Team Previews

St. Louis

Now that the Rams are two years removed from their 1-15 season. The only place to go is up.  St. Louis has a new owner in Stan Kroenke and he’s a winner.  He currently owns the Denver Nuggets and was the owner of the Colorado Avalanche during their Stanley Cup seasons.  Stan won’t stand idly by if the Rams falter after being just one win short of returning to the playoffs.

One major change this year will be the new offensive playbook from Josh McDaniels.  He replaces Pat Shurmur who left to coach the Cleveland Browns.  Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo knows that he has a winner in QB Sam Bradford.  His tremendous rookie season was better than most first year quarterbacks.  What will help Bradford’s progress this year is if he has a constant threat at wide receiver.  Last year there was promise with WR Mark Clayton until he went down after five games.  A healthy Donnie Avery will help too.  WR Danny Amendola was the new Wes Welker last year for the Rams.  He should have a similar season with more help. WR Mike Sims-Walker is the new addition.  Whether he can live up to his talent is the question.  RB Steven Jackson might be on his last legs.  The Rams are confident that he can continue his consistent production.  In the meantime RB Cadillac Williams is the perfect change of pace back the Rams haven’t had since Marshall Faulk retired.

The Rams had one thing in mind last year on defense.  Pressure the quarterback.  They were among the top 10 in sacks last year. Among the Rams top pass rushers was DE Chris Long who is starting to live up to his billing as the 2nd overall pick in 2008.  DE James Hall recorded 10.5 sacks last year, but it’s hard to think he can repeat that production this late in his career.  Their 1st round pick DE Robert Quinn didn’t play his senior year at North Carolina due to suspension.  But he is a top notch pass rusher that should complement what the Rams already have in place.  LB James Laurinaitis is the leader of the defense.  Since being drafted in 2009 he hasn’t let up for a second.  The secondary has been a weak spot for the Rams.  They hope S Quintin Mikell can help.  He has plenty of experience in Spagnuolo’s defensive attack.  CB Bradley Fletcher could become a top notch corner if he continues to play beyond expectations for the Rams.

San Francisco

The once proud franchise in San Francisco has been one of the most disappointing in the last decade.  One problem has been the head coach.  The other is the lack of a quality quarterback.  The 49ers changed their philosophy and brought in an offensive minded head coach in Jim Harbaugh to run the team.  He made Stanford into a winner in the Pac-10 and will look to do the same in San Francisco.  The 49ers are banking on Harbaugh to bring some new life in an underachieving team.

It will start and end at quarterback for the Niners.  In a perfect world Harbaugh would’ve liked to have brought Andrew Luck from Stanford with him, but Luck decided to stay.  Plus the Niners weren’t guaranteed to draft him either.  So Harbaugh will give QB Alex Smith his last chance to do something in San Francisco. Smith has some competition with 2nd round pick QB Colin Kaepernick, but he probably won’t see much time this year.  The Niners still have one of the best running backs in Frank Gore, but health has always been a concern with Gore.  He was on his way to a career year until a fractured hip shortened his season.  If the Niners can get more out of RB Anthony Dixon maybe Gore won’t miss an entire year.  With TE Vernon Davis the Niners have a consistent threat in the passing game.  He and newcomer WR Braylon Edwards will be counted on to provide the touchdowns through the air.  This will be a make or break year for WR Michael Crabtree.  If Harbaugh can’t get the most out of him no one will.

A good thing for Harbaugh is that he has inherited one of the best defense in the NFL.  Led by LB Patrick Willis the Niners are among the best at stopping the run.  He’s deceptively fast and has a nose for the ball.  San Francisco suffered a setback when they lost NT Aubrayo Franklin to free agency.  Without him it will be tougher to clog the middle of the defensive line.  DE Justin Smith had a career year rushing the passer with 8.5 sacks to lead the team. Don’t expect a repeat of that, but Smith should continue to be a force against the run.  The Niners struggled to get a consistent pass rush last year.  They hope LB Aldon Smith will help solve that problem.  How San Francisco does against the pass will determine their success on defense.  CB Carlos Rogers is a better option than the departed CB Nate Clements.  S Donte Whitner is a solid tackler and adequate in coverage.  Both of those additions should bring life in the struggling secondary.

