Evaluate your team

[ForkEmBucky]

Green Bay...

Rodgers and the receivers will keep scoring, but they will have bad possessions due to a weak offensive line. Our two big defensive draft picks from last season are stull overcoming the injuries which held them back all last year. The upgrade at defensive line won't show until late in the season if at all, as our big rookie Datone Jones appears to be dinged up now as well. Bunch of tweaked skill players on both sides of the ball, including Jordy Nelson. For Packer fans, this season will tell us everything we need to know about the next 5 years. Can our young players get healthy and change our fortunes in the trenches, or will the team continue to be known as "soft?"

 

[Logicallylethal]

Seahawks...

Young team with elite talent facing an enormous amount of pressure coming into the year. The youth would be a concern for some...but with the right leader guiding the team it's pretty much a non issue. And with Russell Wilson, the Seahawks have the exact kind of leader.

There are some questions as to whether or not the Seahawks can repeat the same kind of success from 2012. I think Russell will answer those questions early on. People forget, but Russell and the passing game got better as the season progressed. Although we lost the Atlanta game, Russell showed in that game that he was capable of lighting it up with the aerial attack when called upon.

Our rushing attack is in prime position to be one of the best in the league. Marshawn + the legs of Russell + two quality backups (Cristine Michael and Turbin) and most importantly a young oline that is continuing to get better each year

The wide receiver position isn't necessarily a strength but the Seahawks aren't built on four wr sets...they're built on efficient passing...play actions and quick passes...losing Percy isn't as big of a deal as the media has made it to be

Defensively...the secondary that was already the best in the NFL is even deeper than it was last year. One of the glaring weaknesses that got picked on last year was the nickel corner Marcus Trufant. Now with the additions of Antoine Winfield and a healthy Walter Thurmond that problem is addressed

Linebackers should be solid with KJ Wright and Bobby Wagner at the helm. Could possibly see more blitzes from the LBs with Bruce Irvin making the switch from DE to LB

Defensive Line is pretty much the only question mark. If Red Bryant is healthy and Avril and Bennett can produce like they are expected to...the questions are answered.

Overall...this team is built to be good for a long time. The superbowl possibilities are there...but it's definitely not superbowl or bust. I see a 12-13 win season

 

[Clayton]

The blueprint is there for the Rams to have success but they need to start doing the little things. No penalties, better special teams play, force more turnovers, have Bradford make better decisions in the red zone. They're young but jobs are on the line pretty much everywhere on the roster. I'm expecting 7-9 wins.

 

[UK Cowboy]

The Cowboys have a first 11 on offense and defense that are very talented, could be top 10 in total O and D. On the negative side, very little depth, new DC and scheme on D, and new play caller on O. Overall, they went 8-8 last year with massive injuries on D, still went 8-8, so with a little luck and good health, 10-6 possible, but so is 7-9.

 

[JDM]

List of observations:

The offense is looking good. I have had high hopes since the draft but understood a lot of the pessimism.

The running backs should continue to be productive. Ridley is the feature back, I have had some disagreement from others but I believe Blount takes a good few carries from him. Vereen will take over Woodhead's touches, and is a much better player. Expect Vereen to be used in a variety of different roles, play types, and positions to take advantage of any mismatch they can get.

I like this receiving corps better than last years. It is less experienced by I see a lot of potential and they have a great QB to learn from. Expect Dobson to be the primary receiver on the field, with Amendola and Thompkins being the main two options behind him.

Tight end is a different look. I don't know when Gronkowski will be back, but I believe we have solid options at the position. Expect every tight end on the roster to see at least occasional regular season playing time (I have some doubts if fells makes the team. If he does I expect him to see the field some.)

They are extremely young on both sides of the ball, with a few notable exceptions. Brady, Wilfork, Logan mankins, and Jerod mayo are really the only veterans sure to start. Expect rookie mistakes and for this inexperience to come at an unfortunate time or two throughout the season, and possibly cost them a game or two. However, this team will be a good one, both this year and going into the future.

Defense. Defense. I'm not sure what to say about the defense. Belichick plays games with them in the preseason. They always go simplistic defensive sets that get simpler as the game goes on. I believe that once we are playing real defensive schemes, we have a lot of talent on this side of the ball. It is young, like I mentioned earlier, but a lot of the guys got significant playing time last year and should be in better shape with a year to learn. I don't expect a dominant defense this year, but I believe the talent is on this roster that it can be a dominant team in a couple years. Expect the occasional big play because a young guy got beat by a veteran with a bit more experience.



Overall, this is a young team with core veteran leadership and a lot of potential. I believe we finish with approximately twelve wins, good for a first round bye. If this team gels, you will need to play mistake free football to beat them. If inexperience shows through, they're a quick out to a decent team.

