NFC Standing Predictions and Team Reviews
By: Josh Olson
Part two of my deep dive and early prediction of the upcoming season of the NFC. If you haven't read my article on the AFC Previews and Predications, make sure to check out the Variety Sports Network Blogger Page for it.
NFC EAST
Philadelphia Eagles
Last year the Eagles made the playoffs in Nick Sirianni's first year as head coach but got bounced in the wild-card round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They went into the offseason looking to add more offensive weapons for Jalen Hurts and boy did they add one, in the form of A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans. It only cost the Eagles a first-round pick in the 2022 Nfl draft. They also drafted some key depth players in Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, and Nakobe Dean. Davis, Dean, Kyzir White, and James Bradberry should help a defence that was ranked 18th per pro football reference.
Key addition: A.J. Brown
Key departure: Alex Singleton
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys enter the wildcard matchup against the San Fransisco 49ers with the #1 offence and the #7th ranked defence per pro football reference. It all came tumbling down and into the offseason, the Cowboys went. They traded away Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a 5th-round pick and swap of late-round picks. They hope they found a replacement in Jalen Tolbert to take the bulk of the catches left behind by Cooper. They also lost Randy Gregory to the Broncos and La’el Collins to the Bengals in free agency. But did sign Dante Fowler, who played in Dan Quinn's scheme before. Mike McCarthy will probably start the season on the hot seat especially having two coaches' candidates in-house, Quinn and Kellen Moore waiting in the wings. But there is always the Sean Payton factory too.
Biggest addition: Jalen Tolbert
Biggest departure: Amari Cooper
Washington Commanders
When you sign Ryan Fitzpatrick to be your starting quarterback you think that position is taken care of. But when that quarterback gets injured first game of the season, you know you are in for a long season. Taylor Heinicke did the best job he could, getting the team to a 7-10 record. They needed more in the quarterback position so on March 9th the Commanders gave up draft picks to the Indianapolis Colts for Carson Wentz. Wentz is coming off an up-and-down season with the Colts. The Commanders hope to protect Wentz with their 6th ranked oline from a year again according to PFF, they did lose Brandon Scherif in the offseason to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their top 3 receivers consist of all-pro Terry McLaurin, rookie Jahan Dotson, Curtis Samuel and tightend, Logan Thomas. They also have running back, Antonio Gibson. The defence, which was ranked 25th in the league, has a lot of their defence returning. Big names across the line such as Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen, and Daron Payne. The linebackers and secondary have some new faces that were second on the depth chart a year ago and will be in starting roles.
Key addition: Carson Wentz
Key departure: Brandon Scherff
New York Giants
The New York Giants ended the season with a 4-13 record, prompting them to make a coaching change. Out with Joe Judge, in with Brian Daboll. Due to the trade with the Chicago Bears with Justin Fields at last year's draft, the Giants went into the 2022 draft with two top 10 picks. They came away with defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and upgraded the oline with the pick of Evan Neil. They are hoping that they can have a full season of Daniel Jones at quarterback and Saquon Barkley in the backfield. Kenny Golladay, the giant's big free agent addition a year ago had an up and down injury plague season. Also, they are looking for more from their first-round pick a year ago in Kadarius Toney. The Giants ended last year with the 31st-ranked offence and the 23rd-ranked defence.
Key addition: Kayvon Thibodeaux
Key departure: Evan Engram
NFC South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended their regular season with a 13-4 record but lost 30-27 to eventually the super bowl champs, Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round. They went into the offseason thinking that their quarterback, Tom Brady, retired. Then Tom changed his mind and he unretire. Then head coach, Bruce Arians, will be now a senior football consultant for the Bucs and Todd Bowles will take over as head coach. Tom Brady will have some new weapons in the air attack with Russell Gage and Julio Jones joining Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. They do lose Rob Gronkowski to retirement but still have Cameron Brate and newcomer, Kyle Rudolph. The oline will see some newcomers at left guard in Aaron Stinnie and right guard in Shaq Mason. The Center position might be a question mark until we know the injury status of Ryan Jensen with some saying it will be a season-ending knee injury. In the case that he is out, the center will be held down by Robert Hainsey. The defence, which was ranked 5th in the Nfl last year will have a lot of returning players but will have some new depth players in Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal.
Key addition: Russell Gage
Key departure: Rob Gronkowski
New Orleans Saints
After a year of losing your franchise quarterback, Drew Brees, to retirement... You now lose your head coach, Sean Payton, of 15 years. Now it's time for Dennis Allen to step in as the new head coach of the Saints. Jameis Winston is back as starting quarterback for the saints, and will also have Alvin Kamara returning as the starting running back. Jamies will have new weapons in his receiving core in Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave, joining the return of Michael Thomas. The oline will have a new starting left tackle this season, it will come down to Trevor Penning who they drafted in the first round or James Hurst. The Saint's defence took some hits in the offseason in losing Marcus Williams in free agency and losing Malcolm Jenkins to retirement. They did add Marcus Maye and Tyrann Mathieu to a solid secondary. This defence ranked 4th last year per pro football reference and I don't see how they don't repeat that.
