NFL Second, Third Helmet Concept Series – AFC West

Beginning with the 2025 season, every NFL team will be permitted to have three different helmet shells after the league announced a revised uniform policy in April.

An exception was made for teams that underwent a redesign this offseason, though, which is why the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Jets will all have three shells at their disposal this fall.

With that, we’re continuing a concept series that creates second and/or third helmet designs for teams that have not unveiled them. We’re also fixing some issues we have with current alternate designs, as well.

Up next in the eight-part series is the AFC West as we wrap up the conference before moving to the NFC, where we’ll move alphabetically through each division. You can check out our previous designs here.

Denver Broncos

As part of their offseason rebrand, the Broncos added a cluster of triangles – representing mountain peaks – to the middle of their helmets. However, we’ve replaced them with stripes inspired by their “Orange Crush” throwback uniforms.

We also created an entire identity around the throwback uniforms, which we shared in our Broncos redesign contest back in April. That’s why their current logo can be seen on a royal blue third shell instead of the vintage “D” mark they currently use.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs recently acknowledged they’re warming up to the idea of an alternate uniform, but adding anything other than a white shell – such as black or gold – would be a significant departure from their traditional look. Their options are limited for throwback designs, since they’ve only worn red helmets throughout their history.

With that, our idea for their third shell was inspired by the 1925-26 Kansas City Cowboys, who wore maroon and tan uniforms during the NFL’s infancy, as well as the Chiefs’ beginnings as the Dallas Texans, whose red helmets featured a state outline with a star marking their location.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders might be the last team in the league to add an alternate helmet, but an all-black uniform makes too much sense for a team with a section of their fanbase and stadium know as “The Black Hole.” We used their 1963 logo on the sides because it included a black helmet, which we modified to include a silver stripe.

The white helmet, meanwhile, would be paired with their white throwback jerseys – which feature silver numbers with a thick black stroke – and new white pants with stripes that match the helmets. This pattern also keeps a single black stripe surrounded by silver, just like their primary lids.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers laid the blueprint for our designs with their navy blue and royal blue Color Rush uniforms, and we simply matched the lightning bolts on the helmets to the lightning bolts on the shoulders and pants, as well as the facemasks to their 1974-87 and 1988-2006 designs.

We’re also not big fans of the player identification numbers on the sides of Los Angeles’ current helmets – which also feature the same white shell but swap decals and facemasks to match the aforementioned Color Rush uniforms – and would remove them from every lid if given the chance.