continue to be the priority. The DLF Expert Rankers have Hampton at RB7 and Harris at RB35.

Positional Group Rankings

Quarterbacks

1. Chiefs A
2. Chargers A-
3. Broncos A-
4. Raiders C-

Since this is a dynasty fantasy football analysis, the Chiefs only get an A at quarterback. In reality of course, they would get an A+. Justin Herbert and Bo Nix are both young franchise quarterbacks who will be in the QB1 discussion for years to come. Smith is likely a bridge quarterback in Las Vegas, but this team deserves a franchise QB down the line.

Running Backs

1. Raiders A
2. Chargers A-
3. Broncos B+
4. Chiefs C+

Three of the four teams in this division selected a stud running back in the first or second round of the NFL Draft. As long as they all live up to their expectations, then these backfields will all be in the A range. The only thing keeping the Raiders from an A+ is the fact that we haven’t seen Jeanty run against NFL defenses. The Chiefs are proof that you don’t need a top-five running back to be a Super Bowl-winning team, so they’re making it work with Pacheco and Hunt.

Wide Receivers

1. Charges B
2. Broncos B
3. Chiefs B-
4. Raiders D

This is an underwhelming division of wide receivers, but there are some young, exciting picks. Ladd McConkey and Courtland Sutton are enough to jack their teams up into the B range, and the pair of Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy gets the Chiefs a C-. The Raiders have a lot to prove at the position, but Jakobi Meyers will be a useful piece this season.

Tight Ends

1. Raiders A+
2. Chiefs A-
3. Broncos B
4. Chargers D-

The Raiders and Chiefs have two of the best tight ends in the league, but Kelce’s age drops them down to an A-. Noah Gray may be worth a stash in deep TE premium leagues. The Broncos made an improvement with Evan Engram, but he needs to prove he can stay healthy. Will Dissly can have a decent game when he finds the end zone, as rare as that is.

Divisional Predictions

MVP: Brock Bowers, TE LV

In a division with three very good offenses, the two MVP candidates come from the team with by far the worst offense. The Raiders have two amazing players, a decent quarterback, and then a whole lot of nothing. Bowers gets the edge over Jeanty to me, just because it’s the slightly safer bet. We know Bowers can be the MVP of this division, and he did it in a worse situation than he’ll be in this season. We assume Jeanty can be a divisional MVP, but we’ve never seen him do it. Bowers gets the slight MVP edge for me.

LVP: Xavier Worthy, WR KC

Worthy had a decent rookie season with the Chiefs, but I’m concerned that it may have been approaching his ceiling at WR33. The Chiefs’ receivers were decimated with injuries last year. His late-season run of success came while Brown and Rice were both hurt. Now that they’ll be back and healthy, along with the addition of Jalen Royals, the competition for targets has increased.

Most Improved: Audric Estime, RB DEN

I struggled to find someone in this division I’d consider as a most improved selection. There are so many rookies and established veterans in this division that it’s hard to find a veteran who can break out. While I think RJ Harvey will be the clear number one in this backfield, I’m expecting an increased role for the second-year back as well. He should enter this season healthier than last year and get off to a much better start. He’s RB17 in DLF ADP right now

Biggest Steal: Devaughn Vele, WR DEN

From week ten on last season, Devaughn Vele was the WR54, averaging 8.9 points per game in PPR. Despite that, his ADP is WR90 in DLF ADP. Along with that, Vele has made positive headlines during OTAs. Vele will compete with Mims, Franklin and Bryant for targets from Bo Nix. With that quality of competition, and Sean Payton’s propensity to fall in love with unheralded receivers who overperform, Vele might be a great sleeper pick.

Biggest Bust: Travis Kelce, TE KC

Kelce was already a bust last season, and nobody values him as a high-end fantasy tight end anymore. Despite that, there is still some hope that he will bounce back this season. He’s reportedly motivated coming into this season, and wants to make sure he leaves the league on the right foot. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, the right foot is a Super Bowl championship, not a top-five tight end finish in fantasy football. It could get real ugly this season while they try to make sure he’s 100% for the postseason run.