Who will win the NFC West this year?

[darken65]

You should remove the Cowboys as one of your favorite teams ( I think true Cowboys fans would agree with me here) and replace it with the Broncos or maybe the Packers or Steelers.

Quite a few of these NFL dual-team posters lately. It gets hard to know who they are backing sometimes.

 

[flyerhawk]

Well this thread was linked to. I don't like the other thread so..

 

[Clayton]

You have no idea about a lot of things evidently.

Hey, Scooby-Doo, where are you?


Not that I have any bragging here. On to looking at the draft...

 

[GenJac]

The Seahawks should just fire everybody, release all their players and start over from scratch. They have no clue what they are doing. This was an F- draft. Russell Wilson is short!

 

[FantasyBelowZero]

Looking like this will be between the Cards and the Hawks now but still plenty of season to be played.

Yeah. I'm hoping that the Cardinals can make it back to the playoffs this year with a healthy Carson Palmer. I still think Seattle is the strong team in the division, but the Cardinals are definitely a dark horse.

 

[cdumler7]

Yeah. I'm hoping that the Cardinals can make it back to the playoffs this year with a healthy Carson Palmer. I still think Seattle is the strong team in the division, but the Cardinals are definitely a dark horse.

I really liked what the Cardinals did in the draft. DJ Humphries paired with Veldheer is possibly a very good looking set on the edge. Throw in then getting Iupati in the off season and the Cardinals go from an average line to possibly one of the better run blocking lines in the entire league. Then they went and got one of my personal favorite RB's in this draft in David Johnson to pair with Ellington and I could see Arizona really giving teams fits. Palmer staying healthy for the entire season obviously is key but I would say he stands a better chance this year than in the past. The biggest issue I see though is still a very weak pass rush. I just don't see anybody who can generate a pass rush on a consistent basis without the team having to do what they did last year with blitzing.

 

[FantasyBelowZero]

I really liked what the Cardinals did in the draft. DJ Humphries paired with Veldheer is possibly a very good looking set on the edge. Throw in then getting Iupati in the off season and the Cardinals go from an average line to possibly one of the better run blocking lines in the entire league. Then they went and got one of my personal favorite RB's in this draft in David Johnson to pair with Ellington and I could see Arizona really giving teams fits. Palmer staying healthy for the entire season obviously is key but I would say he stands a better chance this year than in the past. The biggest issue I see though is still a very weak pass rush. I just don't see anybody who can generate a pass rush on a consistent basis without the team having to do what they did last year with blitzing.

I think pass rush is an issue, but I think the run game is an issue, too. Hopefully, David Johnson will provide stability, and hopefully Ellington can stay healthy.

 

[cdumler7]

I think pass rush is an issue, but I think the run game is an issue, too. Hopefully, David Johnson will provide stability, and hopefully Ellington can stay healthy.

I'm a big David Johnson fan so that is why for me the run game isn't that big of a concern. Throw in the OL improvement should be huge for the run game as well no matter who is back there. To me the big thing for teh Cardinals will be health. They have been plagued by injuries the last couple of years that really derailed some good seasons. If they can get a little lucky in that category then I think they can give Seattle a run for their money.

 

[Clayton]

I really liked what the Cardinals did in the draft. DJ Humphries paired with Veldheer is possibly a very good looking set on the edge.

The big knock on Humphries is his injury history. He only had 19 starts over his 3 seasons at Florida.

As far as the NFC West is concerned, Seattle is going to be a playoff team if they stay healthy. If Arizona forces turnovers, I think they'll be at worst a 9 win team and if they get even halfway decent QB play then they are a playoff team. St Louis has a lot of roster advantages this year now that they've dumped Bradford's contract. If they're good, they'll be really good but you'd have to assume that the oline full of unknowns is going to hold up. San Francisco is a team in transition. If their receivers hold on to the ball, they might have a chance but that roster has been gutted and I think they'll struggle at the start of the season.

 

[cdumler7]

The big knock on Humphries is his injury history. He only had 19 starts over his 3 seasons at Florida.

As far as the NFC West is concerned, Seattle is going to be a playoff team if they stay healthy. If Arizona forces turnovers, I think they'll be at worst a 9 win team and if they get even halfway decent QB play then they are a playoff team. St Louis has a lot of roster advantages this year now that they've dumped Bradford's contract. If they're good, they'll be really good but you'd have to assume that the oline full of unknowns is going to hold up. San Francisco is a team in transition. If their receivers hold on to the ball, they might have a chance but that roster has been gutted and I think they'll struggle at the start of the season.

Like I said Arizona is going to have to get lucky with injuries if they are going to keep up with Seattle. I do like what St. Louis has done as well. My problem is the last 2 years I have hedged my bets on St. Louis finally living up to the potential that they show every year and then they just fall flat on their face as Bradford goes down early in the season. I know he is gone but right now they are the one team I'm just going to have to see it to believe it. Talent wise I just think they have some really really nice pieces in place. If they can get any kind of quarterback production this year then they could definitely be a darkhorse but again I have called them that the last 2 years and been burned big time.

 

[Clayton]

Like I said Arizona is going to have to get lucky with injuries if they are going to keep up with Seattle. I do like what St. Louis has done as well. My problem is the last 2 years I have hedged my bets on St. Louis finally living up to the potential that they show every year and then they just fall flat on their face as Bradford goes down early in the season. I know he is gone but right now they are the one team I'm just going to have to see it to believe it. Talent wise I just think they have some really really nice pieces in place. If they can get any kind of quarterback production this year then they could definitely be a darkhorse but again I have called them that the last 2 years and been burned big time.