Key addition: Chris Olave
Key departure: Terron Armstead
Carolina Panthers
They say if you trade for quarterback Sam Darnold, that was taken 3rd overall in the 2018 draft and he doesn't succeed, then maybe aim higher and trade for the guy that was taken first overall in the same draft. That's what the Carolina Panthers did when they traded for Baker Mayfield. Whichever quarterback wins in the preseason they are hoping they will have a full season of Christian McCaffrey at running back. The top 3 receivers will consist of a deep threat, Robbie Anderson, a receiver on the cusp of superstar stature in DJ Moore, and second-year receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. The oline will have a couple of new faces joining the panthers in Austin Corbett coming over from the Los Angeles Rams and newly drafted Ikem Ekwonu. The 21st-ranked defence from a year ago looks to climb the rankings with the addition of Matt Ioannidis to the front four on the line. He joins the likes of Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, and Yetur Gross-Matos. The linebacking core will be led by Shaq Thompson but they also brought on depth by signing Corey Littleton. The secondary will have a lot of young stars ready to prove themselves. CJ Henderson and Jaycee Horn look to take a step forward in their growth of becoming star players. Jeremy Chinn, a star, will have strong safety locked down. Xavier Woods signed with the panthers to be their free safety. Matt Rhule will start the season on the hot seat and will need to show that the team is moving in the right direction or he will most certainly be gone by the end of the season.
Key addition: Ikem Ekwonu
Key departure: Haason Reddick
Atlanta Falcons
How do you do a rebuild when you have so many bad contracts and dead money on the books? I don't now but the Atlanta Falcons are going to try and figure it out on the fly. A year removed from trading their franchise receiver Julio Jones to Tennessee Titans, they did the same thing with the franchise quarterback, Matt Ryan. They traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts for a third-round pick so they enter the season with veteran Marcus Mariota and 3rd round rookie Desmond Ridder. Cordarrelle Patterson returns to be the lead running back for the falcons. Their receiving core took a hit when they lost Russell Gage to the Bucs and lost Calvin Ridley to a full-season suspension for betting on NFL games. They drafted Drake London in the first round and traded for Bryan Edwards. They still have tight-end Kyle Pitts who will see a lot of throws his way. The o-line will be returning all starters from a year ago. The 29th-ranked defence from a year ago hopes to be better this season. They still have superstar Grady Jarrett at defensive tackle but he can only do so much so look for someone else to step up and take some pressure off him. The linebacking core lost an important piece in Foye Oluokun who left for the Jaguars. They did sign Rashaan Evans to help out. The secondary is led by up-and-comer superstar A.J. Terrell and steady vet Casey Hayward.
Key addition: Drake London
Key departure: Matt Ryan
NFC North
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers ended the regular season with a 13-4 record giving them a bye in the wild-card round. They hosted the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round where they lost 13-10. Aaron Rogers won his second MVP in a row and resign from the team for three years with, a 150.815 million contract extension. Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon are returning to be 1a, 1b at running back. The reviving core took a huge hit when they traded Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders and lost Marquez Valdez-Scantling to free agency, where he signed with the Kansas City Chief. The Packer's top 3 receivers will be Allen Lazard, Sammy Watkins, and Randle Cobb. They are hoping that their first draft pick, Christian Watson can step up. Robert Tonyan will be back as starting tightend. The oline has all five returning players but is dealing with injuries to David Bakhtari, their starting left tackle and Elgton Jenkins their right tackle. The defence was ranked 13th in the league last year and has only a few newcomers. The line will once again be represented by Kenny Clark, a noise tackle that doesn't get enough recognition in the league. The linebacking core will once again be run through Rashan Gary, De ‘Vondre Campbell, Preston Smith, and rookie Quay Walker. The secondary is the Packer's strongest unit on defence. They have Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and Rasul Douglas as their cornerbacks. Adrian Amos is their strong safety and Darnell Savage is their free safety. First place should be a lock den for this team unless something really bad happens.