 

[The Pimp Of Eloquence]

Rams: Potential

There is a great amount of potential on this team. Now I'm talking real talent not the internet message loser evaluation of talent but real, guys who know football, talent.

Quarterback: Bradford has the arm to be the best qb in the NFC West. His is the best arm there. Not the strongest arm but the best arm. He lacks in the mental part of the game, he doesn't go through his progressions well, he doesn't make the best reads, he doesn't sense pressure the best but with good blocking this could be fixed.

Running Back: Meh, no one really good at this point. No talent there that grabs you and makes you take notice. No player that a defense would have trouble with.

Wide Receiver: Could be the most talented crew of young guys in the league. If they keep developing Givens, Pettis, Quick, and Austin could be the best foursome in the league in the next two years.

Tight End: Kendricks is average which is ok. If you are average everywhere you are a playoff team. Cook is a guy who creates all sorts of mismatch problems. It will be interesting to see how defenses will handle Cook and Austin on the field.

Offensive Tackle: Jake Long above average. I wish I could buy into more but the guy has not stood out as an elite type to me. Saffold: I don't buy into the hype. This guy is always injured and I bit undersized for the position. In any case he will be gone after this year as I think he has athleticism and other teams covet that. I can't see the Rams paying left tackle money to keep him. If he's injured a lot maybe other teams won't look as hard.

Guard: Dahl is mean, but getting old. He still has the fire. Everyone else is kind of a journeyman.

Center: Scott Wells' better days are behind him. Still probably average though. Hoping for more but let's be real.

Defensive End: Chris Long and Robert Quinn are one of the best duo's in the league. The Rams defensive line as a whole is one of the best ones in the league.

Defensive Tackle: Brockers could be one of the better defensive tackles in the league by the end of this season. Langford is at least average.

Linebackers: Laurainitus represents the best a guy of modest physical skills can be. He does an extremely competent job and represents probably the most consistently good play at that position in the league. No great highlight plays but the guy is near the top of the league for tackles ever year. Jo-Lonn Dunbar is an over achiever and a bit undersized but aggressive. Ogletree is a rookie. We will see how that goes. The learning curve is usually steep.

Cornerbacks: Finnegan above average. Jenkins average but with potential to be one of the better cornerbacks in the league. Trumaine Johnson has the potential to be one of the best nickle guys in the league.

Safety: Below average talent by quite a bit here. Look for heavy investment at this position in next year's draft. I can't think of a team with a worse starting tandem. Darian Stewart and Rodney McLeod aren't going to inspire fear. Watch opposing coaches try to work this part of the defense over.

ST: Greg Zuerlein could end up being one of the best long field goal guys in the league. Johnny Hekker is an above average punter. Will Tavon Austin return punts ?

 

[NorthernLights88]

Vikings.

Too hard to give a good evaluation of at this point. Last year they showed a lot of promise, but didn't do enough to convince anyone that they could do it again this year and came off as a very surprising and lucky 10 win team. Ponder played pretty decently and was a good game manager the last 4 games of the season after having a pretty long stretch of being downright terrible, so this is put up or shut up on a consistent basis year for him.

The WR corps was awful last year, especially when Percy Harvin went down. But, Ponder played 4 of his best games at the end of the year without Harvin. With Jarious Wright most likely improving a little and making at least a tad more of an impact than he did last year and adding Jennings and Patterson and finally healthy Jerome Simpson, it's hard to see them being worse off than they were last year, and should improve at least a little bit, with the potential to improve a lot, but time will tell.
The biggest loss on the team was an aging Antoine Winfield at CB who is likely playing his last NFL season in 2013. He was solid and at times great right up to his final year in MN and probably their best CB, aside maybe from Cook when Cook is actually healthy. That said, Winfield was overrated by most Vikings fans, and is now overrated by Seattle fans. He was more of a liability in pass coverage than some of the stats would lead one to believe, it's more so that he was one of the best among a pretty bad pass defense, so naturally he wasn't picked on much. He will be missed as a veteran defensive leader more than anything else, but Xxavior Rhodes is also a promising young CB and Floyd looks like a good rookie DT so far as well.

Ultimately, I see the Vikings going anywhere from 5-11 as a floor to 11-5 as a ceiling. It all hinders on Ponder's ability to be at least a consistent game manager and the defense being at least as good as they were last year if not a big stronger while they most likely continue to ride the coat tails of Adrian Peterson.

 

[NorthernLights88]

Green Bay...

