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It's not the same old wild, wild west anymore. The landscape of this division has changed dramatically, owing largely to the arrival of that feisty new Denver owner several seasons ago.
Yet the ancients say - the division, long even, must separate; long disparate, must rebalance. That time may soon be coming...
Utah. Fresh off two straight bowl losses and, for now, strong as it's been in recent years. A few departures and dropoffs have begun to slowly chip away at the core of the team, so it's not quite the top-down roster juggernaut of 2022, but the offense is still pretty potent. It could be the last big hurrah for the triplet of Boone-Giang-Foley, as Giang is on the verge of hitting that nasty wall that all RBs invariably do.
A significant changing-of-the-guard on defense is impending this season. At some positions, sooner than expected than others. On offense, we'll try to bury the issues of '23 and return to form with the newly-injected OL/TE youth. And on special teams...yeah, still 1 minute.
Denver's new ownership helped touch off the start of the current UTA surge - in major part due to the AI ravaging that delayed the rise of The New Chuck Empire until marvelous was finally able to take over. But marvelous has gone big in free agency, rebooting that Denver roster and instantly bringing it to new heights, and now, after several seasons of overwhelmingly strong draft classes (seriously, look 'em up!), the Big Bad Empire has arrived.
Denver took the division and the league by storm with a 14-2 season, and these two giants are neck-and-neck in battling for the crown. Some of the best that the AC has to offer presently.
Phoenix has fallen on some hard times. Once the yearly thorn in Utah's side, the growing pains (he, he) of Frodo Oglethorpe have removed them from view (
) for a while, and wideout Alfred Morrison's continued injury should have a devastating effect on the Riders' hopes in the early half of 2024. Worse yet, starting center Rosie Bennett will be nursing his torn quad - suffered in a meaningless week 17 game last season - for damn near the entire year.
Without these marquee players at their disposal, the Riders find themselves helplessly watching as their aging stars on the DL head out to pasture (Rose, Pruett). Still, there is some serious talent in the defensive back seven, and with Captain Kirk leading the reload at DE, it's only a matter of time - when Morrison returns - that a fully realized Frodo will start to unleash the true power of the One Ring.
Greta even ranks him one spot higher than Boone on the best QBs list, can you believe that? Randy sure ain't happy about that one. Bad Frodo, you were meant to cast that thing into the dread fires from whence it came! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness! To you I say "tsk, tsk", sir!
Los Alamos meanwhile has been bringing up the rear of late. But nelmsm has had fantastic offseasons, such as last year, when he brought in one of the best linebackers ever seen in Sam Fisher. It looks like nobody intends to make it easy for me to play offense this year, the defensive talent in this division is pretty intimidating.
Also, we're onto your big secret, Monsters. Stowed away deep on their roster is one seriously legit-looking quarterback in Austin Cash. That's a big hurdle to have out of the way. And so, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the pieces fall into place - they've already got McCumber at RB...
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The Denver/Utah battle foretold by the prophecies is set to continue, perhaps in even more spectacular fashion. I'm willing to bet Denver has the gameplanning edge and the better chops to handle the regular season, but Utah should be more flexible on offense and better equipped to deal with the variability in the rest of the playoff field.
So, the Bees could stand the better chance of making it through the playoff gauntlet to a three-peat bowl asskicking....but they'll have to get through the Grizzlies first.</div>
It's not the same old wild, wild west anymore. The landscape of this division has changed dramatically, owing largely to the arrival of that feisty new Denver owner several seasons ago.
Yet the ancients say - the division, long even, must separate; long disparate, must rebalance. That time may soon be coming...
Utah. Fresh off two straight bowl losses and, for now, strong as it's been in recent years. A few departures and dropoffs have begun to slowly chip away at the core of the team, so it's not quite the top-down roster juggernaut of 2022, but the offense is still pretty potent. It could be the last big hurrah for the triplet of Boone-Giang-Foley, as Giang is on the verge of hitting that nasty wall that all RBs invariably do.
A significant changing-of-the-guard on defense is impending this season. At some positions, sooner than expected than others. On offense, we'll try to bury the issues of '23 and return to form with the newly-injected OL/TE youth. And on special teams...yeah, still 1 minute.
Denver's new ownership helped touch off the start of the current UTA surge - in major part due to the AI ravaging that delayed the rise of The New Chuck Empire until marvelous was finally able to take over. But marvelous has gone big in free agency, rebooting that Denver roster and instantly bringing it to new heights, and now, after several seasons of overwhelmingly strong draft classes (seriously, look 'em up!), the Big Bad Empire has arrived.
Denver took the division and the league by storm with a 14-2 season, and these two giants are neck-and-neck in battling for the crown. Some of the best that the AC has to offer presently.
Phoenix has fallen on some hard times. Once the yearly thorn in Utah's side, the growing pains (he, he) of Frodo Oglethorpe have removed them from view (
) for a while, and wideout Alfred Morrison's continued injury should have a devastating effect on the Riders' hopes in the early half of 2024. Worse yet, starting center Rosie Bennett will be nursing his torn quad - suffered in a meaningless week 17 game last season - for damn near the entire year.Without these marquee players at their disposal, the Riders find themselves helplessly watching as their aging stars on the DL head out to pasture (Rose, Pruett). Still, there is some serious talent in the defensive back seven, and with Captain Kirk leading the reload at DE, it's only a matter of time - when Morrison returns - that a fully realized Frodo will start to unleash the true power of the One Ring.
Greta even ranks him one spot higher than Boone on the best QBs list, can you believe that? Randy sure ain't happy about that one. Bad Frodo, you were meant to cast that thing into the dread fires from whence it came! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness! To you I say "tsk, tsk", sir!
Los Alamos meanwhile has been bringing up the rear of late. But nelmsm has had fantastic offseasons, such as last year, when he brought in one of the best linebackers ever seen in Sam Fisher. It looks like nobody intends to make it easy for me to play offense this year, the defensive talent in this division is pretty intimidating.
Also, we're onto your big secret, Monsters. Stowed away deep on their roster is one seriously legit-looking quarterback in Austin Cash. That's a big hurdle to have out of the way. And so, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the pieces fall into place - they've already got McCumber at RB...
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Predictions
Tough one to write down, but I see this as playing out much the same as last year, and potentially being even more uneven - the peak of lopsidedness here in this division. Phoenix has serious injury issues that should prevent them from being serious playoff contenders, and LA lacks firepower in the passing game (for now).The Denver/Utah battle foretold by the prophecies is set to continue, perhaps in even more spectacular fashion. I'm willing to bet Denver has the gameplanning edge and the better chops to handle the regular season, but Utah should be more flexible on offense and better equipped to deal with the variability in the rest of the playoff field.
So, the Bees could stand the better chance of making it through the playoff gauntlet to a three-peat bowl asskicking....but they'll have to get through the Grizzlies first.</div>
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