Key addition: Sammy Watkins
Key departure: Devante Adams
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings had the worst luck when it came to close games... they were in 14 games that were decided by 8 points or less and in those 14 games they lost six of their games. They miss the playoffs with a record of 8-9. Mike Zimmer was let go after being the head coach for 7 seasons. They hired Kevin O’Connell who came over from the Los Angeles Rams where he was the offensive coordinator. O’Connell will be in charge to bring out the very best in quarterback Kirk Cousins. Kirk signs a one-year extension to stay with the Vikings. He will have Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison as a one, two punch in the backfield. Their receiving core starts with the superstar in Justin Jefferson, a wily vet in Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn. Irv Smith Jr. will be retiring as the starting tight-end. They made no changes to the 23rd ranked o-line in the offseason but are hoping that another year together will and some players to take the next step will boost them up the ranking board. The Vikings had the 24th-ranked defense which prompted them to add some pieces in the offseason. The line will include veterans Dalvin Tomlinson, Harrison Phillips, and Armon Watts. The linebacking core took a major overhaul with the addition of Za’Darius Smith and Jordan Hicks to join Eric Kendricks. The secondary will be the weak link of the defense but will have some familiar faces on it. Patrick Peterson and Harrison Smith are the star power in the secondary. They are hoping that Andrew Booth Jr. and Lewis Cine, who they drafted this year, can step up and be big contributors.
Key addition: Jordan Hicks
Key departure: Michael Pierce
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lion's record was 3-13-1 the past year but don't let that fool you because during the last five games the lions were a tough team to play against. They took on the personality of head coach, Dan Campbell. Jared Goff is back as the quarterback and he will have D’Andre Swift in the backfield. Goff will be throwing to Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark and their second first-round draft pick, Jameson Williams. He will also
have top ten tightend in the league, T.J. Hockenson. The offence line will be returning all starters from a year ago that was ranked 13th. The line is anchored by Frank Ragnow, the 3rd best center in football according to PFF. They also have sophomore left tackle Penei Sewell that started slow a year ago but turned into the high-end draft pick that everyone knew he was capable of. The Detroit Lions drafted second overall and took the hometown kid, Aidan Hutchinson. He should add great help to an ok line on the defence. The linebacking core and secondary are the weak part of this defence which was ranked 31st a year ago. They have some up-and-comers and some that just need to find their game in the Nfl.
Key addition: Aidan Hutchinson
Key departure: Trey Flowers
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears did a complete overhaul with the front office in the hiring of Ryan Poles as general manager, and he hired Matt Eberflus as head coach. Justin Fields had a rough rookie season completing 58.9% of his passes for 1,870 yards. He had seven touchdowns and ten interceptions. He's looking for a bounce-back season. He will have the running back duo of David Montgomery and rookie sensation Khalil Herbert to hand off too. There are two weak spots on the team and it's both the wide receiver and oline. The receiving core consists of Darnell Mooney which had a good season last year and then a bunch of question marks. Byron Pringle, N’Keal Harry, and Equanimeous St. Brown. Yikes. Now the oline isn't pleasant to look at either. Their offence line ranked 22 last year but gave up 26 sacks, 193 pressure allowed, and 26 tackles for loss allowed. The crazy thing is that they did nothing to improve the oline. Double yikes. The defence ranked 22 in the league last year but hoping the brain trust of Matt Eberflus, the defensive-minded head coach can raise them higher in the ranks. Robert Quinn is the bear's best player on the line but other teams are asking the bears if he is available in a trade. He has 3 years left on his contract but he is 32 years old and probably doesn't want to be on a rebuilding team. The linebacking core is led by Roquan Smith but he is in the middle of a holdout due to him looking for a contract extension so the trade rumours are swirling around him at the time. The secondary maybe be the best part of the defence and that's because of the newcomers on the team in Jaquan Brisker and Kyle Gordon. They still have Eddie Jackson as their free safety also. This is a team probably drafting in the top three of the 2023 draft.
Key addition: Jaquan Brisker
Key departure: Allen Robinson
NFC West
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers made it to the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams where they imploded. There were a bunch of rumours swirling around the 49ers in the off-season with the Jimmy Garoppolo trade before he had surgery and the Deebo Samuel wanting out of the Bay Area. The Deebo rumours were put to rest when he sign a three-year contract extension worth 71.55 million. The Jimmy G issue is still ongoing but has no place on the team. Therefore the 49ers will turn to Trey Lance to become the team's franchise quarterback. He will have Elijah Mitchell as his main running back but watch for Trey Sermon and Tyrion David-Price to be a part of the rotation. Trey will have all-star Deebo to throw to but also Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings and all-star tightend George Kittle. The oline took a hit in the offseason with Laken Tomlinson leaving for the jets and Alex Mack to retirement. They still have superstar left tackle Trent Williams. Both guards and the center position will be camp battles. The 9th-ranked defence was run by defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. The line will be returning Samson Ebukan, Arik Armstead, and superstar Nick Bosa. They are hoping to have Javon Kinlaw help in the middle of the line. They drafted Drake Jackson to help with the rotation at the defensive end position. The linebacking core is the best in the league with superstar Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair, who had a career year last year. The secondary was a weak part of the defence last year due to injuries but they added Charvarius Ward to be a running mate to Emmanuel Moseley. They still have Jimmie Ward as a free safety and Talanoa Hufanga as the team's strong safety.
