Atlanta Falcons
The team took a step back last season after making the Super Bowl the year before but the window is still wide open for them to make it back to the top of the conference. QB Matt Ryan signed a long-term extension so he’s settled into the QB spot. He may never be in the Tom Brady/Aaron Rodgers sphere when it comes to all-time QBs but Ryan is damn good and he’s proven he can get them to the Super Bowl. The team still has Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman at RB and they even added Ito Smith in the draft for some depth. Julio Jones got a revised contract for the year to keep him happy for now. WR Mohamed Sanu returns as his complement and they team drafted Calvin Ridley who should make for an excellent third WR. TEs Austin Hooper and Logan Paulsen aren’t great but they do fine. The offensive line has four stable positions with LT Jake Matthews, LG Andy Levitre, C Alex Mack and RT Ryan Schraeder, leaving only the RG spot as a little unsettled. Wes Schweitzer started there last season but he’s dealing with an injury and the team signed veteran Brandon Fusco in the off season and he looks like he may have won the job outright.
The defense is young, fast, talented and returns almost everyone. One the defensive line DT Terrell McClain is the only new starter from another team as he comes over from Washington. He will line up next to the spectacular Grady Jarrett. At DE Vic Beasley returns to wreak havoc and second-year man Takkarist McKinley will be the new starter opposite him. McKinley was a pass rush specialist last season but this year he becomes the full-time starter. The LB trio of De’Vondre Campbell, Deion Jones and Duke Riley return as starters. They are young, they are fast and they make plays all over the field. At CB Desmond Trufant is one of the more underappreciated players in the league. He doesn’t put up big stats because teams generally avoid him. That’s becoming harder to do as Robert Alford has proven to be pretty good and the team has a good nickel corner in Brian Poole. In the draft they added a very good prospect in Isaiah Oliver which makes them four deep at CB. SS Keanu Neal is a tackling machine and sometimes plays like an extra LB. FS Ricardo Allen is solid and smart and while he just got an extension he better watch his back because Damontae Kazee is coming for his job.
Dan Quinn came to the Falcons a few years ago from Seattle and quickly transformed the team into a modern football franchise on the field. He brought a defensive blueprint from the Seahawks of a fast, aggressive unit and he quickly built it. He initially handed the keys to the offense to Kyle Shanahan and that worked well as he and Matt Ryan got the offense moving. Last year the team had two new coordinators as Marquand Manuel took over the defense and Steve Sarkisian took over the offense. While statistically both units were fine it was clear there were some bumps in the transition. A second year together should help smooth out those bumps and this team has plenty of talent to compete in the NFC for conference supremacy. The division won’t be easy as the Saints and Panthers both present formidable foes, I think Tampa is going to struggle a bit.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints offense still belongs to Drew Brees after all these years but now he’s surrounded by some of the best talent he’s ever had, and he’s had some good ones. Offensive Rookie of the Year RB Alvin Kamara was a revelation last season and even though he shared the position with Mark Ingram it was Kamara who was the big playmaker. Ingram is solid as a rock but he begins this season suspended for the first four weeks so the team will rely heavily on Kamara. WR Michael Thomas is one of the best in the league and he’s Brees’ go-to receiver and big play threat in the passing game. The team is hoping Cameron Meredith can become Thomas’ complement after they signed him as a restricted free agent in the off season. He started the preseason slowly but looks like he’s finally recovered after missing last season with a torn ACL. For now, veteran WR Ted Ginn is still holding down the other starting spot but Meredith could take it over fairly soon. At TE the team is bringing back Benjamin Watson and hoping he has one more good year at 37 years old. The line is solid with the underrated Terron Armstead at LT, Andrus Peat and Larry Warford at the OG spots, steady veteran Max Unger at C and last year’s first-round pick Ryan Ramczyk at RT. If the line stays healthy they are good, if there are injuries the team might struggle as they don’t have a lot of depth.