Rodgers and the receivers will keep scoring, but they will have bad possessions due to a weak offensive line. Our two big defensive draft picks from last season are stull overcoming the injuries which held them back all last year. The upgrade at defensive line won't show until late in the season if at all, as our big rookie Datone Jones appears to be dinged up now as well. Bunch of tweaked skill players on both sides of the ball, including Jordy Nelson. For Packer fans, this season will tell us everything we need to know about the next 5 years. Can our young players get healthy and change our fortunes in the trenches, or will the team continue to be known as "soft?"

Solid eval.

In what order do you think are the most likely divison winners of the NFC North in 2013? For me, it's

1) Green Bay - still their divison to lose until proven otherwise. Having Rogers at QB alone makes them a playoff contender every year.

2) Minnesota - a huge question mark in Christian Ponder at QB, but I think it is possible for them to improve this year and maybe even surprise Green Bay for the divison, though I don't think it is likely.

3) Chicago - still a lot of question marks and a new coaching regime. I have a hard time seeing them make a run at the divison this year given those circumstances. It would be a surprise team to see them pull it off, though I won't say it's impossible. I can see them possibly passing Minnesota, but have a very hard time seeing them pass Green Bay.

4) Detroit - I think pretty much every Packers, Vikings and Bears fan never takes Detroilet seriously. They always manage to be a laughing stock year in and year out aside from a surprise decent year in 2011. They would need to actually win the divison before I believe it to be possible.

 

[cdumler7]

Denver Broncos

Quarterback--Obviously Peyton was a top 3 quarterback last year and looks like he is stronger this year than last.

Running Back--Probably the biggest question on the offensive side of the ball. If the two young guns can produce then this offense could be historical. If they are average then it will still be a good offense just from the passing game alone.

WR--This group looks like one of the best from top to bottom in the NFL. Some of that will depend how quickly Peyton and Wes get on the same page but my guess is they will be clicking by the time the playoffs role around.

TE--Nice group of veteran players mixed with some young potential.

OL--Devastated by injuries so far this off season but all but one starter is expected to be fully healthy by the time the season roles around. A couple of the depth guys are expected to be healthy and ready to go as well.

Overall the offense should be a top 5 unit once again.

DL--DT looks like it has pretty good depth and should provide a better pass rush than last year up the middle. DE looks very strong against the run but the pass rush from this position will be the biggest question mark on the team without Dumervil. Practice reports say they have been doing well to get pressure but until I see it in a game it will be hard to believe.

Linebackers--Very solid group with 2 potential pro-bowl/all-pro talents with a big question mark at the MLB position. Usually not considered that important of a position on the defense so not too worried about the MLB position.

Corners--Another very solid and deep group. The addition of DRC should make this a tough unit to pass on.

Safety--Probably the position most Bronco fans are paying attention to most these days as one of the positions could have about 3 or 4 different guys starting at the position by the time the season actually rolls around. Should be a decent group especially depth wise. Hopefully the new DB coach can teach them what prevent defense means of nobody gets behind you.

Special Teams--Could be one of the most deadly units in all of football with Colquitt just getting paid as one of the top Punters in the NFL and Prater having one of the strongest legs in the NFL. Throw in Holiday being considered the fastest man in football and a weapon to take it every time this unit should be pretty special this year.

Overall the Broncos have invested a lot into this season and wanting it to be a success. My guess is they finish somewhere about where they did last year of 12-4 or 13-3 setting them up for a great playoff run. Once they get in though all bets are off.

 

[RonBorges]

Denver Broncos

Quarterback--Obviously Peyton was a top 3 quarterback last year and looks like he is stronger this year than last.


Overall the Broncos have invested a lot into this season and wanting it to be a success. My guess is they finish somewhere about where they did last year of 12-4 or 13-3 setting them up for a great playoff run. Once they get in though all bets are off.

SUPERBOWL or Bust

 

[RonBorges]

Patriots have too many questions at receiver to be taken as a serious threat to contend for the Superbowl. Patriots defense needs Chandler Jones and Donte Hightower to step up. Pats lack of pass rush and inability to draft CB's has put the Patriots defense at the bottom of the league for five seasons.

I expect the Patriots to win a weak division and their first home playoff game... and then lose in their second round. I see an 11-5 record and no first round bye.

 

[cdumler7]

SUPERBOWL or Bust

I wouldn't go that far as pretty much all the key players for the Broncos are signed for this year and next so my guess is they have at least a 2-3 year window for Superbowls then after that it will depend how well Osweiler has developed.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Of the Cowboys starters the only real question marks are at the guard positions. If they can be serviceable it'll go a long way toward them succeeding.

At the end of the day though the Cowboys depth will be their downfall. The starters, position by position, are up there with just about anybody in the league but they thin out pretty quickly after that.

The cap penalty certainly hurts them in this regard. That $5 million could be 2 quality players.