Key addition: Charvarius Ward
Key departure: Laken Tomlinson
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams did what they always do... trade for a superstar and words from their general manager Les Snead, “F**k them picks.” They traded for Matthew Stafford to be the team's quarterback to win them a Superbowl, and he delivered. Returning in the backfield will be Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson Jr. They have superstar Cooper Kupp leading the charge in the wide receiver core. Returning with him are Van Jefferson and newcomer Allen Robinson II. Tyler Higbee will be the starting tightend. The oline lost some key performers, none being the biggest in left tackle Andrew Whitworth. Joe Noteboom takes over for him. They also lost Austin Corbett in free agency so Coleman Shelton will take his spot. The defence was ranked 15th in the league which is shocking when you have the greatest defensive tackle in league history in Aaron Donald. A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines also help with taking the pressure off Donald. The rams added one of the top five linebackers in the league in Bobby Wagner to join Leonard Floyd and a third-round pick from last year's draft, Ernest Jones. The secondary has superstar Jalen Ramsey and returning for his second stint with the team, Troy Hill. They have David Long Jr to round out the starting cornerbacks. Nick Scott is your starting free safety and Jordan Fuller is your strong safety to complete the defence.
Key addition: Bobby Wagner
Key departure: Andrew Whitworth
Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals started the season last year on an 8-game winning streak and we're heading into the Thursday night game against the Green Bay Packers, which they lost 24-21. 4 weeks later, entering their bye week they were 9-2. First place in the division. They only won two more games after the bye, ending the season with an 11-6 record. They lost in the wild-card round against the Los Angeles Rams. Entering the offseason the Cardinals had to decide bout their franchise quarterback Kyler Murray, whether to extend him or not. They decided to extend him with their being a little drama but they got the extension down. Murray will be quarterbacking this team for the present and future years. He will have James Conner as his star running back, who re-upped with the team for another three years. Murray won't have his star recover, DeAndre Hopkins, due to the six-game suspension he will serve. So Murray's top three receivers will be veteran A.J. Green, college teammate Marquise Brown, and sophomore receiver Rondale Moore. Zach Ertz is back to being the starting tight end and will have his first full season with the Cardinals. The line will be returning all five starters from a year ago and no one is more important to the line than Rodney Hudson, it seems like when he went down with an injury during the season last year the line fell off. The 11th-ranked defense will be missing a few key players but none bigger than Chandler Jones on the line. Yes, they do still have J.J. Watt but Jones gave the team 10.5 sacks. They are hoping that Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins can be the two-star linebackers that they drafted them each to be. Budda Baker is the only superstar that they have in the secondary and are hoping that one of the other guys can step
up and take some of the pressure on Baker.
Key addition: Marquise Brown
Key departure: Chandler Jones
Seattle Seahawks
What do you do when your franchise quarterback that brought you a super bowl championship and your head coach that is the winningest coach in franchise history don’t get along and theirs a power struggle? You trade your franchise quarterback... That is what the Seattle Seahawks did on March 16th, 2022 when they traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. In return, the Seahawks got back quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, and defensive lineman Shelby Harris. There is an open competition at quarterback in training camp between Drew Lock and Geno Smith. The starter at running back will be Rashaad Penny but look for second-round pick, Kenneth Walker III to be the starter by the end of the year. They still have two star receivers in Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Freddie Swain rounds out the top three receivers. Newcomer Noah Fant will be the starter tight end. The Seahawks drafted Charles Cross to be their left tackle for the present and future. Damien Lewis and Gabe Jackson will be the starting left and right guards respectfully. Austin Blythe will be back as center and Jake Curhan will be right tackle.
The defense was ranked 12th a year ago, that has always been Pete Carroll's motto... Run the ball and play shut down defence. The line will have a newcomer in Shelby Harris join Al Woods and Poona Ford. The linebacking core lost its heart and soul when Bobby Wagner was released but look for Jordyn Brooks, Darrell Taylor, Uchenna Nwosu, and Cody Barton to fill the void. The secondary has some players but no player bigger than strong safety Jamal Adams. At cornerback, you have Sidney Jones IV, Artie Burns, and Justin Coleman. Quandre Diggs is your starting free safety. This team will have growing pain until they can find the next franchise quarterback so expect them to be picking in the top ten in this upcoming draft.
Key addition: Charles Cross
Key departure: Russell Wilson
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