The Saints defense has made a lot of progress over the last several years and last year they got a boost from some rookies in the secondary and some new blood at LB. On the defensive line DE Cameron Jordan became an All-Pro and really led the way. Alex Okafor was having a good season before he was injured and while he looks ready to start again rookie Marcus Davenport will get plenty of time too. DT Sheldon Rankins and Tyeler Davison are steady on the inside. After signing Manti Te’o and AJ Klein as free agents last season the team completed their LB corps overhaul with Demario Davis coming over from the Jets this season. The trio isn’t winning any awards but they are steady and solid which is an upgrade over the group from a few years ago. In the secondary, it was CB Marshon Lattimore who took home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and he gives the Saints the first legitimate #1 CB they have had in forever. Ken Crawley started last season being inactive on gamedays but ended the season as the starter and was pretty reliable opposite Lattimore. Nickel back Patrick Robinson was signed to give the team a good third CB. Rookie FS Marcus Williams had a great year minus that one major missed tackle in the playoffs against the Vikings. It is unfortunate his rookie year is being remembered for that one horrible mistake. The team signed veteran Kurt Coleman to play SS after letting Kenny Vaccaro go. Vonn Bell still figures prominently in the defense as they routinely use three safeties, it is possible Bell overtakes Coleman as the starter sometime this year.
Sean Payton has been the Saints head coach since 2006 and he and Brees have made a very successful partnership which includes a Super Bowl title. There have been ups and downs and some change over on the coaching staff but Payton seems to have a good one in place right now. Pete Carmichael has been Payton’s long-time offensive coordinator and they work well together. They even managed to transition the high-flying offense of Drew Brees to a one that relies pretty heavily on the Ingram/Kamara pairing running the ball. Dennis Allen is the defensive coordinator and now that he has top talent to work with that unit is doing a much better job. We will see if he can get the same type of production out of DE Marcus Davenport in his rookie year as he did out of Lattimore and Williams last season. The Saints have a short window with Brees to try to win it all again but they made a move this preseason that may extend their window. They traded for Teddy Bridgewater to backup Brees and he could be re-signed in the off season to be Brees’ eventual replacement.
Carolina Panthers
Clearly the Panthers offense revolves around QB Cam Newton and the team is hoping they have added enough talent around him to help him out. The team finally let RB Jonathan Stewart go and they plan to give the bulk of the work to Christian McCaffrey. That’s a major upgrade in talent but I wonder if McCaffrey can handle the workload as a RB and still be the effective weapon in the pass game. The team signed CJ Anderson to back him up and they would be wise to let him carry some of the rushing load. At WR the team traded WR Kelvin Benjamin last season because he and Devin Funchess were similar players and they wanted to get someone with deep speed to add to the offense. Funchess becomes the top WR while the team added veteran Torrey Smith who definitely brings deep speed. Smith can take the top off a defense but he’s never been the most consistent WR around. The team hedged their bet on Smith by drafting DJ Moore, another speed demon WR who can stretch the field. At TE Newton has one of the most consistent producers in the league in Greg Olsen. Olsen only played in seven games last season but until that he had been one of the best TEs in the league and if he’s healthy he should return to being Newton’s go-to guy. The offensive line has been a bit of a mess in the preseason. First, RT Daryl Williams was hurt and had to sit out so Taylor Moton replaced him. Now Williams seems to have made a miraculous recovery just as LT Matt Kalil goes down and is place on IR to start the year. Moton looked very good at RT and now he switches to LT. Jeremiah Sirles was supposed to replace LG Andrew Norwell who left in free agency but he will miss the season with an injury. That means long-time backup Aminu Silatolu is likely to start. C Ryan Kalil and RG Trae Turner seem to be the only sure things on the line. The interesting thing will be if Moton excels at LT and Matt Kalil comes back after week 8, will he get his job back? Kalil isn’t exactly the most impressive LT in the league, he is replaceable if Moton plays well.
The defense was effective last season but it is certainly aging. The only starters you can still call young are LB Shaq Thompson, CB James Bradbury and CB Donte Jackson. On the defensive line Julius Peppers returns at DE at 38 years old. DE Mario Addison will be 30 this year too. Dontari Poe replaces Star Lotulelei at one DT spot while Kawann Short returns at the other. They have to hope Peppers can get healthy as he just came of the PUP list after the preseason. He and Addison have to bring the pass rush because they don’t get it anywhere else. MLB Luke Kuechly is in the prime of his career and he’s an absolute monster. Thomas Davis will start the year suspended for the first four games and he has said this is his last year as he is set to retire. Shaq Thompson should get more playing time on third down with Davis out and to get him ready for the future, he’s a pretty good talent. Rookie Donte Jackson came in and took a starting job during the preseason and looks very good. James Bradbury had some struggles last season but there is talent there to work with. Safety Mike Adams is almost as old as Peppers but not nearly as productive, the team simply doesn’t have anyone to replace him. Da’Norris Searcy is a very limited strong safety and the team really needs their young guys like Colin Jones and Rashaan Gaulden to step up.