There isn't a ton of stability in the NFC East, so it's not that crazy to think they could take the division but health/depth will make that difficult.

 

[Dude]

Patriots:
I like what I saw insofar as the running game, but that could be a mirage. The commentators were saying stuff like BB is using the run game now to make statement, to say they are not using the pass game until the new receivers are ready. That is kind of silly considering it was first the first Preseason game.

Pats were ranked 7th or so in running game last year and they have added more depth. Hope they keep 5 RBs and use them wisely and have better game plans where they play to the strengths of the run game.

The pass D should be better but the DBs still look like an area of concern.

The run D looked good as it did last year.

Overall, pleased and excited, let's get this show on the road!

 

[GreenNickle]

Cleveland Browns

Already out of play off consideration

 

[NinerSickness]

Cleveland Browns

Already out of play off consideration

 

[geneh_33]

Falcons:

1. I know the first preseason game means squat but the Bengals made our guys eat crow. We are hurting on the OL right now and the DL as well. LB corps could use some improvement, too.

2. If we can't block better than we did against Cinci we are going to have a very, very long season.

3. We could use a better pass rush than we have now. Probably need to just go ahead and sign somebody free up to help in that area - or trade.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Cleveland Browns

Already out of play off consideration

Hey, come on now. You have a somewhat serviceable QB, a top tier back and I actually think your D can keep you in games.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Great read everyone. Thanks for the posts!!

Solid eval.

In what order do you think are the most likely divison winners of the NFC North in 2013? For me, it's

1) Green Bay - still their divison to lose until proven otherwise. Having Rogers at QB alone makes them a playoff contender every year.

2) Minnesota - a huge question mark in Christian Ponder at QB, but I think it is possible for them to improve this year and maybe even surprise Green Bay for the divison, though I don't think it is likely.

3) Chicago - still a lot of question marks and a new coaching regime. I have a hard time seeing them make a run at the divison this year given those circumstances. It would be a surprise team to see them pull it off, though I won't say it's impossible. I can see them possibly passing Minnesota, but have a very hard time seeing them pass Green Bay.

4) Detroit - I think pretty much every Packers, Vikings and Bears fan never takes Detroilet seriously. They always manage to be a laughing stock year in and year out aside from a surprise decent year in 2011. They would need to actually win the divison before I believe it to be possible.

I think my Pack is the favorite because the offense is going to score. But I hate to admit, your Vikes have the defense, and that matters. Detroit at 3. Bears bring up the rear.

 

[Nyfan1980]

Jets.

Offensively they don't look great. Marty Mornhinweg was a great hire at OC IMO. He runs a West coast offense and has consistently coached top 10 offenses.

QB- Its either Sanchez or Smith. I am hoping Smith wins the job, he probably will start the 2nd preseason game. He seems to be more accurate in practices. He has the stronger arm, more athletic, more accurate. Its about him learning this offense and working on his footwork.

RB-Chris Ivory is going to be our starter. The Jets believe he can be a top 10 RB if he stays healthy. He has a history of highlight runs, all the talent just needs the opportunity and to stay healthy. Mike Goodson is a explosive RB but he hasn't shown up yet, hopefully he does because they need him. Bilal Powell is solid and having a good camp.

WR-I think this group may surprise. Stephen Hill looks much improved. Running better routes, more confident, improved mechanics. He needs to step up this year. If he runs good routes, at 6'4 and running a 4.28 he will be hard to cover. Clyde Gates has looked like a different WR this year. Jeremy Kerley is good. Braylon Edwards is solid. Ben Obomanu looked solid in the preseason game.

TE-Kellen Winslow looks the best he has in years. If he stays healthy this will be a good pickup. Him and Jeff Cumberland will be a good combo at TE.

OL-They should be solid.

Defense, Rex Ryan is back to running things here. Which makes me excited because hes one of the very best with defenses.

DL-We look strong there. Kenrick Ellis looked like a beast in the first preseason game, he was constantly pushing guys around in the middle. If he stays healthy he should be a force in the middle. Sheldon Richardson looks like he'll be good. Muhammad Wilkerson is a stud period.

LB-Improved group over last year. David Harris looks faster than last season, probably lost weight. DeMario Davis is fast and athletic. Coples is big and fast, hopefully can get 10+ sacks this year. Antwan Barnes is a nice situational pass rusher. Calvin Pace looks like he lost weight.

CB-Cromartie is a top 10 CB. Dee Milliner looked good in his first preseason action, had a TD saving PD. After that its not great.

Safety-Jaiqwaun Jarrett has been impressing. Played good in the preseason game and is now going to start, the former 2nd round pick. Hes a big hitter and he looked great on blitzes. Dawan Landry is a solid veteran.