I guess the caveat to that is that they are a very different team entering next year. Aaron Donald, Chris Long, Mark Barron and Trumaine Johnson weren't on the field for much of the first part of the year and the Rams blew leads a few times. They added Nick Fairley and Akeem Ayers in the offseason. The front 7 of that defense is stacked. The only thing keeping them from being an elite defense next year is that they have no one to cover super fast WRs like Odell Beckham and you'll see the strong armed QBs take advantage of that. Still they should be almost a lock for a top 10 defense.

The offense looks like it has potential to be great but also the potential to be one year out. Foles is probably going to be better than what they had last year. Their oline, while unproven, can't be worse than what it was last year and has a chance of being better. Replacing Joseph and Wells with any starting level playing would be addition by subtraction but its hard to say how good these rookies will be. Same could be said about moving on from Brian Schottenheimer. Its hard to say the Rams offense will be better but they've definitely moved on from what didn't work. My guess is that the Rams will be really good at running the ball and be taking a lot of sacks trying to pass the ball.

Where does top 10 defense, top 10 run game, top 10 special teams, bottom 10 passing offense get you in the league these days? Probably not into the playoffs but if they get that far then they're dangerous. Its just hard to get past the oline being so new.

 

[cdumler7]

I guess the caveat to that is that they are a very different team entering next year. Aaron Donald, Chris Long, Mark Barron and Trumaine Johnson weren't on the field for much of the first part of the year and the Rams blew leads a few times. They added Nick Fairley and Akeem Ayers in the offseason. The front 7 of that defense is stacked. The only thing keeping them from being an elite defense next year is that they have no one to cover super fast WRs like Odell Beckham and you'll see the strong armed QBs take advantage of that. Still they should be almost a lock for a top 10 defense.

The offense looks like it has potential to be great but also the potential to be one year out. Foles is probably going to be better than what they had last year. Their oline, while unproven, can't be worse than what it was last year and has a chance of being better. Replacing Joseph and Wells with any starting level playing would be addition by subtraction but its hard to say how good these rookies will be. Same could be said about moving on from Brian Schottenheimer. Its hard to say the Rams offense will be better but they've definitely moved on from what didn't work. My guess is that the Rams will be really good at running the ball and be taking a lot of sacks trying to pass the ball.

Where does top 10 defense, top 10 run game, top 10 special teams, bottom 10 passing offense get you in the league these days? Probably not into the playoffs but if they get that far then they're dangerous. Its just hard to get past the oline being so new.

Like I said the Rams definitely look like a team full of talent. That DL looks like one of the best ever in my opinion. I mean OL's should be having nightmares about that group.

Now what does that get you well honestly that is what the Seahawks have been for the most part. Seattle was 27th in passing yards, tied for 22nd in passing touchdowns, and gave up the 12th most sacks even though they had the fewest passing attempts in the league. Now given they had the top rushing unit, the top defense, and a great special teams group. I don't think St. Louis will quite be at that point but if they can definitely reach those levels of top-10 in everything but passing they are definitely in good company to be a successful team. If nothing else they should be in about every game this year fighting to the end.

Like you said though the OL will be a huge factor. I know your feeling as the Broncos will probably have 3 new starters this upcoming season with 2 of them possibly being rookies. Not usually the best recipe for success especially when you have an immobile QB like Manning. The one thing that I do love is the Broncos went out and got one of the best OL minded Head Coaches in the league with Kubiak. Pretty much everywhere he has gone the OL improved dramatically from the year before. Heck last year with the Ravens he started two rookies and they went from one of the worst running teams and pass blocking teams to top-10 in both categories. His system sets up well to protect both RB and QB and allow rookies to come in and find success quickly. I'm really hoping that happens once again but I could also see the OL eventually being the downfall of the Broncos once again in another promising season.

 

[GenJac]

Looks like coach Jeff Fisher is going to have a strong Rams team that can contend in the tough NFC West division. It all began when the Redskins gave the Rams the bank in the RG III trade a couple years back. Man, have the Rams cleaned house! Move over Seahawks, you got company in the West Division! Rams are coming BIG time.

 

[JMR]

Looks like coach Jeff Fisher is going to have a strong Rams team that can contend in the tough NFC West division. It all began when the Redskins gave the Rams the bank in the RG III trade a couple years back. Man, have the Rams cleaned house! Move over Seahawks, you got company in the West Division! Rams are coming BIG time.

That may be overdoing it a bit, but I agree the Rams look better. We'll get a taste right away in week 1.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Looks like coach Jeff Fisher is going to have a strong Rams team that can contend in the tough NFC West division. It all began when the Redskins gave the Rams the bank in the RG III trade a couple years back. Man, have the Rams cleaned house! Move over Seahawks, you got company in the West Division! Rams are coming BIG time.

We have been saying that for a couple of years now with no results.

 

[gohusk]

Looks like coach Jeff Fisher is going to have a strong Rams team that can contend in the tough NFC West division. It all began when the Redskins gave the Rams the bank in the RG III trade a couple years back. Man, have the Rams cleaned house! Move over Seahawks, you got company in the West Division! Rams are coming BIG time.

Yeah, it's not like we haven't heard that one every single season for the last 4 years. Fisher is so overrated it's ridiculous. They're going to be out of it like week 9 and then maybe go on a run so people can say the same crap in june of 2016. I hope the Rams never fire Fisher.