Ron Rivera has been a pretty good coach for the Panthers franchise but he is once again replacing his defensive coordinator because Steve Wilks took the Cardinals head coaching job just one year after Sean McDermott left for the Bills job. Eric Washington moves up after being the long-time defensive line coach so he is familiar with this team. Long-time offensive coordinator Norv Turner was brought in to revitalize the offense and while he burned out as the Vikings coordinator he is a well-known commodity in the NFL. It should be good for Christian McCaffrey as Norv Turner has always had RB friendly offenses. I don’t think the Panthers are good enough or deep enough to compete with Atlanta and New Orleans and if age catches up to their defense things could get ugly. Peppers, Addison, Davis and Adams are all vital pieces to the defensive puzzle and father time is undefeated.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This is a team in flux with Jameis Winston suspended for the first three games of the year for personal conduct policy issues (another sexual assault allegation, he has problems keeping his hands to himself). That mean Ryan Fitzpatrick steps in and while Winston wasn’t great last season Fitzpatrick is a bit of a step down. He’ll do okay but he will need a lot of help from his offense. WR Mike Evans is the one major weapon this team has and he will be relied on greatly. DeSean Jackson is still good but he’s 31 and doesn’t scare teams like he used to. The team was hoping rookie RB Ronald Jones would step in for the departed Doug Martin but he lost the starting job to Peyton Barber, that’s not really a good thing. Barber is a decent player but teams will be able to stop him. TE Cameron Brate is solid but this team needs OJ Howard to take a major step in his development and become a real threat. The offensive line could be a problem. LT Donovan Smith has been a reliable starter since he entered the league but he’s never been a dominant player. He’s banged up and his 48 consecutive game starting streak could come to an end and they have no real reliable backup. The team is also hoping OG Ali Marpet is healthy enough to start week 1 otherwise they might be down their two best linemen. C Ryan Jensen, G Evan Smith and RT Demar Dotson are just guys, they aren’t all that good.
The team’s defense was abysmal against the pass last season, literally finishing last in the league. They decided the less than impressive pass rush was to blame and they were right. The team traded for Jason Pierre-Paul from the Giants and signed Vinny Curry from the Eagles to take over at DE. They can hope pushing Noah Spence into a reserve role allows him to become a better pass rush specialist. The team signed DT Beau Allen to start next to the only holdover on the line, star DT Gerald McCoy. McCoy should be happy he’s finally getting some help. He’s a beast and with the drafting of Vita Vea to go with Allen and the other additions the defensive line should be much deeper than in the past. At LB Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David should benefit from the increased size up front with the additions of Allen and Vea and with Curry and JPP putting pressure on the QB. The team returns CBs Vernon Hargreaves and Brent Grimes along side safeties Justin Evans and Chris Conte. This unit wasn’t very good last year but they are hoping the increased pass rush helps them out. Hargreaves is still young enough to turn around the slow start to his career while Evans has a chance to be a pretty good safety. Grimes is trying to hold on at an advanced NFL age while Conte is what he is which is not very good. The team did draft MJ Stewart (he’s injured for now) and Carlton Davis at CB so they are hoping the young guys make an impact.
I think this team has issues and I think those issues derail the season. Along with Indianapolis, who lacks overall talent, I think the Bucs will be one of the worst teams in the league. Winston has made his future as the face of the franchise quite cloudy. I think Dirk Koetter is in over his head as the head coach and if things go south quickly I think he could be the first coach fired. Defensive coordinator Mike Smith isn’t a sexy name but he has head coaching experience so the team has a ready-made interim fill-in, although probably not the long-term one. If the aging duo of JPP and Vinny Curry don’t juice up the pass rush the defense could be in trouble and if Winston returns but takes another step back like he did last year the offense is in trouble. That’s not a good combination. The silver lining is that the defensive line draft class looks really good and the Bucs should have their pick of whichever one they want, unless they need to replace Winston with a new QB.
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