Arizona

For the first time in three seasons the Arizona Cardinals finished the season with a losing record last year. That’s because a perfect storm came that saw the Cardinals have one of the worst offenses and defenses in the league.  Due to the lockout the Cardinals lost valuable time to search for a new quarterback.  Head coach Ken Whisenhunt is not about to give up on this team which has become one of the best offenses since he arrived.  His hope is that with a reliable quarterback the Cardinals can compete for the division title once again.

It was a woeful time trying to find a competent quarterback last year in Arizona.  The Cardinals hope that Kevin Kolb is that guy. He’s shown glimpses of being a good quarterback when given the chance in Philadelphia.  Arizona signed him long term and are putting all their cards on the table hoping he can lead Arizona to a championship.  He shouldn’t have a difficult time with WR Larry Fitzgerald as his go to guy.  Even with all the quarterback troubles last year Fitzgerald still caught 90 passes for 1,137 yards and 6 scores.  Bringing in TE Todd Heap will help as well.  Injuries have caught up with him, but he’s still a reliable target down the middle of the field.  The one key to the success of the passing game will be the resurrection of the dormant running game.  The Cardinals are counting on a bounce back season from RB Beanie Wells.  If he can bring respectability back on the ground the Cardinals will be a dangerous offensive team.

Arizona has plenty of talent on defense.  It starts with their defensive front in DE Darnell Dockett and DE Calais Campbell. Both are premiere pass rushers and excellent run stuffers that must see a lot of time on the field for Arizona to be successful defensively.  The Cardinals age showed in their linebackers last season.  LB Joey Porter will be strictly a pass rusher at this point in his career.  LB O’Brien Schofield will be given many opportunities to play opposite Porter in passing downs.  Second year LB Daryl Washington grew more comfortable late last season. Expect a big season from him.  Arizona had to give up something in order to get something they desperately needed.  They parted ways with CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to acquire QB Kevin Kolb.  It’s a good thing they drafted CB Patrick Peterson with their 1st pick.  Peterson is a beast in the making, but Arizona wants to bring him along slowly.  They still have S Adrian Wilson who plays more like a linebacker for the Cardinals and S Kerry Rhodes who is an excellent cover safety.

Seattle

Last year Seattle shocked everyone by being the only team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record.  Even more shocking was that they won a playoff game.  Make no mistake. This rebuilding project by head coach Pete Carroll isn’t over.  He was eventually going to find a replacement for QB Matt Hasselbeck.  But there isn’t a clear cut star at running back or wide receiver.  The defense still doesn’t have an identity.  The only thing going for the Seahawks is that they still play in a winnable division.

The free agency period got off to an interesting start for Seattle. They signed QB Tarvaris Jackson and WR Sidney Rice.  Both were former starters in Minnesota under new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.  Jackson was immediately named the starter even though the Seahawks have a potential replacement in QB Charlie Whitehurst.  Jackson has the inside track, but his career has gotten off to a rocky start.  Bringing in Rice helps immediately in the passing game.  WR Mike Williams suffered through nagging injuries towards the end of last season and if Rice can match his 2009 totals the Seahawks will be just fine at wide receiver.  TE Zach Miller was a nice addition, but Seattle already had a tight end in John Carlson.  Expect both to have subpar seasons.  Just because RB Marshawn Lynch went on that epic run against the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs last year didn’t mean the Seahawks had an elite running game.  They were the second worst team at rushing the football last year.  There still isn’t a clear cut favorite, so the Seahawks will see what Lynch can do for them this season.  Expect RB Leon Washington to see time when he’s not returning kicks.

There wasn’t a lot to be happy about last year on defense.  They were able to rush the passer consistently thanks to DE Chris Clemons and DE Raheem Brock.  Both are in a large rotation that includes run stuffers DE Kentwan Balmer and DE Red Bryant.  The secondary was very inconsistent last year.  CB Marcus Trufant and CB Kelly Jennings are better than they have shown in the last couple seasons in Seattle.  S Earl Thomas is a potential star thanks to his ball-hawking instincts and run stuffing capabilities. It’s time to see what LB Aaron Curry can do.  He was billed as a great all around linebacker out of Wake Forest.  With the departure of LB Lofa Tatupu it’s time for Curry to get a bigger role in the defense.  Look for LB David Hawthorne to explode now that he will be starting in the middle due to the departure of Tatupu.