Mitchell Schwartz Says Chiefs Are Still the Favorites in AFC

The 2023 NFL offseason is in full swing, with the draft now firmly in the rearview mirror and clubs looking ahead to organized team activities and minicamps over the course of the next several weeks. For the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl champions, they've been hard at work since their 2022-23 campaign ended trying to set themselves up for a run at a repeat performance.

With some familiar faces leaving town and some new ones taking their places on Kansas City's roster, things are still rounding into form ahead of the 2023 season. Despite some changes, the Chiefs are once again expected to be one of the top teams in the AFC. They won't have any shortage of challengers in their own conference, though, with squads like the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars potentially nipping at their heels.

Can the Chiefs get back to the Super Bowl? Should they be the clear favorites in the AFC as the season draws nearer with each passing day? Former Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz recently joined the team at Betway in an exclusive interview, covering many post-draft topics both on a smaller scale and on a league-wide basis. As far as Kansas City is concerned, Schwartz is rolling with Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and Travis Kelce to live up to the hype once again. Here's some of what he had to say: 

I still think it's Kansas City. I think we all learned our lesson after this past year. I mean, I say we don't necessarily put myself in that category. Because KC is home, right? I still liked the Chiefs to come out of the AFC and win it all. And sure enough, they did. But I think we as a collective learned our lesson, but as long as Mahomes is there, as long as the O line is pretty good or better for the foreseeable future, as long as Kelce is there, this is going to be the best team in the AFC. The infrastructure that coach Reid has built, that Pat has now built; that's the best tandem in the conference. And again, you're better off just betting them and just assuming that they're going to be the best team.

In addition to citing the aforementioned three-headed monster atop the Chiefs organization, Schwartz pointed to the franchise's decisions in free agency and the draft as reasons why it should be the favorite in the AFC. He also tipped his cap to Steve Spagnuolo's defense, praising an ability to elevate its level of play late in the season and come up with stops when needed the most. 

Schwartz, who started all 16 games in his first four seasons with the Chiefs before starting just six in 2020 due to a back injury, knows what a great team looks like. The multi-time All-Pro was a member of Kansas City's 2019-20 Super Bowl champion offensive line and is as familiar as anyone with how the team operates. Now that the organization has won another ring and bolstered its depth in the offseason, his logic is extremely sound: It's hard to bet against what's clearly been working well.